December 24 and 31, 2025 – A Couple of “Eves” in the Cold and Wind with Expected Results – SEPA

A chilly skunking.

Murphy’s Law: I have off from December 19 until January 5 and, with few exceptions, we are hit with unseasonably cold weather, not to mention ice, high winds, and other significant precipitation, frozen and not.  The couple of days when there was a window, I had other plans, but even those windows were short and hardly perfect winter fishing conditions.  In the winter, it’s often the fishing, however, not the fish.  What I mean is that I sometimes use fishing in the winter as an excuse to be outdoors.  A hike is fine, but a hike with a fishing rod means the possibility of something more, maybe a surprise piggy or at least a couple post spawn fish before the signs of the next spring creep in and the line between winter and spring blur?  Not this week.  The weather did keep everyone home or otherwise indoors, so I was able to explore two old favorites that I tend to ignore these days because the fishing and/or pressure have turned me off.  Because no one was out but me, not even dog walkers, I was treated to the nature show in the Lehigh Valley on Christmas Eve afternoon.  Besides the requisite waterfowl, I saw an eagle, many deer, and even had a rather close encounter with a coyote in the late afternoon.  They may have been pushing around a few small deer that I met along the creek.  The young deer certainly looked on edge, and the coyote occupied with more than my presence.  I covered a lot of water pretty quickly in hopes of finding an active fish or two.  It was not a day, or at least I was not in the mood, to set up with midges in a deep hole and just watch a bobber.  The water was under 40 degrees, so I was not surprised to come up empty.  Besides my last skunk on the surf, this was my first skunk of 2025—considering it is late December, I will take it and be content.

Low and clear and cold.

I barely avoided my final skunk of 2025 on New Year's Eve afternoon.  Again, I was fishing a “loved” stretch of SEPA creek in conditions that kept everyone else home.  Props to the two dog walkers and one jogger I encountered for making it outdoors today!  I have not fished this one since last February or March, I bet.  On small bugs, I caught a couple young of the year (from last year) to avoid the skunk, but I did hook a much nicer fish while swinging a jigged bugger in a deep wintering hole.  He got off, but his presence made me retool and tough it out with midges and a bobber in one spot for a good 45 minutes.  I watched at least two decent fish suspended up, sometimes slowly moving to bugs.  Since I saw no olives today, I am assuming they were midging.  I went down to 5X, a size 18 zebra midge, and a small olive on the dropper tag, but I was not digging out the 22s and 6X today.  At 4 PM on a day with a “feels like temperature” of 21 or something, I had run out of patience with tying knots in the wind for the day.  Who knows if they would have eaten anyway.  I did not spook them, but they were in a spot affectionately known as the spectator hole, so they’re not afraid to eat with an audience, and my stealth was probably just passable.  The bugger eat was my chance, and the only bugger eat I would get.  I did try at a few spots on the walk out, but I did not move a fish.  Murphy’s Law: It’s supposed to hit 50s next week when I am back at work.  Happy New Year, mitches!

Let's hear it for the YOY.

November 28, 2025 – Still No Bass but Over a Dozen “Jersey Tarpon” Away from the Crowds – Monmouth and Ocean County, NJ

Fly fishing if I crop out the SP minnow.

I packed up the car on Wednesday evening just in case I felt like getting up on Thanksgiving morning and trying to catch a bass.  I did not get up, but I left the ‘Ru packed for Black Friday, and I actually rolled out of bed for a dawn attempt today.  The boy had plans with friends that were going to go late, so he was out for this one.  I actually texted a bit with Sandy Dunkin, but we did not confirm anything up, so I was solo for this trip.  I drove to MoCo because it is the most direct and fastest route to get my eyes on some Atlantic Ocean.  I dressed just before sunrise, and it was already cold and blowing pretty well out of the W/NW.  It felt fishy as hell despite seeing zero boats or birds in southern MoCo.  I wanted a different experience today, so I took advantage of low tide to find some soft structure.  I wanted to manufacture my own mini-blitz on sandeels, the no show blitz where you only get mugged if you make too much of a fuss landing bass after bass.  Wishful thinking, or more likely nostalgia.  I do miss walking LBI and fishing every jetty, cut, and bar—but that was back before “The Troubles,” I mean “The Replenishments.”  There are places in northern Ocean County where that type of fishing is still possible, including the Park (on a weekday).  This was Friday, but it is typically a day off for many.  There have been some Thanksgiving and Black Friday blitzes over the years when participation was as high as a weekend.  Not today, or at least not in the several mile stretch of beach towns in two counties that I covered this morning.

