12.26.22 Santa opened his own gift....

      A few months back I saw that there was a new book on striped bass hitting the market on November 1st. I went to Amazon and placed an order and when it came I gave it to Mrs. Claus for safe keeping. I didn't peak at it then and was surprised when Theresa handed it to me, c'mon, unwrapped, on Christmas morning. It's a fine book, a big book, a heavy book, and one you would call a coffe-table book. Years ago people would display these books, for various reasons, part of that I think was for decoration and status. I have a few of them left, most have been donated to charity over the years.

     My favorite striped bass book is Fly Fishing for Striped Bass by Rich Murphy. At the FFS last January I picked up the copy he had which he used for display. I went for it, I think $75, and he signed it, and numbered it #1. It is just the best book I feel and it combines the story of the striped bass along with fly fishing for them and recipes for tying some of Murphy's own designs. Of course following behind is Bob Popovic's book Fleye Design which I was lucky enough to have contributed some images for. 

     So I was excited to open this. I am not familair with Bill Sisson, the author, who is a striped bass fisherman and editor at Angler's Journal, but I do know Peter Kaminsky, from his work at The New York Times, who penned the Forward for the book. Kaminsky wrote the 2001 book The Moon Pulled Up and Acre of Bass, another solid striped bass book you should read if you haven't already. 

      Now let me say this so I don't come off wrong. You should buy this book. I would buy it again. Now let me go. I was a little disappointed and I'll tell you why. First I am not a fan of double-spread images. These images cover two pages, they were made famous by the centerfolds we used to see in old girly magazines like Playboy. A centerfold is one where an image is spread out over two pages in the center of the magazine. Once you removed the two staples you had a poster, that seemed to find it's way into just about every auto repair shop or places where guys exclusively worked back in the day. But let's get back. 

     I find that an image split by the "gutter", actual book construction terminolgy, "the space on the inside margin of pages where the book is bound, anything within the gutter typically isn't visiable", doesn't always work. Yes, you get the size, but. When images have to be selected for this they aren't subject centered but more panoramic. Now it does work for some of the images, and there are a lot, in fact most. I find it takes away from the image. You can still have that "pow" effect buy running it on one page. Additionally, most of the images in the book are full-bleed, the entire image covers all corners of a page, or in this case two-pages. I prefer no-bleed, where the image is almost framed by the background color of the pages. It can even

work when the image splits the gutter, like maybe once or twice. You can compare the difference above. Now my opinion is mine alone, you may disagree and think I'm nuts and I'm being a d%$k, but you know the way I keep it real, and I am my own biggest critiquer. So I'll go on.

    

     I remember when my work partner and I owned Agency New Jersey. It was a photo agency that provided images to newspapers and magazines that covered news, politics, and stories from the Garden State, some were based here, some in New York, some nationally. What we learned over time, and it was difficult to mask, was that issues of publications such as New Jersey Monthly, which we were one of the largest contributors, started to look alike. Each photographer has their look and style and it comes across in the images, especially when scenes or subjects need to be lit. So, it isn't uncommon for photographers and writers to get cycled through by art directors and editors, looking for something different. We lasted about six years providing images, pretty much monthly, to that publication. Below is a cover I made of the famous and 

now shuttered Mastoris Diner in Bordentown. That assignment, when there used to be actual photo assignments and not pages filled with "provided" or stock images, fetched us $18,000. Now we visited over 100 New Jersey diners from Sussex to Cape May counties and had long days of editing, so it's not like it wasn't earned. Days like that are long, long gone. But back to this now. 

      One of the tricky things, especially in todays world of so many images and content, is to have original never seen stuff in publication. And that is not easy. Let me first tip my hat to the work in the magazine done by the contributing photographers, one of which is Jersey Boy Tom Lynch, who owns and runs Angry Fish Gallery in Point Pleasant. Tom's photos grace the covers as well as inside of the local magazines such as On The Water, as he is a regualr contributor. He and the author work together regularly for Angler's Journal, he as photographer and Sisson as editor. I have followed Tom's work for years and my favorites by him are his wave/bait/bass or blues shots. You can see one of them above of the silversides in a crashing wave. When a photographer looks at anothers work, as soon as they see it, they say, "Oh that's one of Tommy's pics", and I did that a lot in this book. If it wasn't that I had seen the image before it was the syle that gave it away.  Tom did a lot of the images for Popovic's Fleye Design and they were also in this book as well.

