06.19.24 Tried to get away from the heat...

     It's an official heat wave. For most of the East Coast inhabitants this week we've been dealing with blowing winds from the south and extreme hot air temperatures. It all started last week when I was up in the Vineyard and hopefully crests today or at least by Friday. We're heading south to Hilton Head Friday night and last year when we were down there it was the same weather with air temps around 100 and water temps so warm you had to take a cold shower to cool down. And then, by the first week of July the weather went the other way, with torrential rains. Locally, five people were killed a mile or so from our house during a July 7th flash flood. So get ready for that pattern to repeat itself soon. 

     And as far as the Delaware River? You shouldn't be fishing it, or at least targeting striped bass. The river is down to 4510 cfs, which is the lowest I've seen it, and the water temps are coming it at 84 during

the day and 80 at night. I can't imagine a striped bass surviving the fight in water that warm and without any salinity. Surely those fish are catch and sink to the bottom. There are other species to target that don't mind the high water temps, snakeheads, smallies, and catfish. 

     Upriver, the NYDEC announced some additional trickle releases to keep the system cool, which really may only help down to Lordville if anything. The West Branch is cold, Stilesville and Hale Eddy at 45 degrees this morning and the East Branch at Fish's Eddy is 72 degrees. They say it's time to target carp if you're looking to fish trout water above 60 degrees. Grab a thermometer before you go. 

     So I picked up Joe at 4 am and we headed east down to Deal. It's been 20 years since Joe hit the sand and rocks around there so it was kind of a homecoming trip. Joe started with some topwater larger 

plugs before emptying his bag throwing everything he had for either bass or fluke. Before we started I had to re-install the Posi-Grip studs back into my boots. I had taken them out as I didn't need them up 

north because the rocks there are sticky and I didn't want to damage the SS Archer's deck. When I hit the water I could feel the cold water through my waters. The water was 58 degrees which is like a ten degree drop from normal. That's caused by the upwelling from all the south winds we've had. I worked

the beach and troughs on the start of the outgoing tide with a series of crab flies before changing out the trailer to a chartreuse Clouser. I stayed with it and then jumped up on the rocks to see if anything was waiting for a meal to pop out on the pulling tide. We shared the beach with Two-Rod Mike fame from 

stripers online and he talked about his ongoing stuck due to the rapid drop in water temps and the shitty southerly winds. Even the bugs couldn't find a fish. So we called it a quick morning and made our way back to the truck. Joe hadn't been in waders and on the sand for a long while and his back and joints could feel it after walking in the soft sand. Mike made his way south and I said to Joe, "If there's a fish

down there he'll find it. Later in the day I went onto Striper's Online to see his report and was kind of relieved, selfishly, that he hadn't found them while we drove west in the air conditioned truck. 

 

06.16.24 Happy Father's Day...

     Hope you all had a great Father's Day. If you're a father then you know how special that blessing and honor it is. If you have a father then hopefully you were able to spend some time with him or have great memories if he has moved on to the afterlife. And if you have had a negative father/son/daughter experience in life then I am sorry for you. 

     A day after getting from a week in the Vineyard I was off to Brooklyn with Erin for an overnight visiting Juliet. We had a nice time but these kids these days.....they just kill ya. Working in the big borough but having to live in transitional neighborhoods like Bed Sty, Crown Heights, Harlem, Brownsville, Jersey City and Newark. To work in those places as a fireman gave you credibility and bragging rights, it's not the place you'd think your children would ever move into. 

     I got to stop by and see my own Dad and stepmother as they prepare to put the old homestead on the market before settling in to a smaller, more age friendly, and less demanding house. These days people don't stick and stay in the neighborhoods, towns, counties, or even states like they used to. People loved where they were from and being close to family was a top priority. Now everyone is scattered and the chances for a non-big event get together are almost impossible. 

     In the afternoon my Mom, Erin and I hit The Dubliner on the Delaware in New Hope for a pint and some fish and chips and Shepards pie. Before we left I opened a gift from Mom and it was an Orvis gift card which I will surely use towards that new Helios 10 wt. I will soon order. 

     I got some nice cards from Lauren, Tara, and Theresa and phone calls and texts from Sean and my brother and brother in-laws. This week I hope to catch up with Lauren and Sean for some extended Father's Day love before heading down to Hilton Head early Saturday morning. 

Being a Dad, or a Father, or a Stepfather is an honor and privilege. And it's hard work, a lot of sacrifice, and a tremendous responsibility. I couldn't imagine my life without that title.  

