05.14.14 Bad day to be a bunker...good day to have a fly rod in hand

     First things first....if you are off tomorrow and would like to spend the day chasing bluefish to 13 pounds on the fly rod....call me ASAP...732.261.7291

                            

                          

Started out the coming out front with the NE wind. Fished it hard on the incoming without a bump. Grabbed the boat and headed inside away from the wind and had a great day with topwater and  underwater bluefish action. I can say this.....today was not the day to be a bunker. Not only did a lot of your friends get eaten....you probably did too.

                          

Had bluefish blowing up on bunker right out of the gate and it didn't stop for 6 hours. If I counted I would say over 50 came to the boat, and more missed or bit off. It was a crazy day. Moved around looking to escape the bluefish and try and find some bass but no matter where I went, and how deep I fished, and what fly I used....the bluefish ate. My best shot was a yellow Hollow-Fleye that kept getting

bit but the tail biting blues but no bass hit it. For a long while I had my camera in my hand and not the fly rod. It was too much fun watched the poor bunker get eaten. And if one strayed.....goodbye. 

     One of my favorite pics of the day is the one below. It shows the bunker balled and trying beach themselves on each other. In the top of the frame you can see the wake a big bluefish coming in for lunch. As the tide ebbed and the two pods traveled, it got less and less, until they were all gone.







     In the end I went through a lot of flies, a lot of wire, and burned a lot of calories. These bluefish pull hard and the visuals were great. One on the boat they puked up bunker, bunker, and more bunker. At some points I had to check my fly because it was being stripped away down to the hook.

                        

05.13.14 Available dates for an Upper Delaware float trip.....

     If you're looking to float one of the Upper Delaware rivers I have the following dates available. They dates fall around already booked trips. The cost of a float trip is $400 for up to two anglers. That includes lunches, drinks, snacks, and the shuttle. I have rods to use as well as the leaders and tippet and flies in case you go through yours.

May 20 - SOLD

May 23 - SOLD

May 28

May 29 - SOLD

May 31

June 2

June 5

Call me 732.261.7291 or drop me a line colin@theaverageangler.com

Can't wait to fish with you.      Colin

05.13.14 Picture picture morning and then front blew in from the northeast.....

     Hit it before first light bombing a big bunker fly with the spey off the groin tip. Saw lots of bunker flipping but nothing on them. Heard of a gator bluefish invasion yesterday with big blitzes on bunker right up at your feet on the beach.  Just as I was leaving the front rolled in, literally, from the northeast which quickly brought some wave action to the flat water.

No doubt the bite will turn on today....somewhere.

Below is a short video by buddy Eric shot this morning. At first I thought there was a boat on fire.




     Went back at it at the end of the outgoing. NE wind was honking but it created lots of white water.

                                          The above aerial was taken by the Fox5 helicopter.

Lots of grass in the water and tons of dead bunker, no doubt coming from yesterdays fish kill in the Shark River. They must have floated out and up. Water was skinny but fished it hard without a tap.

05.12.14 Nice day out with Tommy but the fish wouldn't cooperate....

          Boy did we bounce....and fish. After studying the tide charts in the river, the bay and the ocean I swore we had a good plan. Started in the river finding 67 degree water temperatures and some bunker flipping happily about. Then we hit the bay....hit it hard. Crossed the state line and joined others in the pursuit of striped bass. We heard of one bass caught on a head boat after a fare through a plug off the back, that fish stretched was just 28 inches. We went shallow, and then in the channel. Didn't find much for marks except the bunker, which was thickest on out next stop which was out front. Got up on some shallow water in the middle of the deep blue and did some more fishing. We ended up the day back in the river where Tommy had a fish on for a bit before it came unbuttoned. It was a great day and we gave it a good college try.

                                            Now tune in below for a little more.

     Tommy loves to fish. He fly fishes as often as he can on the Upper Delaware. In the salt he uses spinning gear but was down for giving the fly rod a go. Today was one of the Fish-A-Long trips that I offer so we started we me on the fly rod and he with a swimming shad. 