     I question that, especially for fly fisherman and or avid readers of striped bass books. To note, this is not a fly fishing book, there is only one chapter dedicated to that. But then the rest of the chapters kind of show what we experience here in New Jersey and see and read in magazines and on social media. We have seen Chuck "Tyman" Many and his big eel-eating bass and some shots of Chris Buchta of the Asbury Park Fishing Club, which were picked up by StormR for advertising a few years back. The images are again great, but the repeating, or look, is not. For people that are seeing all this for the first time will tell you I'm nuts, and that's okay. 

     Maybe let me say this. I think this book, if it in fact is about the author and his own pursuit of striped bass over the years and through the seasons, might be better if they just used more author provided shitty Kodak images that he took himslef to go along with the copy. And now to the copy. 

     So as I get older my eyesight is dwindling. I wear 3x CliC cheaters. When I opened the book I couldn't belive how tiny the font size was, and how light in contrast it was. I couldn't read it without straining my brain. Now to be fair, I just got up and went and looked again, and in the mixed light from the lamps with the sunlight coming in from the windows  it's a tad better, but the words don't appear to be dark and black, again, maybe that's on me. 

     I really dug the chapter that contained the old black and white images including some of the famous Cuttyhunk bass stands. That story in itself is very cool. That's New England thing and the 

Tony Rendevous photo

above image shows the stands below the Squibnocket Club on Martha's Vineyard. Bacially these stands allowed anglers to venture out to the furthest rocks. They were often destroyed by the waves and weather and needed to be maintained to keep the club members happy. Maybe I'll delve into that over the long cold winter. I do know I'd love to have some here along the Delaware. 

     So get the book and decide for yourself. It's not like we have books flying off the shelves about this thing of ours on a regular basis. Maybe one day I'll man up and put a book out there for other's to enjoy, and chew up as well. 

     I knew there would be some anglers out for that Christmas day bass. Chris Smith posted this Ocean County fish yesterday. 34 inches and a bunch more to boot. He deserved them. They hit on plugs, so go figure. And remember there's no more Oyster Point with that warm water discharge that kept bass toasty during the winter months. And as we exit this brutal cold spell I look to that other day 

we always used to try and catch a fish on, New Year's Day. Looks like the wind is turning around Wednesday and on Sunday air temps will be over 50 degrees. Right now the ocean temps are above 

45 degrees, and there has been bait reported, sand eels and peanuts in the wash. So, might Sunday be a day to un-quit and try for that first of the year bass? We'll see. 

 

12.25.22 Merry Christmas to you and yours....

      I hope today brings you lots of joy and happiness. It's a day that can be celebrated, or not, in many different ways, and for each individual, for many different reasons. Christmas to me has always meant the day Jesus was born. He was born and put on this earth for the sole purpose to die for us and save us from our sins. We developed the ability to sin when Adam reached for that apple in the Garden of Eden. Who thinks about eating apples and talking with snakes when you have a hot naked chick hanging with you? What an idiot. I guess it was meant to be and the rest is history. 

     One of my favorite things about Christmas are nativity sets. I must have over a dozen of them. Small, large, cheap, expensive, I have them all. What I don't have, but will one day, is the nice lawn set-up with like a real wooden manger, I will find or build one, just add that to my to-do list. But I absolutley love the story of the birth of Jesus and anything that reminds me of it, and a manger scene does it for me. If you like 

the story of Christmas there is no better place to see it live on stage at Sight and Sound Theatre in Lancaster, PA. I'm telling you it rivals any Broadway production. Plus the tickets are reasonable, parking is free, and there's plenty of dining options near the place, and the production is breathtaking. Theresa and I have seen it several times. They didn't run it this year otherwise we would probably be there. Put it on your list for 2023 as it's coming back, and we'll see you there. 

     It's funny how the Christmas celebrations change as you grow older. I'm 54 now and my youngest is 17. Over the years the family make-up has changed, as many of yours have as well. It started with a married couple and two kids, then three, then I started adding on. It was four kids...then it became seven kids, and then we dropped down to six. There's nothing like having young kids on Christmas. Below is a picture of Ryan and Sean in 2005 with their first fly rods, made by Adirondack legend Fran Betters, or one of his elves.

     The above pictures were from Chrsitmas 2007. I was a single Dad and the kids were over that year. Divorce and holidays, well suck, but that's for another post. But those early mornings when the kids are up way too early and there's presents under the tree make for great memories. The last time I had all of the kids together was in 2015. We were still living in Red Bank and Ryan was still with us. 