 

06.14.24 MV Day 7. Wrapping it up a day early....

     It was early Friday morning and Martha's Vineyard wanted to make sure everyone knew it was Flag Day. How did it do that? It got Mother Nature to continue to rev up the jet engines so every flag on the island was just about horizontal. Today's wind was earlier then it usually blows which has been about 11 o'clock. 

     I was up at 5 am and ready to make the drive west. I was hopeful and ready to give it a good shot on my last day. It has been a good, but frustrating week, having seen a ton of fish but in tough weather conditions. My body count could have been higher if I just relented and blind casted or dredged the channels but I stuck with trying to sight fish only. 

     I grabbed a coffee at the Cumberland Farms and as I walked past "The Guys" one asked me how the fishing has been. I passed these guys each of the last six mornings and today was my day to sit and join

them. I never judge, but the guys who coffee clutch appear like they've had a better run during another part of their lives. I wondered what people thought when they drove past and saw them. Now, looking at the photo, I fit right right in. A little disheveled, could use a shower, and probably some new kicks, although Tom (left) was sporting a new pair. When Gerry heard I was fishing he opened up his encyclopedia of everything MV and striped bass. No matter how many times I told him I was sight fishing using the fly he would go back to being in a boat and using squid over in Wasque. I heard that 

name a lot over the week. Wasque is a large bluff over on the southeastern shores on Chappaquiddick Island and there's a rip close to shore that is a very popular place that usually holds fish. I also heard about fish blowing up in the marinas and inlet around OB every night. "You should try Middle Ground", he said after a half an hour. I knew it was time to go. "Gerry I'm sight fishing with a fly rod" "You can see them from a boat." And with that I said goodbye and made my way west. 

     When I got to the turn off for Lambert's Cove I said, "Why am I gonna drive all the way out there into stronger wind?". So I spun around and hit Lake Tashmoo. It was closer and surely would be protected from the wind, right? Other side of the island with a SSW wind to 20- 25? Yeah that's 

funny. I made the bumpy drive back and like every other placed I fish this week had the whole place to myself. Outgoing tide with a side of wind of course. Even though it was early I thought maybe I could 

spot some fish around the edges of the pond or sniffing around the inlet. Maybe some of those Middle Ground fish came out of the slop to patrol the shoreline. I made a bunch of there and backs to the tip of the jetty but didn't see anything moving. Then I figured why walk and just stood in a spot where I had 

some sandy bottom visibility going on but that didn't work either. There were some high points along the shore which gave me a better angle looking down into the water but that was for naught as well. 

     I made my way inside and even with the headwind and grass and stuff pushing into the shallows I did have good visibility. I did see one fish that blew out when he saw me. With him moving away quickly I had no shot. Earlier in the week I had stopped at Kismet and saw that Joe Calcevechia from Saltwater Custom Flies was well represented in the shop. I bought a few flies including a simple white 

bunny strip fly that is a killer fly up here, white for the days and black for the nights. Coop sold me a bunch my first year here along with those red floating sand eel/squid/slider looking flies, which I have a bunch of and never caught a fish on, not that I don't believe they would be productive. 

     And in a moment of "Who cares about fishing" if you know Joe Calcevechia you know how much of a lovely man he is. He's having a tough time as his son Joe was seriously injured in a car accident just a month ago. While his condition has improved he has a long road ahead of him. A Go Fund Me account has been started by his sister HERE if you can. 

     As I walked around the point my truck became closer and closer and I knew I was just about done. No, I was done. With weather moving in today I decided to call it quits. Now I just had to see if I could get off this dam island. I hurried back to the Vineyard Haven ferry ticket office to see if I can move up my Saturday 630 ferry reservation to Friday ASAP. 

     "You know there's no stand-bys on the weekends right? And how long is that truck with that thing sticking up off the back?". But somehow he found me a spot on the 1230 out of OB and suggested I go there now, 9am, to see if they can get me on the 1030. I met Joe, the gate keeper at OB, and he got me in line just in case something opened up. I would be the first lucky one to go. 

    One thing that has been consistent, besides the wind, was peoples interest in the SS Archer. I watched a lady sit on a bench looking before she finally had to come over. "What is that, a boat, a go-cart, a combination of the two?" I had many, many people stop and ask about it. Maybe I should have unloaded

it while I was out there. I has some time to kill so I walked around the docks just looking for any fish. 