We threw flies. We threw shads. We through plugs. I had brought along an old spinning rod that I use to tease up bluefish with a old hookless wooden plug. Today I brought a treble hook.........

      Yes, and Tommy didn't think I would man up to it........I was ready to give livelining a shot.

                                   And the flyfishing Gods weren't happy.

      I tried for 40 minutes trying to snag a bunker.....and couldn't get one stuck on the snagging hook. 

      I gave up and said out loud, "What am I thinking?" and Tommy said, "You've joined the dark side"

We even trolled around trying to get a bite and that didn't happen....but Tommy snagged a bunker and that was it......he was going swimming. During lunch we watched as the bunker swam around and at times tried to meet up with his friends. Then I held the rod in my hand, it went tight, and the bunker and hook were gone. It was over....so yes, I admit, today I livelined a bunker. 

      Still on our game plan with slack in the river we hit a few spots as the tide started to flood before calling it a day. We had a great day even though we didn't catch. Tommy is looking forward to heading back to the Delaware this week where he can hopefully toss dry flies to rising trout....and not watch a diehard fly guy try to swim some bait. 

05.12.14 First light micros before heading out on a search for bigger fish.....

     I was so pumped to be heading out for a boat trip today I couldn't sleep. Hit the incoming at 430 working a black Kinky Muddler up and down two groins without a tap. Water was flat and gin clear as the sun came up. Switched over to a pink and white BTD and landed one micro bass and lost another monster...okay....probably another micro.

     Heading out into the great wide open in search of some of his bigger brothers and sisters on the fly.

05.11.14 Happy Mothers Day!!!!

     I got mothers in my life....actually we all do. First I have to tip my rod to my Mom who has been with me my whole life. Through think and thin she is always there for me and I deeply appreciate and love her for that. I have a stepmother. Who's been with me more than half of my life and has done so much for me and accepted me as one of her own, and is the mother to my half-sister, and stepmother to my brother and sister.

     Then I have the mother of my three children, who, although we are ex's, still continues to work hard and co-parent and raise the kids as best as we can. Then there's my wife, who is a mother to my stepdaughter, a stepmother to her daughters half sister, and a stepmother to my trio. She treats the whole brood as her own and is always working to make everyone happy and have a good life. I have sister-in-laws who are mothers who run ragged with their own kids and families. And new this year my sister gave birth to June, her first. She was the one who said she would never have kids, and boy is she glad she did.

This is my example of the "new" American family. I hope I have it all write. No matter what, we drop all the full, steps, and halfs and just roll. Parents are our parents and our kids are our kids....just one happy bunch. 

         Then I have friends who are mothers. Then I have friends whose wives are mothers. 

Then there's just some people are there who are just mother .......!

Dad's are great, and we'll have our day....but today is there day and I am who I am because of all this motherness I have been exposed to over the years. I wouldn't be who I am without all of them in my life.

     Now lets talk fishing. Hit the rocks before first light. Worked the spey rod before going to a single handed rod. Fished pretty hard without a bump. Saw bunker pods out a bit which was a good sign. Thought for sure I would hook up but that wasn't to be.

     A friend of mine a few sets of rocks away got a grand slam....a tagged bass, a bluefish and a weakfish. He picked the right spot this morning. 

     Today I'll be waxing the bottom of the boat and starting with my maiden voyage tomorrow which sounds real good to me....it's been a while since I've been out. 

05.10.14 First striper for the birthday boy.....

                         

     Today I had the pleasure of fishing hard for a full day with Kelly and Chris. I had met them at Orvis Marlton during my recent presentation during the spring Orvis Days. Chris celebrated his birthday yesterday and Kelly gave him the trip as a present. We met at 530 and went strong, except during breakfast till 3.
     After rigging up we went to the water where we all took water over the bow, the force landing me on my butt in the wash. Over the next three hours we would all wind up getting soaked to the core between fishing off the beach and the rocks. I was jumping between the two and was on the beach with Kelly when Chris signaled to us he had a fish on. It was a mad dash back to the groin to land and get a quick pic of him with his first striper on the fly, and the first on his Orvis Access 9 wt.


