tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92092864687960225872024-03-17T23:02:29.360-04:00Litton's Fishing LinesAn Angler Always Finds a Way.Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.comBlogger1820125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-37515625161144068222024-03-12T23:31:00.006-04:002024-03-15T20:08:23.777-04:00Morris County Brook Trout Stream<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOPM75qkTzYCg7x5KtJKmuFmAuLVwPZMC509VvP8rVYr9L8A66fvhyphenhyphenI01hQuHVl47H9vy8EWMirxbnYy00kUyXN5DAxXq_x5Z7jyjJHYuoi1HkoL-kbGLhssLiEBtNGd-oxS16h8nif_liZ3F0NgmQqlhvjOjoDsGETpOzu1tELHTTvC4xVrJ7c5No8P4b/s1000/Electric%20Brook.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOPM75qkTzYCg7x5KtJKmuFmAuLVwPZMC509VvP8rVYr9L8A66fvhyphenhyphenI01hQuHVl47H9vy8EWMirxbnYy00kUyXN5DAxXq_x5Z7jyjJHYuoi1HkoL-kbGLhssLiEBtNGd-oxS16h8nif_liZ3F0NgmQqlhvjOjoDsGETpOzu1tELHTTvC4xVrJ7c5No8P4b/w400-h266/Electric%20Brook.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Inspired by John Garbarini's wild trout catches displayed on Facebook, and remembering what Gerry Dumont told me during a recent interview, I decided to try a native brook trout stream that careens down a mountain. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">First, I tried to access the brook from below, from near where it enters a river, but I found residential lawns bordering on it. So I parked in the lot of a county park, realizing I might have to hike well down below to avoid the warmwater influence of a dammed pond. (I caught a 14-inch largemouth on a spinnerbait in that pond some 10 years ago.) Of course, this time of year, who knows? Do brook trout swim upstream?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In any event, from what I've gathered, a quarter mile below from where the South Branch departs warmwater Budd Lake, the river is full of native brook trout protected by myriad springs that keep the water chilly. I figure the same must happen here, but how far down? In the photo above, you see I found a plunge pool I couldn't pass by. But it was maybe 300 yards below the dam. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I went further downsteam and attempted to work a good-looking pool with a seven-and-a-half-foot 6X leader and two feet of tippet. A mess. Not nearly enough control. So I removed the leader and just tied on three feet of two-pound test. Gave me all the control I needed, until I came to another deep plunge pool. Put a BB split shot on and got the #12 Pheasant Tail down there. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I found the rocks difficult to walk. They were everywhere. I had to climb a steep hill back towards the car. I hadn't much time and did not get very down below the dam. In the open-air Loree Chapel, I sat on a varnished bench that looked new, and I felt deeply moved by the cross in front of me. So I stayed put maybe five minutes. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I came to resolve I hadn't expected to come to. Down among those rocks, I feared for my lower back, as traversing the terrain required putting it into positions that caused pain. And I <i>never </i>want to get hospitalized for it again as I did last summer. Besides, throw it out down among rocks and I might have a very trying time getting back to my car! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Well, sitting on the bench I recognized I felt no more pain, my fishing had been successful insofar as its management was concerned. So the problem was less real than complicated by subjective fears. I'm no old man, not yet. I can do this. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Skunked, though. Again. I see what's online, so I know something of what's possible in New Jersey. I'm proud of the fact that I've caught some natives and wild trout myself. Wild browns and one wild rainbow, besides a number of wild rainbows I caught in the mountains of Georgia.. Native brook trout, I've caught plenty of them in New Jersey, some in New Hampshire. But I'd like to make some outstanding catches, besides once catching four or five native New Jersey brookies as big as nine inches, and today I was trying to gauge how possible it might be, given that my elasticity is not that of a young man now, and I have only so many years. I catch a lot of largemouths. You know? Maybe stick to what I do best. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But I'm not going to give up. Only a couple of years ago, I felt the same about fall and winter river trout. I had gone after them, had a few on, lost one at my feet, but just could not make any catches. Now I've got that fishing under control. At least with a spinning rod. (First step.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Speaking of which, I noticed today that the South Branch at Long Valley is running reasonably clear and not very high. At High Bridge, it was somewhat high but on the clear side. My wife and I had taken a hike at Round Valley, our black Lab Loki and my camera along, got take out from Metropolitan Seafood, and driven to Gronsky's after eating at the main launch. I realized I should have taken my spinning rod with black maribou jig along. There's a good spot right above where we sat at a picnic table and ate ice cream. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXxtjJKWmQrtghcAstKXJnT4GsYX1OTSQZaf9TBp7vgiH4E4LnwBaVWsLKkFGGRYoJaCOHv5C_s8xO_ol-xjTq0DTz5Z4o-IhFapX2WuW8NMtvY8miYP6nYSFB4fszZBe7pUV37Cj267qeNVhbYOKtiy21j8ixzOb16jToR82L2GsPu-gGLFJ3K7N_xuu/s2992/DSC_1933.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2992" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXxtjJKWmQrtghcAstKXJnT4GsYX1OTSQZaf9TBp7vgiH4E4LnwBaVWsLKkFGGRYoJaCOHv5C_s8xO_ol-xjTq0DTz5Z4o-IhFapX2WuW8NMtvY8miYP6nYSFB4fszZBe7pUV37Cj267qeNVhbYOKtiy21j8ixzOb16jToR82L2GsPu-gGLFJ3K7N_xuu/w400-h268/DSC_1933.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Brook's rocks and riffles.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSyMNy9Or0wyBpr_aZAJpxrKytySFko9rrAlBRnWIP8intOZhsJj2gZqRxvgqzp9F97dzChUyklQggXoN8cZ5M7TFaMWxI5IsblKuyaa5rZDRWNFwwopnifSbf7PyrwGgIKcLjl2bB5qADPrXe1zm4VgjBUIPxl2BscW0U80lBPcEXV3Tma91avBgqmxEU/s2992/DSC_1934.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2992" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSyMNy9Or0wyBpr_aZAJpxrKytySFko9rrAlBRnWIP8intOZhsJj2gZqRxvgqzp9F97dzChUyklQggXoN8cZ5M7TFaMWxI5IsblKuyaa5rZDRWNFwwopnifSbf7PyrwGgIKcLjl2bB5qADPrXe1zm4VgjBUIPxl2BscW0U80lBPcEXV3Tma91avBgqmxEU/w400-h268/DSC_1934.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sort of pool I know from experience can hold a trout or two.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWzazcGiNrGFkN6ncflQW3nO-5ECdDlApmTQWXpHfFiruYggnNG1KeHnM8IKYZRKiUBVoCp5L3fxtSiR6KENZPeHn_sGy_1zNyexAxKrMVR36IrNi8b-vMx5WLMRGeVz_6QClQ-RiOGju33QpC84GJyXYT1zfymG6UNbjuGI4kFuoMi4a798sOziauU1SX/s2992/DSC_1935.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2992" data-original-width="2000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWzazcGiNrGFkN6ncflQW3nO-5ECdDlApmTQWXpHfFiruYggnNG1KeHnM8IKYZRKiUBVoCp5L3fxtSiR6KENZPeHn_sGy_1zNyexAxKrMVR36IrNi8b-vMx5WLMRGeVz_6QClQ-RiOGju33QpC84GJyXYT1zfymG6UNbjuGI4kFuoMi4a798sOziauU1SX/w428-h640/DSC_1935.JPG" width="428" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Look at the rocks.