     While I don't have a picture of them all together they are all there, Patrick, Tara, Ryan, Juliet, Sean, Lauren and Erin, just spread over the two photos. The old man at the bottom was Al, if you're from Red Bank then you know him from Foodtown. We kind of adopted him and for a few years he could be found in all our of family holiday photos. But as they grow up they move up and out, which is what we pray for, those days of Christmas Eve mass and early morning Christmas's are memories. 

      I saw the above and I really liked it. Kids don't get how important it is for parents to see their kids doing well. And what we want more than any gift is the gift of time spent with them, especially as they morph in adulthood. Yes, the fun of gift giving lessens as it has become a holiday filled with electronics, gift cards, or just cash. But to see them on the holidays, hell I'll take anyday, is what really warms my heart and makes me happiest. If they read this, no doubt their eyes will be rolling. 

     As a teacher at Essex County College I have the honor of meeting and grooming a diverse and fantastic group of eager nursing students. Before the semester ended we spent time breaking bread and talking about culture, and our differences and similarities, including how Christmas is celebrated back home. A large percentage of these students were born in other countries and a lot are here five years or less. It was really cool to hear about they celebrate the holiday in Africa, the Phillipines, Thailand, Jamaica and South America. Regardless of where they are from and what the beliefs and traditions are, family is the common thread and what brings us all together on this day. So enjoy your day, or holiday or season, or not, but know today is a day filled with blessings and joy and good cheer across the world. 

     And to bring it back to fishing for a minute, this was December 24, 2021. I caught a fish on that day, the 31st, and made sure I had one in the books for January catching one on New Year's Day 2022. For many years that was the right of passage, a Christmas morning and New Year's Day fish. Why? I have no idea but I did it. Not this year, I'm good. I'm old, it's cold, and the drive and time spent just, well, I don't know. I am sure somewhere in New Jersey, at 620 am, someone is giving it a go. I hope they catch because they deserve it for the effort. Merry Christmas everyone!

12.24.22 Hey, it's cold.....

     Feels like -11 and that's the number I'm going with. Hope you all fared well through this "haven't seen this is in forever" temperature dropping cyclone bomb. Again, Thursday night in Lambertville was 48 degrees, and about 30 hours later it was below 10 degrees. And what's funny, it's supposed to be over 50 degrees here in New Jersey on New Year's Day. 

     So with the driveway cleared from the impending downed tree, it didn't fall and it's on my property, I made my way UPSTAIRS to the fly tying lair. My plan was simple. Break out some tying materials, loosen up the fingers, tie a mono extension and lash it to the hook and create some magic.....crash, bang, boom. Well, it's been about 9 months since I went on a tear tying up a bunch 

of flies primarily of the herring and bunker type. Once you get into the swing the ties become easier, and look better. You get that muscle memory going in your hands and brain, and the flies come out better, quicker and easier. For those bang-em-out tyers like Buzzi, Warshauwer, Stryker, and Whalley the flies must almost tie themselves they spend so much time at the vice. So about half-

way through my first back-at-it fly I realized it was tied like shit, looked like shit, and would fish like shit. So I tore it down removing the mono extension, hey I'm no expert but that mono extension has to be straight and true (see above fly), and then started to tie a tad more seriously. Soon my tying 

area was looking like pig pen, just like I like it.....chaos. But in the end my herring fly looked alright, in fact it looked like something a striped bass might actually try to swallow whole. It's tied on a 6/0 Gami hook and is 9 inches long, which to me is about the perfect size herring imitation. You know 

I'm all about the Squimish line, you can visit and order off the website HERE. (Also, a correction, the other day I posted about big December bass and linked the incorrect post from 2013, you can see what I really wanted to post HERE, now that's a December fish!). Why Squimpish, because I just find the material to be easy to work with and the blends to be just enough of a color variation and flash to really show well in the water. Plus, and most important, I find it easier to layer then when using bucktail, I'm just not that good. You can't see it, but there's some purple SF Blend in the inner core of that fly also. The other reason I like Squimpish is, because I really suck at tying with bucktail, reverse, Hollow, Semper Fleye any style, Bob you know I love you but I really have to apolgize on what I do to your fly designs. Now that's not to say that 1 out of 10 isn't bad, I proved that last spring, when I had a hook get straightened out 

by a leviathan who ate my Beast Fleye. Out of the water, kinda hideous, but must have looked tasty when it swam, and it did undulate, Jim Matson's favorite word, pretty well. So I have one down and plenty more to tie up for the spring. I need to stock up on some more eyes and hooks to proceed. 