Gusts over 30 MPH from the W/NW will definitely knock down a swell.

I resisted the urge to go look for a crowd further south.  This is the weekend that boats that are not paying for December get pulled, and hunters have other quarries on their minds, so fewer people is no sure sign that bass are not around.  Plus, as I said, I wanted a different experience today.  I have been fishing the last few years with the Boy, or Jeff, or Dolf, and doing whatever it takes to find a blitz most of the time.  Jeff and I have had a few mellower days hunting the Park and having a steady pick (or not) but mostly I have been chasing blitzes.  This is sometimes necessary adaptation too—don’t get me wrong.  Peanuts and adult bunker have replaced sandeels most of the time, and those are blitz bites during the day.  I will do what I have to do.  But I am more wired for the walking and throwing or driving and prospecting every bar.  That’s what I did today.  And, you know, the dudes I saw fishing today were doing that, too.  I wish it were bass that I found not hickory shad, but I did find fish the old way.  I found a couple waterfowl diving on sandeels in a pocket down current of a great bar, and I just camped out.  I ended up catching over a dozen Jersey tarpon on my deceiver teaser before I got bored of the action.  The hit is still fun, and a couple of times I wondered for a second or two whether I had a small bass on the line before the shad took its first leap in the air or gave a frantic head shake that was decidedly unbasslike.  The biggest were 15 inches, but they would have been fun for my son, who likes action.  I will save my treatise on what I think is wrong with this fall run for when I am sure it is over.  I am confident that the end will be sooner than later this year with another cold snap on the way after an already colder than normal fall.  I saw 46 F at the AC buoy today?  That said, I am not done yet, especially if I get some social fishing motivation from Pete or Dolf or Sandy Dunkin.  I might be chasing stocked trouts if I have to motivate myself for another solo shot.

Oh, there's the SP Minnow.  Wrong species, right style of fishing (for me) today.

November 23, 2025 – A Nice Day at the Beach for Humans – Monmouth and Ocean Counties, NJ

Dead sea: Good fish handling fatality?

Despite hosting this blog and belonging to the PAFlyfish forum, I stay off social media.  I can proudly say that I don’t have a Facebook or Instagram account.  I don’t care much for social media reports of fishing, either.  Most hot bite reports are at least a day late, but I have seen real time social media impact on the crowds.  “You gotta get here now!” posts with a well-known landmark in the background.  How do I know if I am not on the platforms?  Well, it is nearly impossible to avoid getting second-hand reports if you have fishing friends.  It was the Silver Fox this time who let me know about the blitzes on Monday, but I had already gotten texts from others with boots on the ground too.  It will be Dolf next.  I just fish, typically.  When the time is right, I fish the days I have available.  You mean it’s the third week of November, the ocean temps are under 55 F, a strong West wind is blowing and striped bass are being caught?  Wow!?  Really?  Hahaha.  That is sort of like saying, It’s mid-May and trout are eating these yellow flies with two tails every evening!  Just go fishing, mitches ;)

A gorgeous day for humans to have a stroll or a boat ride.

Anyway, fish have been around, and the boy is home for a long Thanksgiving break, the longest I have ever experienced, and I have worked at colleges most of my life.  He was basically done on Friday and does not return to campus until Sunday, November 30.  He was up for an early rise this morning, so I spent Saturday afternoon going through my surf plugs and gear to see what I could throw together for my first visit to the surf since the summer.  His waders still fit, and I found some nice plugs and metals and shads that would do the trick if we were lucky enough to get fish in casting range.  It was going to be a morning of driving around and looking for birds, bait, boats, jamokes, jadrools, jabronis, even the errant stocker locker on a lifted Taco.  The boy likes to catch fish, not stare at the water and blind cast like his dad.

