10.27.23 I just love this guy....

     I really love this guy. This is Dominic DePrume posing proudly with a beautiful 49 inch bass he caught yesterday off the beach in Island Beach State Park. Barefoot. Shirtless. Smile from ear to ear. But this picture tells me so much more about this fall run, and even about myself. 

     You see, I am a striped bass fly fisherman. I think about these fish. Every. Single. Day. I study them. I talk about them. I photograph them. I read about them. I spend money regarding all aspects of pursuing them. I buy fly tying material. I buy flies. I buy waders. I buy rods. I buy reels. I am a good fly fisherman......

......who hasn't been catching fish. In fact I've sucked it up good this "epic" fall run. Additionally, I know that you have to know the moon phases. The tides. The winds. The water temperatures. You have to be dialed in, and you know what I am, dialed into continuing to find the skunks out there. You know what, I know shit. 

     But Dominic knows. He knows it's a beautiful day to go down to the beach and and strip down to just some shorts and enjoy the high bright sun with a southwest wind with an incoming tide. He knows it's a great day to stop by Betty's and Nick's and pick up a few freshly caught bunker from the big cooler in the shop. He knows that it's a great day to bust out the rusty knife and cut up a few bunkers and soak some chunks. And he knows that he'll be able to enjoy the soak from the chair planted in the sand next to that rod he breaks out from time to time to fish. 

     You see, Dominic gets it. Dominic today is my man. I love Dominic. Why? Because he has done everything opposite of what I think and know to be true, and you know what, he landed that 40 + pound fish just staying put and fishing that one spot. No binoculars. No blitz chasing. Just fishing for the love of fishing on a beautiful summer, well it's October 26th and 80 degrees out, day. 

     There's alot that separates me and Dominic. He caught, and I haven't. He's got a smile on his face on the beach, I'm usually frowning like my underwear is all bunched up in my waders. I say good for you Dominic. No doubt you walked that big bass into the trough and let her swim off strong. The only thing I would ask is a better handling of the bass, but at least his fingers aren't into the gill rakers. 

     Maybe I'm overthinking all of this striped bass fishing. It's been a while since I had that look on my face while holding a very large striped bass. Maybe I should stop thinking so hard and just fish. 

Well played Dom and thank you.....

10.26.23 I never said I was smart fisherman....

     Alright, I'm done fishing for a bit. Kudos to those anglers, and yeah particularly to the fly rodders, that have done well the last week in the Jersey surf. There's been big fish around and if you played it right you probably caught a fish or two, and maybe even a personal best. The fish have been particularly large, first on adult bunker, and now on the early exiting peanut bunker. Peanuts are always better as they tend to ride the beach and if not can get pushed in by the marauding bass. 

     I like to fish alone. I know that. Now on days like Monday the crowd came in but that was after I was on the beach pretty much alone with just a guy or two. Somehow that just works in my brain. Even last Saturday when the bass were on big bunker, yes out a bit, there was only few anglers on them. What I can't do, which probably contributes to my continuing skunk, is follow the reports or the bite, and arrive 

to find the crowd set, and continuing to build as quitting time gets closer. I'm out on that. That might not be a smart way to fish, but it's not the way I roll. I especially loathe fishing with spin anglers, most of them all great people I am sure. Watching them launch and hook up out a ways just kills me. Imagine going hunting, I have never hunted, and you are all quiet and stealthy tip toeing through the woods with your bow and arrow at the ready, and your boy next to you blasts two shots from his 12 guage shotgun and kills a big buck 300 yards a way? Kind of a bummer. In truth I don't even know if a shotgun can shoot 300 yards, but you get my drift. 

     So I jetted from work and was down on the beach just before three o'clock. I was surprised to only see a handful of guys on the beach where yesterday it was going good. There were also plenty of spots available to park. But I drove past to another, well, well known spot, and thought that might be a good spot for the fly rod as there a building SSW wind and a pretty good swell with quick sets. The wind 

was forecast to be SW at 7 mph but I think they were off a bit. So I pulled in and found lots of participation as seen in the very top image. (Again, as with any photos in this blog clicking on them will make them larger.) It kinda killed my plan. But I went out and took a peek. There were anglers pretty much lined up from my right to my left, in front of me, and my left to my right. I watched for about 10 minutes and saw four fish caught. 