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4X54ZkFObNZuj2FrQL7nUljE1FZghtauW3d6P614NHDAmt3GFuvknEiaXLr7zjk9HdiBY79btY0ldWW9o6RFBUh2mfIZ1cqP-Tx-gWK4heaQfCudO65Wz-wE2Q-d5qbdkOSj574mJY-bRmnOmiBz-iZyNOMfEVptr40-2EHP7b2Pdq6Xkf34DLemOwqtC/s2992/DSC_1936.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2992" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4X54ZkFObNZuj2FrQL7nUljE1FZghtauW3d6P614NHDAmt3GFuvknEiaXLr7zjk9HdiBY79btY0ldWW9o6RFBUh2mfIZ1cqP-Tx-gWK4heaQfCudO65Wz-wE2Q-d5qbdkOSj574mJY-bRmnOmiBz-iZyNOMfEVptr40-2EHP7b2Pdq6Xkf34DLemOwqtC/w400-h268/DSC_1936.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgv-2maY2d3L_VvS67d88ipOo6yuXkrIN2rlkYtoymywoHPHT-6YclO65e-gtWhERqKHZEZgjQD2jKwzyYZGWFdul_SXYmQhnyqu96YDsCp97AvFssA9I6_YJWZRwIVEG3NE1b71kgiMvnhf3-61mn10pvGqIk_UGVD4cdn4uzSCO09UR-dWlEFYYXwKqlt" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="133" data-original-width="200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgv-2maY2d3L_VvS67d88ipOo6yuXkrIN2rlkYtoymywoHPHT-6YclO65e-gtWhERqKHZEZgjQD2jKwzyYZGWFdul_SXYmQhnyqu96YDsCp97AvFssA9I6_YJWZRwIVEG3NE1b71kgiMvnhf3-61mn10pvGqIk_UGVD4cdn4uzSCO09UR-dWlEFYYXwKqlt=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div>You can see Trish in the lower middle.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2023/12/423-pound-rainbow-jigged.html">4.23-Pound Rainbow</a><br /></div><p></p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-12156490400202318382024-03-11T00:53:00.000-04:002024-03-11T00:53:07.291-04:00Georgia Yellow Perch Has New Jersey Beaten<p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmARFvKedRfZz8HCW2KNBYyh70PdK3JEY3W_jbF8FRxu7EGevM3RzuIUQwJQB2BTag8fzFJu79y-xA-O3zV9hQVyd0sIY1RNkAgTrRbPhlcQMLvjeQ9LimMxST0kW6fJ4Jf4sv_2qU658c-e6ogjenPhV7sETr-1kZ0aaCQbDwiQq7yZ616NYe3MMu9ZE0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjmARFvKedRfZz8HCW2KNBYyh70PdK3JEY3W_jbF8FRxu7EGevM3RzuIUQwJQB2BTag8fzFJu79y-xA-O3zV9hQVyd0sIY1RNkAgTrRbPhlcQMLvjeQ9LimMxST0kW6fJ4Jf4sv_2qU658c-e6ogjenPhV7sETr-1kZ0aaCQbDwiQq7yZ616NYe3MMu9ZE0=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div>Round Valley Reservoir<br /><br /><p></p><p> <a href="https://southernfishingnews.com/news-stories/forsyth-county-angler-reels-in-a-state-record-tie">Southern Fishing News</a> A tie for the Georgia state record yellow perch at two pounds, nine ounces was recently made by angler Emerson Mulhull. The fish measured 16 inches long, and my first impression was that it had to be smaller than New Jersey's record. But I checked, and ours is two pounds, six ounces from Holiday Lake, 1989. Since I'm witness to Lake Hopatcong yellow perch 14 inches long, I figured they must grow considerably larger here. More than 16 inches. </p><p>Put into perspective by the south. </p><p>I'll be passing through Georgia, I hope, in two years from this past January, as I plan my Florida trip. I might spend some time in Georgia, although as yet, I don't know where to fish. I have caught fish in that state long ago, but way up in the mountains, when I discovered a small trout stream while hiking the Appalachian Trail. Caught wild rainbows. Good eight-, nine-inch fish.</p><p>I'm certainly interested in catching big largemouths in Florida. Brian Cronk wants to meet me down there, and in addition to fishing the Keys for big saltwater gamefish, try Rodman Reservoir for big largemoths. He's good at bass fishing, but we hope Florida has our big ones up here beat. </p><p>I'm driving down. Brian will fly down and I'll meet him at the airport. Fred Matero is my inspiration for the driving and he would be great to meet at the airport, too. </p><p><a href="https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2019/01/nice-ice-fishing-on-private-lake.html">Ice Perch</a><br /></p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-38925691650392933892024-03-05T22:10:00.002-05:002024-03-05T22:10:29.847-05:00Links