The Boy didn't forget how to cast or get up early.

We arrived before sunrise but with enough light to dress like civilized humans.  It was cold on the way down, like 27F at one point, but the wind was light out of the West, so my gut was telling me it was going to be way too nice of a day to catch bass.  I wanted to be wrong, and we covered enough ground to get one potential shot at a small blitz.  It was just out of reach, even for me with a 10 ft rod, 30 lb braid, no teaser, and a 3 oz pencil.  We covered Bradley Beach to Seaside and back to at least Point Pleasant, mostly looking.  About two hours into the falling tide, we saw a small pod of birds and bait moving south, so I convinced the Boy to give it one last shot.  This was a lucky stretch of beach where he got a fish last year, so I was hopeful that the spot had some unknown magic.  There was too much water to see any real structural reasons why this beach could be a thing.  Anyway, they never got quite close enough and a bunch of amateur captains actually powered right into the schools.  I saw this a couple times today, in fact.  They just put them down.  We saw no fish caught, not even on the boats, and one woman out for a stroll in the beautiful weather said she asked everyone for a couple miles, and no one caught fish this morning.  It was a start, at least.  I have my stuff ready, and Thanksgiving morning looks just snotty enough to get me out of bed in the wee hours to give it another shot.

Big sky with jamokes, jadrools, jabronis, and mitches.

November 9, 2025 - I Get the Sense They Are Way More into Each Other than Me for the Time Being – NEPA

Big native....

Even though I was not fishing in very spawny water, I saw a redd this morning.  Like last weekend, I get the sense that the wild browns are currently just not that into me.  I scroll through the blog and see many successful early November trips over the years, but this year seems like it’s going to be different.  If that’s what it’s got to be, I am okay with it.  I hope they make a lot of babies, a lot, like mad YOY, yo!  I am sure with the drought conditions there was a good deal of predation and even stress from warm water this summer and fall. We may need a good spawn in order to correct.  The fallguys, however, they are living their best lives.  I must have caught ten of them in the places where trout should be.  Heck, I got three of them swinging a streamer, and more than once I had a perfect drift on a bouncy, trouty seam, and got clobbered by what I thought HAD to be a trout this time.  Nope.  Fallguy.  There were size 20 blue winged olives hatching sporadically, and at least the fallfish were on them.  Only one riser, but many of the fallfish took a small BWO nymph on the dropper tag—up off the bottom and actively feeding.  With the conditions this year, I did not expect a lot of rainbows to make it this far into the season, but of course the only trout I messed with was a rather solid rainbow.  She too was up off the bottom and took the size 18 dropper tag bug.  I did not even spook a brown trout this morning.

Did I mention it was gorgeous early this morning?

It was a beautiful morning too.  Rather mild, no wind, gorgeous.  That is until a front arrived about 11 AM and eventually chased me off.  Not before I got soaked to the bloomers, of course.  I guess I was hoping the clouds might really get the BWOs going or at least make the browns less wary and more willing to chase a bugger.  The rain came in waves and at times it looked like it might clear.  I was hearing Carl from Caddyshack telling me, “I'd keep playing…  I don't think the heavy stuff's gonna come down for quite a while...."  We all remember how the Bishop’s round ended.  I did catch a couple more fallguys in the torrential downpour, so I’ve got that going for me, which is nice.  I only saw one other fisherman way upstream, also standing out in the rain, maybe hoping for the same rainy spark to ignite something.

A healthy survivor also noticed the BWOs (while the browns were just chasing tail).

Besides the inconvenience of getting more rain and sooner than expected, I was just glad to be out there.  We finally got my wife a car on Saturday, so I am back in the old, old ‘Ru.  Meet the new ‘Ru, same as the old ‘Ru?  I briefly drove this one as my fishing vehicle before inheriting the Outback when my old man passed.  My wife had been driving it, so it was her turn for something new(er).  We actually found a 2024 Nissan with less than 7000 miles on it, so patience and a few bus rides to the regional rail station paid off.  The car still has half of its original factory warranty on it, and is certified pre-owned, so we did a lot better than I expected based on the total loss pay out we received.  She was not happy that she had to get the new “freedom” PA license plate, but otherwise she was very pleased with her new ride.  I tried to help by telling her that someone in the PA legislature wants us to become “front-platers,” so she avoided that one, at least.  The thing is, she’s originally a North Jersey girl, so born and raised a front-plater.  As for me, I had time yesterday to set up the little all-wheel drive Impreza, which fits my 10-foot rods and all my gear (just not raingear today) so if the fish were ready today, I was ready, no excuses.  They were not ready to eat, more like ready for love.  Hey, fallfish are natives, at least, and because I actually had polarized glasses with me this week, I saw a couple of them eat in the low, clear water.  It’s the little things sometimes….