     These were not the jumbos crashing bait that I have seen in the last five days, these were the 28-35" perfect fly rod fish I hope for. With my thinking that the crowds were only going to build I decided to go and "find my own fish". You know the old saying, "Never leave fish to find fish", but these weren't my fish anyways. Before I left I spoke with a guy who had a 40 pound fish this morning a few towns south and when he saw the line along the beach he said he was going back to his original spot. "I don't do crowds", he added. So I went south figuring I could find something that looked promising. At a few 

stops I didn't find the bait or the fish, nor the crowds. I know that at any minute things could turn for the better but I really just wanted to fish and hope something would pop up in front of me. 

     I went back to where I was yesterday, where I had found bait and bass, but didn't really have a shot at them. I tucked in under the shadows of some condos to block me from the sun which had temps almost into the 80's today. Warm weather means south winds, and I see that the winds are coming from the south, to south west, to west, to northwest starting tomorrow through the weekend. West is best, at least they say. That theory kinda went out the window during the last week from time to time. 

     Leif had left work and was heading down to fish and I thought it would be nice to catch up and maybe catch a few fish together. We're the "Dinkmaster's", pretty good at catching small fish, so maybe we'd hold true and find some of the tots coming in for a meal. We decided on staying home, even though his son Leif was filling us in on the action up near where I started my afternoon. 

     I picked on one groin and he another to get our twilight bassin' on. Well, let's just say sometimes you just have to fall in line and fish, literally. Sometimes where you find the fishermen you will find the fish, because they had found the bait, and the bass. Not me, I'll show them and find my own, well barren sea in front of me, and Leif as well. 

     But it was fishy water we casted into and if there was someone home or stopping for a snoop I think we would have caught, something. But my skunk continues. Even as the sun set and the water seemed 

to flatten out I was hopeful. Maybe the bait would pop up or a bird just pause over something for a second, even at least to have a target to throw to. But it wasn't to be, not tonight, and it won't be tomorrow morning. I had planned to fish because I was off but I'm nixing that plan. I hope to not get any text from my buds letting me know, "You should have been here". 

     After calling it an afternoon and ready to take that ride-of-shame drive west I pulled out the camera to take a look at some of the pics I had captured. I did have some cool shots of fish going off just off the beach 1/2 north of where I was at on one of my earlier spots. I had a little flurry in front of me but it was on the top of the swelly waves and out of range, plus there was that south to north sweep going on. I was zoomed and looking through the lens when a bass blew out of the water with my finger on the trigger but I'll never know if I captured that moment. I didn't load the film (CF card) into the camera. 

     On the way home proud papa Leif shared this pic his son had sent him of a nice 33 inch bass that he had landed. It seems there is now a flurry of "normal" sized fish moving in. Not the schoolies but those nice slot to just above slot sized fish. It's nice when the big fish are in because they all have to go back in. But now with slot sized fish around you'll no doubt see dead fish on the beach as anglers legally harvest that one for the table. 

     Leif shared this pic of a larger dead bass he found near the rocks after going belly up and getting beat up by the waves before finding the beach scarp as it's final resting place. Get ready for those 28-32 " fish to join them laying on a beach soon near you. 

10.25.23 "Winds from the South fish shut their mouths???"...

     Well, who know's about that. What I do know as I'm still carrying around the skunk this fantastic fall run. Time and effort, yes, results, no. At least I had a few fish on. When I woke up this morning I knew I'd be fishing after work. How could I pass Exit 11 on the NJ Turnpike and not head south on Route 36.  It was a brisk 39 degrees outside when I left for work at 530 am. Fall is definitely in the air out here. 

     I got to work early and spent some time in the parking lot getting ready for some late afternoon fishing. I had a dandy of a fly picked out, one of my Beauty Shop of Horrors flies tied with the hair extension material I picked up from a beauty supply shop in Trenton. I caressed it. I talked to it. I tied it

on with an extra tug and made sure the dropper fly was seated nice and tight. I would go back to my two-fly set-up, because I have had so much luck with that, well, really, not so much. I was off to work

with my nursing students at the once St. Mary's Hospital in Orange, now a long term care facility. I can see in the above pic how bald from the back I look. Getting older sucks. After a good days work by the students I gave them a few minutes back and bolted out the door and hit the Parkway. In no time 

I hit Exit 117 on was Route 36 and heading for hopefully a repeat of yesterday. Leif had left work early so him and I would do some scouting and touch base if either one of us found something good. 