to Bass Fishing History of the Northeast<p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiiJBP_a6R-wMJgKe84JcwkGP7sZWMinpNn12sB_EiH9MWR9khnA3jzwBkcJn5AGQ4LZWDPstVUoqlOgetIIfHC-ptNUeJdS1WpQc5RmlIOrSkcGc1GBYJAXoBszsFFrYNJwVXG1YMo0VZHL1fiYTaOgPLFjtm46qcrUNeIepNQNQtgcuJt3HoVeTmigP-T" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="406" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiiJBP_a6R-wMJgKe84JcwkGP7sZWMinpNn12sB_EiH9MWR9khnA3jzwBkcJn5AGQ4LZWDPstVUoqlOgetIIfHC-ptNUeJdS1WpQc5RmlIOrSkcGc1GBYJAXoBszsFFrYNJwVXG1YMo0VZHL1fiYTaOgPLFjtm46qcrUNeIepNQNQtgcuJt3HoVeTmigP-T=w405-h640" width="405" /></a></div><br />I fished Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts with a Hampshire College economics professor. He caught a largemouth as big as mine, photographed here from Merrill Creek Reservoir in New Jersey, but never mailed me the photo I took of him with it. So I have no photos of New England bass. I quit Hampshire shortly after we fished.<p></p><p><a href="https://www.onthewater.com/the-history-of-largemouth-bass-in-the-northeast">onthewater.com 1</a> </p><p><a href="https://www.onthewater.com/the-father-of-new-england-bass-fishing">onthewater.com 2</a> A couple of articles from <i>On the Water, </i>one on the history of largemouth bass in the Northeast, the other on the history in New England of black bass in general--largemouth and smallmouth. It wasn't until 1850 when Samuel Tisdale acquired 27 bass from Saratoga Lake in New York and put them in Flax Lake near Wareham, Massachusetts, that New England had any. <br /></p><p>Both of these articles are good reading for anyone interested in history. And any of us should at least know bass in the Northeast are not native, including here in New Jersey. </p><p>I read James Alexander Henshall's <i>The Book of the Black Bass </i>years ago, but that book got published in 1881. The evidence <i>On the Water </i>presents is that the movement that amounted to making the black bass the nation's most beloved gamefish, which Henshall applauds, as I remember, was already well underway. </p><p>I love the stories I read somewhere. Maybe in Henshall's book. Maybe elsewhere. About smallmouth bass loaded into stream locomotive water tanks in the Midwest and driven by rail to the Northeast, where, I believe, the trains would stop on bridges over rivers and throw bass into the water below. </p><p>How many years have bass occupied the Raritan system? We probably will never know...</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2021/04/big-bass-and-pickerel-early-season.html">Nice One</a><br /></p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-41811286216922454722024-03-04T00:22:00.003-05:002024-03-05T23:43:56.003-05:00Grouper Season Restricted <p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEie4K32rI9zAhuGG79qJcvN_I6FoH1S6kYtCFIs__i1C87Jhv85hrnUT1erQW04JEORBPniX2VfjTsztVcMANhrnvSlBHApstNa1Me5RM9Ow7XQhSHPWDDaF9JBLuJF7rGdpxjF-plR1w-BD9MQZzSb9nx1cJKNQZvgbAB6atdBDbenFsx0okFvX2bp2RSy" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="427" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEie4K32rI9zAhuGG79qJcvN_I6FoH1S6kYtCFIs__i1C87Jhv85hrnUT1erQW04JEORBPniX2VfjTsztVcMANhrnvSlBHApstNa1Me5RM9Ow7XQhSHPWDDaF9JBLuJF7rGdpxjF-plR1w-BD9MQZzSb9nx1cJKNQZvgbAB6atdBDbenFsx0okFvX2bp2RSy=w427-h640" width="427" /></a></div><br />Red grouper from behind Big Pine Key<p></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.sportfishingmag.com/game-fish/gag-grouper-season-closes-in-october/">sportfishingmag.com</a> From what I understand, the grouper fishing in Florida isn't what it used to be, so it's not surprising regulations have cropped up to try and rebuild the fishery for gag groupers. Charters have lost bookings due to the restrictions on seasonal closures, but there're more fish inshore and offshore.