Low water woes and another decent fallguy.

November 2, 2025 – A Tough One a Couple Days Too Long After Some Rain – Northampton County

One trout landed...

I still don’t have a vehicle, but my wife was kind enough to give me our one car to do a little therapeutic fishing this morning.  I was hopeful that the rain late in the week did some good, until I saw how brief the spikes on the gages were.  Saturday was still blowing after the front, but today’s wind was manageable.  It was cold, however.  With the extra hour of sleep due to clocks falling back, I was up and out bright and early.  I was streamside at sunrise, and it was only a few clicks above freezing, maybe 36F to start.  I did not drive that far from home, and planned to explore a section of creek that gets pounded as of late, so I wanted to be the first mitch out there.  With the water low and only slightly colored, it was not a bad plan in theory, but brown trout are dicks.  These fish in this here crick are no exception, but often times the holdover rainbows don’t get the memo and can keep it interesting.  Not today.  I did not catch YOY or suckers or chubs, which means the conditions had all the finned species feeling off.  I did not see ducks until 9 AM, and I spooked bedding deer twice at a time of day when I’d expect them to be moving around pre-rut—I did see two large bucks who were not happy with my bushwhacking!  I too was off my game.

A bluebird fall morning, chilly too.  Low water woes continue.

I resumed my second campaign on the war on leaves on Saturday, so I was feeling the effects of allergies from all the dust I kicked up with mower and blower. I also forgot to pack polarized sunglasses this morning—I have everything I need in my mobile fishing vehicle (RIP) typically. I remembered a buff and a couple other essentials, but did not remember one of the most essential fishing tools, especially in low, clear water when stealth and vision are necessary for success. I also rigged up with a fresh micro-mono rig last night, and I must of have been half blind from the allergens because I had technical issues (spool tangles) about an hour into my fishing. I had to unwind line and rerig, thankfully before I hooked and landed my one and only fish. I also tied on some potentially effective bugs last night in the garage, and those knots must of have been shite as well because I broke off my first fish with a gentle hookset. Things were just off, but I did connect with a solid holdover rainbow that was in nearly perfect shape when I had to rise to the occasion for a second (and final) time. Had I missed, it truly would have been a missed opportunity. Besides the first fish that I broke off with a normal hookset and bad knots, this bow was the only other taker in 5 hours of fishing! Tough day, but it was good to be outside on an autumn morning, alone on a pressured old favorite. I will get my act together again soon, I hope, at least in time for striped bass.  It is almost time to quit the trouts already!  I saw my first redd this morning....

Bonus shot.  A pretty holdover, anyway ;)

October 20, 2025 - Making Lemonade on So Many Levels - Berks County

Not too shabby, all things considered.

October has been interesting.  My son was in the emergency room for a couple days—out in Central PA, not anywhere near home—so I had just attended Family Weekend, then drove back out to the hospital the following week, and then he came home for fall break.  It was good to see him, of course, under any circumstances, but he is an 18-year-old with a lot of friends, so we barely got to hang out over fall break before I had to drive him back again.  I actually drove him back to school with two new college friends that live in the area, and that was fun, but on the solo drive back home, I was rear-ended about 90 minutes from home.  There were three other cars involved, a chain reaction caused by a young dude in a pickup truck who hit me.  No one was hurt, including the driver at fault, but the ‘Ru is a goner, a total loss.  Not that I want a car payment again, but at least I am physically fine and no one else was in the car with me. 

Low, clear, windy, and leafy = fall.

