December 9, 2022 – Paying the Local Stockies a Visit While Surf Fishing is on Pause? – SEPA Freestoner

It was nice to be in the woods.

Well, the conditions at the beach took a turn this week, and they look to continue in a snotty vein for the foreseeable future.  I am hoping it is not over because, even though I grow tired of a blitz bite and the crowds, I was not quite done with the striped bass this fall.  I am hoping that mother nature has not made that decision for me.  I typically catch some short bass, sometimes many short bass, into the second week of December, and in really mild years, even into Christmas.  I would not mind a mess of shorts on light tackle, but I also have a feeling that things will be very different once this swell settles out.  I also wanted to get the boy on a bass.  I guess we will find out if the wading boots we bought still fit him this time next year….  So what’s a guy who can’t fish the surf and who doesn’t want to disturb the wild browns just yet supposed to do with the time? Stockies, of course!  If we get a few warmer days again, I am ready to chase some winter wild browns, but I was not driving too far today, and I was definitely not going to fish the kind of bigger creeks I like to target post-spawn.  A couple very local spots get a fall stocking, so I only had to decide between two nearby cricks late this morning.

Some fat stockies on small bugs.

I chose this creek because the Trout Unlimited chapter to which I pay dues actually stocks this one, so I know the fish have been in for a while and that there was the possibility of some quality fish.  I will visit the other creek on my list next week, another club stocking situation, I am sure.  I guess I wanted company because I texted the Silver Fox and young Eric, but neither could sneak away on a work-from-home Friday.  I ended up having the creek to myself, which ended up being what I really needed after a few weeks of social fishing.  I thought I would have a couple hours outdoors and land a couple trout, but since Tami left work early, I actually stayed out there for a good four hours and landed at least ten trout and messed with a handful more.  When it was still cold, I focused on a deep hole with midges and a bobber, but from about 1:30 to 3:30 PM I had some fun tightline nymphing small bugs in pocket water, which I did not expect.  I just don’t love to sit in a hole and fish, so I eventually went exploring.  Before taking a walk, I probably did land or at least turn every fish in one deep honey hole!  Fish get off barbless midges, especially when they are hot and beefy bows like these, but I did not care.  Close to a dozen stockies on a chilly, breezy Friday?  It’s not slot bass one after the other in the surf, but it’s not an altogether bad way to spend the afternoon either!

The first fish and the smallest one of the afternoon.  Not too shabby.

December 5, 2022 – A Least Until Sunset, There Was a Lot of Standing Around Watching Birds in the Distance – Ocean County Beaches

Tony's slot, bait and birds, no surf blitz.

Thank goodness Tony was there for some content tonight!  I met Jeff after 12 PM today, and we did a lot of sitting around and chatting with strangers while we waited for a bite that never did develop to develop.  We had a nice big and undisturbed bait ball just over the bar in front of us for a while, then we took a ride towards some life to the south, only to arrive to 50 dudes on the beach and several boats just watching birds hover over undisturbed bait schools.  There looked to be blitzes, possibly with fish under them, offshore quite a distance—the wind was blowing mostly South, so that may be why the bass stayed offshore.   We let the young bulls toss pencils over the bar while we spectated and shot the breeze, but nothing happened and the crowds dispersed, including Jeff eventually.  Tony was on his way down, as well, and when Jeff left, he was kind enough to send Tony a pin so he could find me.  Parking was not easy, so Tony was a couple blocks down from my “hotspot.”  As I was starting the ‘Ru to take one last ride before sunset, we found each other, so we took a ride together—first south for a bit before realizing we were both going to have to go north to head home.  We eventually landed at the spot where Jeff and I encountered the bait ball earlier in the afternoon, and we got some fish to cooperate.  Some more for Tony, technically, as he had a couple fat shorts before he found me.  He definitely had a slot keeper as our final fish of the night.  Some blog content!  I dropped my first fish, and did not photograph my second, which was likely 26 inches, maybe a couple inches bigger than the first one I lost.  At the time, I thought even shorter, but it was dark.  Seeing my pic of Tony’s fish, which I thought was 26 at the time of release and was much closer to 29, my fish just grew, I guess.  That was it, and maybe until Friday or the weekend.  I still want to get my son on a bass this exceptional fall.  I am nearly done with crowds, and miss the trouts, but I would brave the blitz-chasers one more time for him to land a couple, I think??