   
     We hit Toast in Asbury Park for a late breakfast and came up with a plan for the afternoon....we would go wade the flats in search of bluefish. It was a plan we were all in agreement with and excited to explore. After wading out a 1/2 mile...or two...with threw poppers with wire hoping to get a blowup. That didn't happen. Two other guys were out and a spin fisherman up to his nipples in water got a bluefish on metal casted out another 1/2 a mile.

     We ended up hitting an easier groin and working flies on the incoming tide before quitting time. They fished hard and learned a lot, we ate good, the birthday boy got a fish, and it was just an all around great day. I look forward to fishing with them again sometime. Just when you ponder if talks are a good thing or not....you meet a great couple and spend a nice Saturday out on the sand and rocks.

05.07.14 Great three days on the Upper Delaware......

                        

     What a bunch of fun...and they call this work! On Wednesday I had the pleasure of being on a guide on a float trip for the South Jersey Chapter of Casting for Recovery. The national, if not international, organization for breast cancer survivors. Hosted by Bem and Cindy Rinker I was joined by Charlie "Bunky" Limpert for a fun day on land, in the water, and then back on land. These ladies were great.

     Just as we started getting dressed on of the ladies pointed out a huge stonefly...so I grabbed by box of Scott Strykers "Totally Stoned" imitations for a quick pic. These match the hatch for sure.

     We started out with some casting demos and practice before hitting the East Branch. These ladies have only had one other time out and they did great. We had targets right out of the gate and that made the experience that much more fun. Betsy landed a nice brown while working the riffs just before lunch

     The bug of the day was the Apple Caddis, brachycentrus appalachia, and at times there was a blizzard above the water. Late in the day I worked with Linda and we hooked a nice 18 inch brown that came unbuttoned just before the net. It was great to see her have so much fun fighting the fish after seeing the take. As with any time out on the water, seeing bugs and fish rise is a show in itself. 

     After putting a good day in the women treated us to a great dinner and lots of wine ( thanks June! ) and we ended the day laughing and just as we started. Wish we could have fished a second day because it was that much fun. They say we're doing it again next year and I can't wait to pencil it in.

     Thursday...was well...a guides day off...which means I had a cancellation. Some incorrect weather predictions had Thursday stormy.....but if you look below it turned out to be a gorgeous day. I tried to pimp myself out to float...well anyone....and had no takers, so I went fishing. I fished one of my favorite spots. I got in the water at 1130 and came out at 830. I didn't leave the water, and in fact stayed in the same spot...only moving up and down the river by 75 feet. I had fish working all day all to myself. All the drift boats took river right and no one stopped to harass my fish. In the end a few beauties came to net...18, 19 and 21 inches...with two break offs and a bunch of flosses. By the end of the day I was woozy from not drinking or eating a thing all day. But, if I checked out while standing in the water till the very end I would have had a big smile on my face.

     And today I had new flyrodders Delmo and Mike up for day out on the Beaverkill. After some morning instruction on the lawn and visits back and forth between the fly shops on Stewart Ave and getting our lunches we give it a hard go. These boy fished hard all day. Didn't find any bugs and only a few one and done rises all day. In the end Delmo had a fish come unbuttoned just before the net and few flip off. One of my favorite things is to be the guide who takes people out for one of their first outings...it can can really set the tone for their fly fishing careers. I hope to fish with them again.

 

     And finally I can't help but thank my boy Charlie Limpert aka "Bunky" who is always there for me with either offering me a four foot couch to sleep on, toss a few back....(we were asleep by 6 o'lock Wednesday night), having an ear willing to listen, or helping me with repairs on my trailer. I am glad to have him as a friend.