The accident was out in Berks County on a rural state road, and I had to drive out there today, clean out the car, and release the vehicle so that dude’s insurance company could pick it up.  The accident happened last Tuesday night, so by Friday they had accepted fault and given me a rental (a BWM X1, so really roughing it; I almost felt like I should tuck in my shirt and temporarily install a stocker locker with some Yeti stickers).  I had to bail on my camping trip with the boys at Poe Valley, which sucked, but not as bad as the fishing they experienced, apparently.  I also had to delay my start date at a new job by a day, but they were cool with everything, which is a good sign about the culture there.  I was not surprised, but I was grateful.  I had completed my responsibilities at the tow yard by 10 AM, and the small SUV fit my 10-foot rod, so what’s a guy to do with a day off work for which he will likely get reimbursed in the settlement?

A few average fish along with the dinks and chub life.

I stopped by the “world famous” Tully early in my drive back, but I am not a fan, nor a fan of chasing fresh stockers when there are other wild fish to chase before the spawn.  It’s the Tully, so of course there were some dudes out, even on a Monday—I still don’t know why this stocked fishery is a destination crick in SEPA, but I am glad it draws fishermen away from other creeks I do like to fish.  I was curious if the rain overnight had impacted the creeks in the region at all.  I was hoping for more rain, but the forecast had been changed half a dozen times.  The Tully looked on the low side of normal, but it’s a tailwater, so a release may have happened recently too.  At any rate, I convinced myself that rain had happened, and I would fish another much smaller creek that has a lot more natural reproduction.

A pretty autumn day.

Upon arrival, I accepted that the creek I chose was low, clear, and a recent victim of “leaf hatches,” which the drizzle and impending wind would certainly make worse today.  Nevertheless, I decided I was fishing it.  As I was suiting up at the BWM and feeling self-conscious about it, another fly guy arrived, but we discussed our intentions.  After trying two or three honey holes en route, I gave him and myself some space.  As a result of the longer walk, I got to explore more of the creek than I normally would, and I may have even seen a bit of water I had never seen, let alone fished, before.  The fishing itself was just meh with the challenging conditions.  I spooked some hiding fish and/or drove a few from the tailout into the heads of runs despite being stealthy as possible.  Riffles and deep holes, just like my last outing.  Deep holes meant a lot of chubs in a freestoner that gets warm each summer, and I even caught minnows.  Once in a while, though, I encountered a wild trout suspended up and looking for emerging bugs in the swirling and drowned leaf litter.  The best fish came from the head of a pool in a riffle not 8 inches deep, and I missed a few other short, sharp hits in this type of cover.

Chublife represent....

I was tossing a caddis larva anchor fly with a soft hackle/tag fly on the dropper.  While the minnows loved this size 18 emerger-looking presentation, so did half a dozen wild trout.  I caught fallfish, creek chubs, minnows, a small smallmouth bass, YOY, two year old dinks, and at least a couple decent small stream browns.  Drizzle had given way to cold front winds up to 30 MPH, so the low water was only the beginning of the day’s challenges.  Half a dozen trout, midday in wind and sun, especially in low water?  I was making lemonade.  And instead of being anxious about starting a new job in the morning, I got plenty of fresh air and exercise to help me sleep like a young mitch all night.  The accident stuff has not been resolved.  The pay out will determine next steps, of course, but I think the plan is to let my wife buy something new.  She is driving an Impreza that was mine briefly and did the job.  It is all-wheel drive, a hatchback, even fits a 10’ one-piece surf rod inside.  I do recall seeing 40 MPG on the display during a few trips to Central PA, which does not hurt either.  The Ru is dead, long live the Ru!?!?

Leaf hatch with little brownie.

October 9, 2025 – Small Stream Sneaking in the Skinny Water and Finding Some Success – NEPA

Early success (but not too early).