December 1 and 2, 2022 – A Day of Fun Catching Followed by a Day of Fun Fishing – Ocean County Beaches

Def not just me and my shad shadow this week.

I played googan one day and shoobie sharpie the next?  These blitzes, you know?  They are the equalizer.  You can be a total newbie on a good text chain, hear about a blitz in real time, show up with no waders and a pencil popper from Dicks, and you can pose for hero shots on the FB holding up 15-to-20-pound class fish.  After the skunk last week, I needed a sure thing, so I did the old drive down before high tide in full daylight and look for birds and boats and crowds.  As a result, I did have a banner day with over a dozen fish, at least 4 in the slot keeper size, and several on poppers.  I was fishing alone on Thursday, so I planned to fish with Brady Windknots, Tony the Squid, and Sandy Dunkin on Friday.  Because Dolf and Tony couldn’t get down until 12:30 PM, I met Jeff a little earlier and searched for action.  We missed a short blitz, and after driving around a bit, just decided to fish like civilized men and, eventually, to drive onto the beach in the Park.  It was packed, but the extreme blitzes of the day before were tempered in the area we were fishing by the South wind.   That said, Tony and Dolf had a banner 30 minutes on a blitz well to the north of us after Jeff and I had already aired down and committed to the Park.  There are still many fish in Monmouth County, which is great for the upcoming week(s).

Poppers, bunker tin, baits big and small.

On Friday, Jeff only had one come up on a popper, so that was not great, nor my wish for the day.  But I ended up slowing down and getting into a groove.  I had fun catching a half a dozen mostly shorter bass and one or two slot fish while stopping at soft structure like a proper surf fisherman!  On Thursday, the fish were on adult bunker with some peanuts around, but in the Park, I had shad and smaller rainbait at dusk.  For two days in a row, I landed doubles, as well.  If you count the two 14-inch shad I landed, I can say three doubles in two days.  I get lazy about the teaser.  It is wise to take them off in blitzes, and pretty useless and a drag on aerodynamics with a popper, but you know how it goes in the heat of the moment.  On Thursday, I had a 30-incher take a classic AOK Tackle peanut bunker tin and a 25 take the deceiver on the dropper loop!  I had the 10-footer with a 500(0) series reel, so I was able to land them both without too much incident—like landing, what, a 25+ pounder in the surf, so not a huge problem, but still fun in a crowd.  

Another day another double.  Jeff, sunset.  The black SP scores shorts after dark.

After sunset on Friday I had a 28 take the teaser (all the rainbait, I guess) and a short fish take the black SP Minnow.  That was a little more work on my 9-foot bomber rod, but at least it was not my schoolie/rat rod that sometimes takes a ride in December each year!  Made it happen with some effort and no crowds around.  Apparently, Dolf broke a rod on Friday when he kept the teaser on during a blitz and hooked two 12-15 pound class fish (those 30-inchers again) even though I told Tony and Dolf not to do it.  Do as I say, of course, not as I do…  Hopefully more to come this week before a prolonged South blow!

West is best?  South is...

November 25, 2022 – Maybe Getting Locked Out of the Buggy in the Park was a Sign – Ocean to Monmouth County (and back again).

Keys locked inside, Seaside to Asbury and beyond.  Nada.

I met Jeff and Tony outside IBSP at 5:45 AM this morning, and with the three of us we had Jeff’s truck aired down and driving onto the crowded beaches at Gilikins before false dawn.  There were a lot of buggies, mostly driving around or waiting for some signs of life (or more likely a text from buddies to the South).  Betty and Nicks may have been trying to drum up Black Friday business by giving the old, Should have been here yesterday message, and Jeff along with many others bit.  It is prime season, however, so they may have been there anyway.  Honestly, I thought Ocean County might be ready today regardless of reports and forecast, as the recent big push of fish in MoCo had been around for at least a week.  We made a few stops at soft structure, and we had one shot at a small blitz that was just out of reach.  We also had the time to make some blind casts while waiting for the Park police to come and unlock Jeff’s buggy, whose keys were inside on the console!  My fault for invoking his infamous nickname in my last post.  He gets so excited and talkative while fishing that his rods always end up in the sand, or he can’t find his phone, or he has to rerig during a blitz—he is just that guy some mornings.  Sandy Dunkin.