     And out here it's cold, I think it's cold everywhere. A quick check in with Mom in Florida and she had temps in the low 30's so this artic blast is spread out across the United States. While keeping this old house warm, on a normal day, it's even harder when the power goes out, and yesterday at 3 pm it did. Whatever warmth we had was soon gone and by late night it was a balmy 46 degrees in the house. I practically set up shop inside the fireplace because, while pretty, most of the heat goes up 

and out of the flue. I monitored the news and social media throughout the day and there was widespread flooding along the Jersey Shore and into the bays and rivers. Sandy Hook all the way to Perth Amboy saw flood levels not seen since 2012 and Sandy, so that means places like Keansburg 

probably were wet. Before midnight the power came back on and that meant the heated blanket was put into full effect. I hope you all are staying warm and have a blessed and happy Merry Christmas with yours and safe travels if you are heading out. 

 

12.23.22 Bomb Cyclone starting to show.....

     Looks like it just might be a White Christmas after all. One thing for sure it's going to be cold. What they are calling a "once in generation" storm called a "bomb cyclone". What is a bomb cyclone? I have no idea, but from what the NWS states is that this occurs when pressures drop 24 millibars in 24 hours. Mmmm okay. That might explain when Theresa and I left The Swan last night it was 49 degrees, and now today it's 43, on it's way to 19 degrees on Saturday. In addition to the 

cold the winds are expected to howl, and will no doubt cut power and tress in half. In addition the rapid drop in temps following the rain will leave roads ice covered. As far as flooding, that already happened eary this morning along New Jersey as high tides were around first light. Flooded streets trapped motorists and touched off those dreaded EV car fires, salt and electric don't mix. 

      Out at home I've already identified the tree that's going to go down sometime this winter. It's the one on the left of the driveway. While cleaning up tobacco road yesterday I noticed the trunk. It just

looks like you can see where it is going to snap. So I cleared all the boats and vehicles out of the way and visualized, like a golfer does, where it's going to fall. Should be fun times cutting that up and getting rid of it. And with that I'll go find and fire up the chainsaw. Trees are always like, "That's

not too big", until they are layed out across your yard, house or car. I'm not sure what type of tree it is, but it's like a pine, because it has pine cones, so there's sap, great for the chainsaw blade. And it's not like good firewood so it'll all have to go. You know me I don't pay for anything I can do myself so this will be another hoot of a project. 

Tanya Breen / Asbury Park Press

And my boy Frank Pallone Jr and his cronies from the NJ DEP and the Army Corp of Engineers are back at it. This week announcing another round of beach replenishment. This time it's to benefit the rich homeowners that call Elberon home. His presser was held on Plaza Ct, below is an image I 

the day after Sandy. Why don't we learn. Maybe your house doesn't belong there. We spend billions on beach replenishment in this country, only to have Mother Nature do what she wants. She's doing it today, and will again. This round will go from Lincoln Ave north to Lake Takanassee, and maybe beyond if money, time, and materials allow. It was there this fall where I finally settled in and 

waited for the fish to come down and visit on one of those blitz days. It's a great stretch, water between the rocks, north and south sides to fish depending on the shoaling and wind, and usually not many people around unless its blitz fishing. It'll be sad to see it go, it'll take years for it to return, and by then the sand will be up at the tip of The Hook and need to be dredged out and returned to the beach. 

"Insanity, doing the same thing over and expecting a different result" 

12.23.22 All set for Christmas....

     As 2023 winds down and Christmas approaches it's realization that yet another year of my unknown time here on earth is soon to end. Wait, I just re-read that, the year is ending, not my time, but who knows, as I always say, "When it's time to go it's time to go". As I took a picture of the front of our house, it's actually the back of the house, but really the front. It's the only house on Route 29 that doesn't face the river, but once lloked over a vast forest behind the house. Recently I've realized Theresa and I have done a lot of work since we purchased it in May 2018. Below is how the home looked when 

we got it and then below after we did some landscaping and flower box construction. Since then we have painted a lot of the house and finished the driveway project. The driveway project started simply as me just kicking some loose macadam on the lower part of the driveway in front of the house. One piece was loose, then two, and that started this project. So I checked with the ladies who

grew up in the house. It was Mom, Dad, and seven girls. On the old fuse boxes you can see where everyone slept as the rooms are designated by name. So they told me the driveway was cobblestone, and went from in front of the house all the way down a long driveway to River Road. In the 1970's a parcel of the larger property was sold and the driveway became shared when a home was built by the new owner next door. It was then the driveway was blacktopped over. 