     As I made my way over the hump of the overpass I saw a line of guys with big fish on the beach blowing up on peanut bunker. It was just high tide and the bait was over the bar and on the inside. I couldn't find a parking spot so I made the short drive to the next lot and found all the room you wanted.

     I made my way to the water and was met by a stiff south wind blowing far harder than the predicted 6 mph. There was the wind coupled with a strong sweep and fishing that point, even with a over the non-dominant shoulder cast was really ineffective. There was bunker in tight but nothing was on them. I made another stop north and checked the spot where it all went down yesterday. It was void of both 

bait, fish, and fishermen. I didn't want to get sucked into the crowds so I started looking for fish, or at least better fly rodding conditions. Leif had lucked out with a parking spot in that first lot and jumped in and made casts to bunker pods with an occasional big blow up. 

      Heading south, in the direction home, I stopped and looked and didn't find anything that peaked my interest. On my next stop I broke out the binoculars and saw some birds working with fish busting 

underneath them. I thought of taking the walk but chose to jump in and park closer. There were a few guys fishing and the bunker was just staying put with an splash of bunker going off here and there. The south wind had started to dirty up the water along the edge but the fish found the bunker in the off color 

water. My hope was the fish would push the bait into the pocket which would be very fly roddable. At one point I did have them just out of range at the tip of the groin but they never turned in. So it was off 

 

to my last stop. The groin looked good and was void of anglers. The wind may have kicked down a mph or two and the water looked good. There were no birds or signs of bait but I gave it a go for about 20 minutes. I had lost interest and confidence. I stayed in thinking Ryan would finally send his dad a big 

fish while perched on his rock, Ryan's Rock. But that wasn't to be and that no-fish-on-his-rock streak continues. Richie caught a real nice 35 pound fish this morning, I think on Ryan's Rock, so at least he's giving someone some luck.

     I got some texts from friends who had heard of good catches earlier in the day, before the wind, and then near last light, which by then I was gone. Tony caught a 46 inch fish and Tommy caught a mid 20's pounder, both on the spinning rod after I left. I am sure some fly rodders putting in their time, at the right time, did well as well. 

     So, it is what it is. There are plenty of fish around. The bait is here. I can offer no excuse for my lack of catching but it is what it is. I hope to put something on the sand, while not really, soon. My last fish were some mullet run fish about a month ago. I am due, but I have been enjoying this dry spell I'm in. 

 

10.24.23 A one word text was all it took....."Fishing?"....

     It was an innocent enough text from my buddy Andrew at 1203 pm. "Fishing?". I had just finished digging up a large tree root and planted a butterfly bush in its place. I had started my day at 2 o'clock in the morning when the dogs woke us up. I got up, went on the computer, made coffee, and then luckily went back to bed at 3. I woke up at 730 and mentioned to Theresa that I was going to go fishing, "Have fun", she said. I wasn't falling for it and I just said, 'I'm not going", figuring better to get some things done around the house and some paperwork for school. It was good day to be an adult. 

    Andrew was fishing and caught a few small fish early in the morning and just had that feeling because things were looking fishy. Since I had earlier convinced myself not to go his text was all it took to change the direction of my day. By 1207 I was pulling out of my driveway. I texted him back at 1327 (127 pm) letting him know I had arrived. He was getting a bite down at the Windmill so I went to take a look. When I peered over I was like, "Not again", thinking I had fallen for yet another long-you-sucker- drive for nothing. But something caught my eye so I took a walk. It was a cloud of happy peanut bunker just hanging on the beach and not much going on out aways. 