And it was raining in a SSW wind!

We stood in the rain in solidarity with him a while, then Tony and I worked both sides of a good sandbar looking for at least a short.  Once the kind officer popped the door, we got out of the Park and did a tour of northern Ocean County, all the way to Deal in Monmouth, poking our heads over the dunes several times looking for the kind of life we saw on Wednesday.  Nada.  Low visibility in the rain, but the boats were out of sight except at first light when we had SW winds and no rain.  There was a light wind out of the South for a while, but not really enough to spoil the surf, which remained clear and fishy looking.  In fact, the wind had already turned West by the time we quit looking for fish at 11 AM.  Feast or famine with this blitz bite.  Famine today.

November 23, 2022 – A Rather Auspicious First Fall Trip in the Surf – Monmouth County Beaches

Our first couple in that 26 to 27 inch range.  A few slot keepers followed.

I met up with Dolf and Tony the Squid to chase the bass down the beaches this morning.  It is a peanut bunker blitz bite thus far, so the potential for feast or famine.  I had a little intel from Pete, who got an earlier start on this fall’s run, and he had some skunks and some memorable days on quality fish, so I expected either/or this morning.  Thankfully, we ended in the win column.  Between the three of us we beached 5 fish from 26 to 29 inches on big 6-inch soft shads and messed with a couple more.  There was more bait than bass after the first push right at sunrise and shortly after, but we had a couple other shots at fish up until 10 AM.  We chased them down the beach for a while, and at least twice we had bass mixed in with the peanuts, but the water was crystal clear and the surf flat and calm with a light West wind, so the bass got spooky and finicky it seemed an hour after the sun was up.  We were eating breakfast in a diner by about 10 AM, happy with our first trip of the fall.

Tony in action.  Sunrise.  Dusted off the big shads.

There is always a chance for a blitz at any time of day with miles of bunker in the water, so that was why we kept at it after our first successful blitz intercept.  It was those first two hours that made our trip worth it, however.  I landed one in the 27-inch range that hit at the beach lip even before the blitzing started, and then Dolf had a twin in the same jetty pocket a few minutes later.  Tony, Dolf, and I also had slot keeper fish when another pod came through and harassed the schools of peanuts.  This is North Jersey, so we had crowds around us in no time, but we were the only googans to hook up during the first blitz.  Some dudes are married to the popper in blitzes, but we were just ripping shads about a foot under the surface.  We returned the favor later as we drove south following birds, boats, and bait, but it was a similar story for all the mooks on the beach after 9 AM.  Bait everywhere, even doubles on the shad and teaser if you threw too close to the main school, but picky fish.  That first two hours was well worth the ride: Some quality fish from the beach in that 12 to 15-pound range with the chance for even bigger!  Back at it Friday morning with Tony the Squid and the (in)famous Sandy Dunkin.

November 7, 2022 – Winter is Coming? – Lehigh River

A lot of river shots today.

For a November day that peaked in the mid-70s, it looks awfully wintery in my many crick pics today.  It sure got brown in a short period of time in NEPA.  Don’t let the temperatures fool you, for the leaves are gone above Route 80.  The reason for all the photos of the river was probably because I was mostly here for the overall experience today, I think.  I just like the hiking and climbing and aerobic wading.  Of course, the lack of fish pics is also a sign.  I should know by now that the river is a crapshoot in the fall.  So much depends on how warm it got in the summer and where the fish went.  I rarely find a stocker this time of year, and today was no exception.  I worked a full 8 hour shift for 7 or 8 average wild browns.  I like to go this time of year because the flows are so wadeable, and I have a chance to fish water untouchable at other times of the year.  I had a small flurry of fish eating size 18-20 olives around noon.  I think I landed 4 in a row then in one hole and dropped another 2.  Otherwise, the other fish I landed or messed with were tight to cover in the high sun and low water, tucked right up beside boulders or in pockets.

Under ten average fish, low water, leaves are down.