      So while kicking the pieces around I saw that underneath was a belgium block apron. Lauren was doing two-a-days at the gym at that time so she gladly accepted the challege to break up the driveway for us to discover what was underneath. What I found was a curved apron that really didn't 

didn't match the contour of the new driveway. So, since it wasn't just pick up the blacktop and dust off the block it became a project started and left for another time, that was fall 2021. But in my defense it was the same time that I had the manlift on the property doing manlift type things. 

     And with the start of the this year I found myself juggling between my private practice and teaching at Essex County College, and then the striped bass showed up....so forget any work around the house. I had my son Sean come out and put some days in. The only way to do this was to remove all of the blocks and stones and reset them. Each one weighed about 25 pounds and were set in like concrete after nearly 100 years of traffic from Model T Fords in the 1920's to oil delivery trucks today. It became a thing. Big hole, stacks of stones, part of the driveway blocked off, and really no idea what I was doing.  

     Early on I knew that due to the shape of the current apron we wouldn't have enough to square if off, so I went to my favorite place to shop, Facebook Marketplace. There I found, by the grace of God, the same sized blocks that I had dug up. So for $300, a little less than $1 apiece, Theresa and I went down to Bordentown and dug and loaded up with what we needed to complete the project. 

It took air chisels to break up the dirt around each block and lots of pinched fingers when lifting them out to reset. After months of part-time work the apron was done. Before all of this I had picked up part of the driveway and replaced it with 3/4" clean stone. Right idea but wrong stone. They don't compact well and you always had loose footing and when it snowed they always got caught in the snowblower. By spring I found myself picking up stones 50 feet into the grass. So I had to come up 

with a different plan for the rest. Now deep underneath, and I haven't confirmed this by an archeaological dig just yet, is a cobblestone driveway similair to the ones you see in the old parts of the cities. Not belgium block, but the smooth water-worn stones taken from the river, most likley the Delaware. But at this time I decided to pass on the big dig and remove what was left in front of the house and cover it with 3/8" stones. These compact well, freeze solid with rain and snow in the winter, 

and hopefully won't get picked up while snowblowing. We'll see about that. My ace #1 helper was the muscle behind the success of this project. While I was at work, and she in between jobs, she picked up about 7 tons of blacktop and loaded it into a dump trailer. At some point in the last year one of those "we're doing work in your neighborhood" guys came by and gave me a price for a new driveway...$10,000. That just confirmed we were doing the right thing by attacking the DIY project

ourselves. It might have cost us $250 to get rid of all the blacktop by bringing it ourselves to a recycling center in Trenton. By early this month all of the blacktop was gone and it was time to start shoveling the 3/8" stones onto the driveway. So when I reflect on whay at times I missed that blitzy striped bass bite in late November and early December this one of the reasons why. But I got the stones down before that big rain, which helped settle them in, and before we had freezing temps. We're into the stones for about another $250. So for the removal, new stones, and supplemental blocks we're in for about $800. In spring, before the bass show up, or maybe after, I am sure it'll take another few tons of stones to level it out and hit any sparse spots. These old homes, oh these old 

homes. Built to withstand mortar attacks from canon fire, craftsmansip into the smallest of details,  not all that well insulated abd drafty, they are the antithesis of what is a love/hate relationship. (I don't know if antithesis is the right word there but it sounded good).They can also become a money pit depending on how you approach them. Another visit we got was the Replacement by Anderson guy. His eyes lit up when I told him we had 57 windows, so for around $750 a piece, installed of course, well do the math, $42,000, and "they would pay for themselves in heating costs", in like 200 years. So I will continue to plug away at the windows myself. I love the 

the smell of burning lead-based paint and the cerebral edema side effects it has as it swells your brain. I can't tell you how labor intensive re-doing windows is. Take them out, tricky at times, take out the broken or scratched panes, remove the old caulking, replace the glass, rechaul them, then paint and reinstall. That's only about 10 hours per window. But in the end they look sweet and may be a little

more thermodynamic, if that's the correct word. Hopefully by spring the kitchen will be all done and you'll be treated to another The Old House post. Funny thing is, by the time I am done the only person who'll benefit is Theresa's new husband after I croak. Hopefully wherever I land, Heaven I hope, I won't have to look down and see workers from the next new owners just undoing all of the stuff we had done. Priorites this winter, outside of work, kitchen and herring flies!