     There was another guy there who had fished for the last hour without a tap. As we walked to make a move back to the parking lot I looked out and saw the birds starting to go good and some big splashes underneath. But it was aways out there and I figured it was bass on adult bunker on the other side of the bar. At one point I said to

him, "Man they are moving fast". So we kept walking and the birds and splashes got closer. There was only a half a dozen guys spread out and nothing was happening. Then the peanuts started to get nervous 

and soon they were spraying out of the water. Like thrown out of the water. And that was the start of one of the most enjoyable fishing days I have had in long while. It was just about high tide and the 

water was in and there was plenty of it for the big bass to chase the bait wherever they wanted to, and most times, it was up nearly onto the sand. I had my big camera with me and wanted to make sure I got 

some good pics because you have to record it all somehow. This was like Nat Geo stuff. Yes, it's not giant bluefin blowing up on bluefish, but for walking the beach this was good as it gets. So I swung the camera around to my back and made a good cast with a two-fly set up of peanut bunker flies.After a few casts I felt a solid hit, set the hook, and was off to the races. One of the guys yelled, "F%$k yeah, the fly guy got one". It was probably a 30'ish pound fish. I was soon into the backing like from a place that hasn't seen daylight since I put it on the reel. It was a knuckle buster as I tried to slow the fish. And just like that it popped off. Since I was so far out I thought I might be able to hook another but as I retrieved in I saw that I had lost my dropper set up. There was no flouro left in the bend of the lead fly where I tied the dropper in. Hey, what are you going to do. So then I just went single fly. 

     It was hard to not snag the peanuts on the retrieve, in fact there just might have been too much bait in front of us. I had on a 350 gr. sinking line to get below the school but that didn't work as they kept finding the hook. I must have snagged two dozen of the peanuts. Soon a few more guys came and the spin guys did real well casting out and over the bunker pods and catching the patrolling bass on the outside. That is where most of the big fish were hanging out between their runs into the beach. 

     Looking over (above) I saw a pattern of bait movement I liked. I took the walk and had that beat to myself. A few casts in and I fell a strong pull but when I went to set the hook it was off and gone. Phil, who bought Jim's rod building stuff, brought out his two-hander to join us for some fun. It was fun but 

for us three fly rodders it was all fishing and not catching. We were in the thick of it but they didn't want our flies, which were spot on. Andrew was throwing a two-hander as well and we joked about how fly fishing just sucks. 

     I shot a little video just to share what it looked like when, I would say high teens to high 30 pound fish are on the peanut bunker. These are not the 40's and 50's that are out a bit, although I would learn of just under 50" fish were caught along Northern Monmouth County, these are the mid-range sized fish, below them would be my favorite 28-34 inch fish. 

     At some point Andrew said to me, "You should put that popper/dropper set up you use". And so I did. After a hundred or so casts I had a nice bass blow up on it near the trough but it completely missed it. It was getting late and the cell phone network was in effect as more and more anglers arrived. Below 

is a short video Andrew had shot before I headed out. It was still going good but we had had he best of it. I said good-bye to the boys and headed out. While I was probably in the parking lot Andrew went 

tight on a nice bass to avoid our three-fly-guy-skunk we had going. On my way driving south I stopped and took a look over the wall and the fish were going there. So I dressed and by the time I got in position they had moved over the bar on the almost near low tide. I was good. It was a beautiful day. I saw about maybe 30 fish caught, most photographed and quickly released. I did see one floater out there but I don't where that came from, most likely the beach as there were hardly any boats in on this. 

     I read the below report and it pretty much mimicked my report. I'm glad he got one. 

     So what is interesting is this. A week until the full moon. Peanuts way earlier than last year. A mix of big girls out and mid-sized fish in. This might just wind up being a different kind of year. It was really a day you hope for. I am sure some fly anglers were out in the mix somewhere and had some numbers in catching or a big fish landed. All you could do was position yourself where you think it might go and make cast after cast. Sometimes during the lull in the action is when you can pick off a scouting bass rather then fish into an all out blitz when there's 500 peanuts in the fray. 

     So this report is really falling into the prediction I have made, of course without any scientific knowledge, that this fall WILL be different than last years. I have been scouting out back in the bays and rivers and the bait isn't as "thick" as you believe. I believe alot of it moved out on the last moon and you're going to see this moon, full in five days, be the moon they move on. Unlike last year is wasn't until November when the peanuts and nice 24-34 inch showed up. This is early elephants on peanuts. I'm still thinking a late sand eel bite this year when early winter arrives. But by then it'll just be all smallish fish, in the cold. 

     It's a good week to take a half a day, or the full day off. You never know what might happen but one thing for sure is the weather is beautiful. I am sure that the word is out there so you expect a shitshow moving forward. But hey, if you don't go you'll never know.