I first fished a short section closer to Lehighton where the gage was just over 500 CFS.  Besides a few obvious holding spots that I worked far too long, perhaps, the rest of the river here was uncharacteristically uniform looking.  It was good to see the few clear examples of holding water and eddies in the low water for reference points when the flows are up again this spring, but I did a lot of wading into position here for short drifts over the prime spots with nary a bump.  No bugs were hatching, so I was fishing either a golden stone or a big pheasant tail jig to approximate a slate drake nymph.  Hoping for caddis or olives, albeit tiny ones, I did use a dropper all day too.  The only pattern I established for that magic hour at my second stop 40 minutes up-river was a small baetis nymph tied off the bend of my anchor fly.  A couple hit the small bug on the drift, but two of them also took it as the swing began.  I stayed long enough to fish a bugger towards the end of the day, but I did not get a follow.  Fishing a jigged bugger deep on this river means finding every unseen boulder and log jam.  Even with 3X and current helping, I eventually snagged and freed a big jig enough times that the hook actually snapped, prompting me to call it a long day.  A fish an hour?  Yeah, but plenty of outdoor time on a warm and breezy November day, so things could have been much worse.  

See you in the late spring, LR.

November 1, 2022 – Another Surprisingly Good Late Morning Under an Hour from Home – SEPA

Shy of hero/selfish photo category, so just "hand with fish" today.

Unlike Monday, there was a bit of a stain this morning from about a quarter inch of rain on Halloween night.  The trick or treaters beat the rain mostly, and I only stole one bag of candy from the neighbors while being made on the Ring camera….  They were out and left candy out for the kiddies, so I was being a nice neighbor and saving the bowl from the heavier showers on the way, and I only took one bag, I promise!  The rain did not move the gages much, but it did send down the leaves and add a bit more color.  The creek today even had a tannic look to it, perhaps because of the decomposing leaves already littering the bottom of every back eddy.  I was not hopeful when I worked through a couple prime runs and only stuck a few YOY and one 8 incher on small bugs, but I kept the faith because I had a feeling a run of pocket water upstream might be better with the presence of small caddis and the air temps nearing 65 degrees around 11:30 AM.  Yeah, it was another later start on purpose.

Small bugs was a smart move, but the move to 6X had almost predictable consequences.

I do love the early morning even if the bite takes patience to develop, but it was just cloudy and drizzly enough this morning to convince me that this popular little creek would potentially offer some solitude and some action.  I was right, thankfully.  As I alluded to above, it took about an hour and change to get really productive, but I had a nice 2 hour window of good fishing, including landing a decent one and breaking off another even a couple inches bigger.  I know I have written about this creek and how plain, nondescript, and small bugs tend to produce.  No different today.  I landed around 10 real fish, and almost all took a small brown nothing hare’s ear or a caddis larva.  One or two took the dropper, a little mayfly imitation in size 18.  That was the bug that fooled one about 17 inches that I broke off.  It’s been a while since I have broken one off while fighting it, but I had to try and stop this little piggy from diving into a mess of limbs and rocks. Of course, I had been fishing 5X all morning and made the unwise decision to rope down.  When I had to retie after treeing a couple bugs with an ill-advised hookset, I wondered if this little bug might dance better and get down in the riffles quicker with lighter tippet.  I just wrote yesterday about not tinkering if something is working too.  Had I not landed a nice mature small stream fish not three casts before, I may have been more pissed.

A couple more shots of the nicer one.

These two nicer fish, and at least five others of various sizes, including a few more YOY I did not count in my nine or ten total fish count, were up off the bottom and actively taking nymphs or emergers in braided and pocket water, some right on the current seam like it was late May or something—what I had been hoping for since perhaps my last experience of that ilk on the Brodhead last month.  I considered making another move because I had time to fish a while longer, but I kept to the plan in my head about just working this productive pocket water and then calling it a day.  I did not expect it to be as good as it was, but that happened on Monday too, so I remain grateful for the nice weather, some close to normal flows, and these hungry fish close to home, even if I miffed my chance at this month’s first hero shot.  No redds visible yet in the usual spots, so I may be back in the next week or so before the window of opportunity closes.  Judging by the colors of them today and how some were grouping up together yesterday, I would say it won't be long and/or is probably happening in some places in the region already.  Almost time to oil up the surf gear and dig out the junk flies for the stockers!