</p><p>I'm all for better fisheries in Florida, where my son, Matt, and I have caught some groupers. As I remember, my first was a 16-inch black grouper I caught from the bridge to No Name Key while fishing a jig at night. That was 2007 and an interesting memory to entertain. I certainly made sure not to miss out on trying for them after dark as well much of the days we spent during a week there. The fish fought as if I had hooked a bull. A 16-inch fish. Almost as hard as a tog fights. Tog you have to horse away from rocks. I remember hooking another grouper, I believed, which I lost. Had to have been four pounds, I figured. </p><p>Matt caught a grouper of unknown kind while trolling from a sailboat in the Keys. He was on a Boy Scouts adventure. Estimated the fish at seven pounds. The two of us are very interested in the grouper family of fishes, although Matt is even more interested in catching a mutton snapper. </p><p>I'd rather catch a keeper grouper. My biggest red grouper during our 2020 trip, 19 inches, missed the legal mark by an inch. They all fight very hard.</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAmGNVnWDFv94jZt5126ENz6-Uw02Qq0xMiRDp9aGJo2bCDxi1cMAHKPF8Smawp-OFaD62KIziGxVAiTQ6Dpeyfve4krs3riLOWkxTQwrbai9HGol4FY8weT8QeZKf2wSLLyLWPbPiINI2mGEL_uw2v8qB8as0h6u_zD1gxDTcXXfjQ91tdZlDsFFtu3Ba" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="400" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAmGNVnWDFv94jZt5126ENz6-Uw02Qq0xMiRDp9aGJo2bCDxi1cMAHKPF8Smawp-OFaD62KIziGxVAiTQ6Dpeyfve4krs3riLOWkxTQwrbai9HGol4FY8weT8QeZKf2wSLLyLWPbPiINI2mGEL_uw2v8qB8as0h6u_zD1gxDTcXXfjQ91tdZlDsFFtu3Ba=w400-h268" width="400" /></a></div><br />Grouper I caught at Ocracoke NC, possibly a gag grouper.<p></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWwfXMvhcmOI6qKZPkUocMsP67VJhLUxZrUl6hBKiVp9srQkUUaGEeqLZTm7rZcWzmySZNfPZa6R9F1Vr1Bk6QSUOT12ZPauWimVTLOVEnAUtrFPYTfsWZAzbMEHyjCyN4FMHUfi5uYNkXKzQIV3iPUZ2O7OETm7nq10MtMExbc-vSu9norJQgdu7tGslt" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="427" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWwfXMvhcmOI6qKZPkUocMsP67VJhLUxZrUl6hBKiVp9srQkUUaGEeqLZTm7rZcWzmySZNfPZa6R9F1Vr1Bk6QSUOT12ZPauWimVTLOVEnAUtrFPYTfsWZAzbMEHyjCyN4FMHUfi5uYNkXKzQIV3iPUZ2O7OETm7nq10MtMExbc-vSu9norJQgdu7tGslt=w427-h640" width="427" /></a></div><br />Matt's black grouper trolled in Bahia Honda.<p></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6zqsk21QATfXqhGmse_Ag1zQneMa42PBYCUIE4Jj0JgKaqCR0JnuUVZyjwjqoVD_L1R18IU2ueAKBFqS0Fz2u4AGEYIx-bV-tHa46QsqoSvjpsrP69Ygjgaq_37N4hF_E_zs--olE1enG488LYiNdnmT9ECp1h859OgBNG55KYoUC-uZGfw0DMHJ97beP" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="214" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6zqsk21QATfXqhGmse_Ag1zQneMa42PBYCUIE4Jj0JgKaqCR0JnuUVZyjwjqoVD_L1R18IU2ueAKBFqS0Fz2u4AGEYIx-bV-tHa46QsqoSvjpsrP69Ygjgaq_37N4hF_E_zs--olE1enG488LYiNdnmT9ECp1h859OgBNG55KYoUC-uZGfw0DMHJ97beP=w429-h640" width="429" /></a></div><br />Not sure which species, but feel free to comment, if you know. We had been catching snappers under legal size and other small fish on shrimp. I got the idea of trying cut bait, which a few grunts supplied. Right away we started catching small groupers like this one. <p></p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-39721983322750620102024-02-29T22:23:00.003-05:002024-03-03T00:36:25.955-05:00NJ Trout Stocking Meeting