Thursday, April 4, 2019

Native Plants Offered by Musconetcong Watershed Association

Native plants offered by Musconetcong Watershed Association:





FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Event Name: Musconetcong Watershed Association’s 8th Annual Native Plant Sale

Date: Saturday, April 27

Time: 9:00 am – 2:00 pm

Contact: (908) 537-7060 or info@musconetcong.org



Help pollinators and your garden this spring



Asbury, NJ  On Saturday, April 27th, the Musconetcong Watershed Association (MWA) will hold its 8th Annual Native Plant Sale at the River Resource Center -- 10 Maple Avenue in Asbury, NJ.  The event will go from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. and is held rain or shine.  Attendees will have access to local experts who can help advise them on selecting the right plants for their unique landscape.



In addition, the first 75 customers will receive a free organic seed packet donated by Pinelands Nursery!



Native plants are not only beautiful, but they are also essential to our ecosystem and local wildlife.  Because they require little to no fertilizers or pesticides, using them in landscapes and yards means less expense for homeowners.  Using native plants also reduces water consumption and lessens the amount of run-off that could reach local waterways, protecting our water.



While you are visiting, check out the native garden at the River Resource Center.  MWA’s native garden features flowering pollinator plants, shrubs, and vines that offer a lot of inspiration for what can be done on local properties.



The Musconetcong Watershed Association (MWA) is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and improving the quality of the Musconetcong River and its Watershed, including its natural and cultural resources.  To learn more about the MWA and native planting, visit www.musconetcong.org/native-gardening.

###

Thanks!



Karen Doerfer

Communications Coordinator



Musconetcong Watershed Association

10 Maple Avenue | P.O. Box 113

Asbury, NJ 08802

908-537-7060



karen@musconetcong.org

www.musconetcong.org


Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Tried Bedminster Pond Again


Told Mike Maxwell earlier they'd be hitting over there. Two of us stood outside, temps in the 60's. It's funny how in society we tend to be so sure of ourselves, even when, at least on a deeper level, we know better. Bass are fickle this time of year. Fishing can be real good, like March 31st last year at 56 degrees when I caught eight in about an hour at this pond. Or, despite even "better" temperature, they don't hit at all. There has to be some reason for it, and it is true wind had come up, the front blowing in, temperature slipping easily, but I don't know if that was why.

I soon switched out my Blue Fox for a Mepp's Aglia that allowed me a slower retrieve through shallows. I like the reflecto tape on the blade, too, in sunlight like this afternoon's. Soon after casting that more than a dozen times, I switched to a Senko, and after nothing took it along a sunny shoreline where I catch bass when they're hitting, I headed towards that deep corner I remarked on last week.

I began fishing the edges of all that brush in the water. You would think a few bass would be there and willing to take a Senko, but nothing happened. In the meantime, I noticed someone else was fishing the corner itself, so I left him alone, and eventually got back to that sun-exposed shoreline, switching out for the Mepp's again.

I did get some suspicious bumps. No weed came in on the treble. And you'd think one of those bumps, if it were wood, would result in some grab, but that never happened. It was if bass just bumped the blade momentarily. Who knows.

Bass are certainly there somewhere in that pond. I also saw a golden/white carp about 28 inches long, when I finished by fishing a pretty deep corner out of the sun near the lot. That fish moved along the edge just out from shore persistently, active as I expected of the bass.

Some kind of duckweed growing in the water.


Sunday, March 31, 2019

South Branch Raritan 53 Degrees this Morning

South Branch Raritan Ken Lockwood Gorge six days before the Opener.

If I were a true diehard, I would have got up at dawn this morning and fished Bedminster Pond. I know this, because I was right on the pulse of local waters during my teens. Yesterday, temperatures climbed to nearly 80. I think it was in the 60's when I walked Sadie near midnight. If I were still a true diehard, I would have realized dawn would be a real good time to fish bass today.

Trish walked Sadie early. It was warm out.

Instead, I had introduced Trish to Jim Holland at Shannon's Fly Shop in Califon this afternoon, and in the course of conversation, he told us the river's temperature this morning was 53. I was taken off-guard by this information, truly astonished...kind of like a greenhorn. Not like an angler who thinks first and foremost about the condition of his local waters.

I'm just being honest with you. First and foremost with myself. Such an angler as I admire in my mind at present is an ideal that possibly doesn't exist, perhaps, but he's certainly possible. And actually, by reading the NJ Fishing.com message board, I think quite a few of them do exist.

About a year ago, my life came to a critical juncture. I thought I could go deeper into fishing yet, immersing myself so deeply in nature that I would cross the line to identify myself primarily with the world outside, instead of with home and culture. Or I could stay within limits that, especially at my age, might be thought sane.





https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2013/09/four-pound-smallmouth-bass-south-branch.html