 

     Luckily I didn't see any which would have been a bummer. As I walked someone passing by said, "I love your shirt", referring to Abe's "Smoking Gull" that adorned my chiseled chest. 

     Joe signaled me to pull down the ramp to the ferry, "Number 1, Lane 1" I was confident I was in. Then a line of cars came from out of no where and starting to file on board. You know it's getting to the 

end of the line as the cars stop on the ramp as they get jammed into the sides of the ferry. Then an older man came over to me, "If that ambulance doesn't fit after you I'm pulling you and that thing off". That would have meant a two hour wait till the 1230. Luckily the ambulance fit and it was all good. I wouldn't 

say it was smooth sailing as the ferry was rocking and the boats that were out on Middle Ground were getting tossed a bit in the slop. As I said good-bye to Martha's Vineyard, and the wind, I reached into the cooler and grabbed a Guinness and went up on deck. It was about 1045 but it was 5 o'clock somewhere.

     As I sat there I thought how lucky I was to have had the opportunity to spend a week up here. And then the wind came, and the hat went flying, but I caught it just in time. It was the island was saying "Go back to Jersey'. But I'll be back next year hopefully, and hopefully without the wind. 

06.13.24 MV Day 6. More of the same...

 

      Started out hopeful then the discouragement set in. Not a bad day. Started out making my usual staple of food and snacks for the outing. Made the drive and got there about 630. Not much for bird 

action like the mornings before. It was the end of the outgoing and I was sure to see some cruisers along the edge of the drop off. I darkened up the below photo just to show that line of the sand bar to the 

drop off heading into the channel. There were fish waiting but it was just tiny hickory shad eating tiny flies. My plan was to go with 12 pound flour with the tiny sand eel flies early then to 16 pound for the 

crab flies on the incoming and when the wind starting to kick in, like it does, EVERY SINGLE DAY, around 1030. It goes from a light NW to W to WSW to SSW in all or in parts, but it comes. I took a 

look at the old boat hull spot and found some cruisers but none willing to eat. I wonder if the fish I saw just got off a 3 am - 7am outgoing feed on sand eels in the dark on the ripping part of the tide. Remember, these fish have eating times, digesting times, and resting times. Opportunistic, no doubt. 

     I took a break to eat an early lunch and come up with a plan before the wind started up. I'd plant my ladder along the edge of the flat and the deeper water to catch any cruisers and back it up as the tide and wind made seeing the fish near impossible in any timely set-up fashion. There's a little video below showing the conditions from today, not all that bad, but not all that good. 

     Today I saw 37 fish and had a bunch of follows and refusals on both baitfish and crab patterns. I hooked one, well almost. It appeared in the corner of my eye just feet from me and the ladder. So I swung my fly over to it and it followed and ate. All I could do was to try and trout set after his mouth closed on the fly. I was just out of fly line and leader to do anything else. 

     The highlight of my day was to stop at Kismet Outfitters where Stephen had put aside a Finn fly wallet for me. I'm a fly wallet guy and they work for me because of the barbless hooks. If one gets 

stuck then I know I didn't pinch the barbs down. It's a shame the company, Finn Utility, went out of business a few years back. I purchased one from Kismet at the fly fishing show last year, where I met Levi, there you go Levi, and now have a second one. 

     As I sat in the shop and talked about fishing over the last week I almost ran back to the place and packed my stuff up and headed to the ferry. The wind, for me, has just been that much of a negative game changer. But then Stephen started talking and gave me a spot to check out. I kind of got my  second wind back. The spot was good, except

for the wind which just pushed everything in the pond to my side. But I did find a little cove protected from the gusts and I could see fine. It's just no one was home. But it was a fishy spot. I then dodged the sunbathers and walked Edgartown Beach looking fore some cruisers but the only thing were those 

dam horseshoe crabs paired up and moving along the bottom. After I was done and ready for a nap I stopped for my first food purchase in six days. It was a spot in OB called Winston's Kitchen. I don't 

why I chose the curry chicken dinner but I did. I was just so tired I wasn't thinking straight. I really wanted some good local seafood but that did the trick to fill my stomach and clear my sinuses. 

     It's the bottom of the ninth inning and after one more morning in the pond I'll be calling it quits and heading home if I can jump on a day-early ferry. The below memory popped up on Facebook from five years ago. It was Day 5 of that trip, and I got one bass that day, so maybe things aren't all that off.