Thursday<p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjR6N3P3LzEMXli1W0NkrNQcVUxq9dznGMS6-OxQZkPgnhogsMWzQH7dyh4Y5fgMUBq9cwM8YSLn5ZO-FFzw5cGwzxz2poWfbMZpeopmmHi2Alyiz4fI4Ap2TKcUD1uJOEyJE10NU3JMjFHU4Qpfct_WktXHc6JYxlp1O-wBQWhrOMhE5t8WcM6fHrjvSnu" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="512" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjR6N3P3LzEMXli1W0NkrNQcVUxq9dznGMS6-OxQZkPgnhogsMWzQH7dyh4Y5fgMUBq9cwM8YSLn5ZO-FFzw5cGwzxz2poWfbMZpeopmmHi2Alyiz4fI4Ap2TKcUD1uJOEyJE10NU3JMjFHU4Qpfct_WktXHc6JYxlp1O-wBQWhrOMhE5t8WcM6fHrjvSnu=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><a href="https://dep.nj.gov/njfw/news-2024-02-27-annual-trout-meeting-thursday-march-7-at-7-00-pm/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery">New Jersey Fish & Wildlife</a> Thursday, March 7th, 7:00 PM online. Everyone invited. I've never attended because I've been busy. Thursday at 7 I'll be on the job at the supermarket, but I want to give voice to my appreciation. Whatever some say about New Jersey's trout stocking program, for state officials to invite anglers to meet about the issues is as it should be, I think. </p><p>I know a lot of people wonder if the state will ever stock browns again. I never hear about brookies, because I think everyone understands that with the (relatively) new legislation enforcing catch and release in the interest of preserving native populations, we can let stocker brookies go. I've heard no one protest that new legislation. It seems understood we're doing the best for the State Fish.</p><p>I also hear that feeding the rainbows at Pequest Hatchery is becoming onerously expensive. Maybe the price of a trout stamp will have to rise, I don't know, but if costs are becoming too much to meet, what else can be done? </p><p>Any event, like so many others, I enjoy fishing stocked trout in the spring. When I'm doing it, it feels as natural as the stream itself. They're raised in spring water, after all, and none of our public waters is outfitted with feeders. They acclimate pretty quickly. I keep in mind the original trout stockings of the 19th century. The thought of "introducing" trout, essentially an idea in keeping with nature. True, in many streams they won't last until July, but even there, they're introduced for a couple of prime months. </p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2020/08/new-jersey-trout-fishing.html">New Jersey Trout Fishing</a> </p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-79212800927922848552024-02-27T21:47:00.003-05:002024-02-27T22:46:35.352-05:00Removal of Musconetcong River Warren Glen Dam <p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-wj9ag1x2BFjKsgsrNGJPTLkdMD0U9c4m_pZiMj5hK_WaxkS2vspyY0l3e-rjwvc_BF0CcpEv4yJDjdfs_eYf4TxTKzPuEOp4EpHLTL801908jRxWyWf5HV9_oQsu8DTK5KTggHhweFMmFjDuElZUk5qGp9OdDEsePRRjDXIB5Q5KxZW8ivKsPxRA6_0h" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="398" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-wj9ag1x2BFjKsgsrNGJPTLkdMD0U9c4m_pZiMj5hK_WaxkS2vspyY0l3e-rjwvc_BF0CcpEv4yJDjdfs_eYf4TxTKzPuEOp4EpHLTL801908jRxWyWf5HV9_oQsu8DTK5KTggHhweFMmFjDuElZUk5qGp9OdDEsePRRjDXIB5Q5KxZW8ivKsPxRA6_0h=w400-h268" width="400" /></a></div>Free flowing Musconetcong River<br /><br /><p></p><p><a href="https://www.musconetcong.org/_files/ugd/79d237_525f38c51b5d42acabed3beeb2de5aca.pdf">musconetcong.org</a> <a href="https://www.musconetcong.org/warren-glen">Musconetcong Watershed Association</a> I don't have a date as to when the project is slated to get physically done, but I got the written press release from the Musconetcong Watershed Association, which has no link to it, but informs us about funding. Quoted below is information about the check itself copied from that release. The two links I have provided for you will tell you more about the Warren Glen Dam and the removal of it coming, as well as about other dam removals the Musconetcong Watershed Association shares critical responsibility for. </p><p>"To advance this project, MWA will