It became very clear that the little bit of rain that happened this week had not made any difference on my chosen crick this morning.  I arrived about 8 AM after letting it warm up some following the coldest night since June, so there was enough daylight to dispel any hope that a little stain or a boost in flow was present to help the cause.  I like challenges, and I like to be proficient in less-than-perfect conditions, so instead of heading to a bigger creek, I accepted the challenge.  I know this stream intimately, too, so I knew where to fish and how I might have to fish it in order to make lemonade.  By 2:30 PM, I had landed about a dozen trouts, a few of them very decent for a small freestone crick, so I was glad I stayed.  With one exception, a couple of young bulls tossing spinning rods and high-holing me, I had the crick to myself, so I took advantage of that situation.  I was covering water fast because I was skipping yards of boney, clear water and targeting higher percentage spots, so I actually covered a few miles of water, making two or three short drives and many long walks over exposed rocks.  I ended near the lower stretches, hoping to intercept some big, seasonal interlopers or lovelorn wanderers looking for a place to settle next month, but I only found a couple holdover bows down there.  Still, it was worth all the steps and drives.  I have never seen this creek so low, and that is information.  I made mental notes of the spots within the spots, less obvious cover, deep depressions, things I would not see in normal flows.  That is invaluable time on the water, and the fishing was solid, all things considered. 

Caught some fishes despite the low water.

Deep plunges were the first order of business, but because the leaf cover is still significant enough to offer low light until 9 or 10 AM, I did pay a little attention to deeper holes.  Fish can only do three things, or a combination of those three things, in water this low: hide under cover like rocks and ledges and wood, go deep out of diving range of birds of prey, or tuck up under the white water (or whitish water today).  I found my first fish and a second much better fish tight to a plunge.  Another good fish shot out from under a boulder to eat.  As the day got brighter, I could see fish in the deep holes and, with stealth, was able to target a couple.  At times they were with big suckers, a behavior I see in winter from time to time and during sucker spawn in early spring, and that resulted in me tagging a 20+ inch white sucker that provided the best 15 second fight on a 3 wt. in fly fishing!  There were some dinks and average small stream fish along the way, and even three rainbows, including one solid one in good shape.  I was fishing 5X with a 16 frenchie on the anchor and a smaller dropper, like a midge or riffle nymph.  With some small BWO’s around, the mayfly nymphs seemed to get more love than any caddis larva imitations, despite cased caddis regularly finding their way onto the hook of my anchor fly.

Boney enough to sight-fish a river monster ;)

My first stop was the longest, both timewise and walking-wise, and it produced the three or four good browns you see in the photos.  The second stop was short, involved me targeting a nice wild male and tangling with a relative of Karen the white sucker.  The college boys in sneakers and spinning rods that I let high hole me without comment were also a feature of stop number two.  My third stop was after 12:45 PM, so well past primetime, but also a hail mary.  I know from experience—and lost access to a stretch now posted—that big fish move through seasonally for the spawn.  They often stayed through the winter, as well, resulting in some solid pre- and post-spawn browns.  The creek is changing rapidly, and I have not intercepted this seasonal movement in a few years now, but with the high sun and low water, I was hoping at least to see a couple.  Here I caught a two-year old wild brown and two rainbows.  One bow was skinny like she’d just barely made it from the spring stocking and had washed down, but the other bow was far healthier.  It looked like a multiyear holdover, and my first impression said male.  Looking at the anal fin, that first impression may not have been wrong.  I am not saying wild, by any means, I am just saying that the Comish stocks females and mutant triploids.  This one may have been a wanderer or a club stocker, something different.  It was not a wild brown, but it was a fun fight and a nice surprise.

A couple more nicer fish.

Thursday, yo!  The reason I had so much water to myself—besides the windy, cold front conditions—was that I was out on a weekday.  I am using up PTO because I start a new job later this month.  Back to my roots.  For those who have read the blog for years, for some of you 10 years at the end of this year, you know I used to have time off for 100+ days of fishing.  I am not promising that with this new job, but I am saying that I will have more than double the days off in 2026, something like 41 paid days off.  I can’t wait.  Even with having to earn that time at a new job, I will still have an extended Thanksgiving and two weeks off for the holidays, a spring break.  I will continue to be a weekend warrior for the time being, but I do have a camping fishing weekend next week with Josh, Brian, Larry and Josh’s brother in law.  Rain would help, but today’s success proved a theory I have held about the fall for some time: low water or not, the better fish have to eat if they want to make babies in November.  Let’s hope I am proven right again on Penns next weekend!

A good long day and the first cold morning in months.