present NJDEP with a check for $210,000 on Thursday, February 29, 2024, from 11
am to 12 pm at the MWA River Resource Center, 10 Maple Avenue, Asbury, NJ
08802. MWA received this nat<span class="normaltextrun"><span style="color: #2d2d2d;">ionally
appropriated funding </span></span>from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service <span class="normaltextrun"><span style="color: #2d2d2d;">for preliminary studies needed
to remove the dam, and coordinated efforts with New Jersey Fish and Wildlife, a
partial dam owner, to strategize the removal of the dam. </span></span><span class="eop"><span style="color: #2d2d2d;">These funds </span></span>will be used to
finish an engineering report critical to the execution of the project.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">The event will feature remarks
from NJDEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, MWA President Richard Cotton and MWA
Executive Director Tom Dallessio, followed by a presentation of the $210,000
check to NJDEP, symbolizing the mutual commitment to this crucial environmental
restoration effort. Attendees are also invited to join a tour of the historic
Asbury Mill and Musconetcong Island Park, showcasing the direct benefits of the
project to the community and environment," says the Musconetcong Watershed Association.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">It's been an exciting decade and some additional years, regarding all of the dam removals and stream restorations. I've done my best through these years to keep abreast of and report on the issues not only in the blog, but for different news outlets, including the New Jersey Herald, Central New Jersey News, and USA Today. I know the work I've done is not as much as some have expressed desire of me to do, but first and foremost I can say I'm proud of the work they and others have done. To be associated with these dam removals at all is a good thing. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><a href="https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2019/10/lamington-river-dam-removal-begins.html">Burnt Mills Dam Removal</a><br /></p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-39036062783668003572024-02-23T23:44:00.006-05:002024-02-24T00:48:42.227-05:00Delmarva Fishing Report Nostalgia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwkkbtx2rBnQAB7yd_a_hI4ZQ1UdoCoBO12rQ7pyWFATUHfvjPhbnJusyZuw_st5c8IerjHzwtgfLve0IYvjfxE515jkz7PLH0nCKu-BW-5LtwURCMnCntE4b6Opf4GI1f-8BXtHGgsrgqKOW8dD2Lm9_Pdp_DBwPbj9lfUngLmY3cqIDgFnsrbcJbUPNC/s1000/blog-4%20(3).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwkkbtx2rBnQAB7yd_a_hI4ZQ1UdoCoBO12rQ7pyWFATUHfvjPhbnJusyZuw_st5c8IerjHzwtgfLve0IYvjfxE515jkz7PLH0nCKu-BW-5LtwURCMnCntE4b6Opf4GI1f-8BXtHGgsrgqKOW8dD2Lm9_Pdp_DBwPbj9lfUngLmY3cqIDgFnsrbcJbUPNC/w400-h266/blog-4%20(3).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Matt Shark Fishes Ocracoke</p><p><a href="https://fishtalkmag.com/fishing-reports">fishtalkmag.com</a> Delmarva reports. Nostalgic for me, because I've been riding down that peninsula to Virginia Beach and on south to the Outer Banks since I was eight-years-old, at least until 2018. You never know if you're ever going back, when your son has moved to the West Coast. BUT...once I retire, I can just drive down there. lol. </p><p>It is 13 hours to Ocracoke. Including the wait for a ferry, which can be an hour, and the ferry ride is at least 45 minutes. It is a long way down the beach from Kitty Hawk. And at Ocracoke, that's where the buck stops. The Outer Banks are only about halfway done at that point, but no more highway or roadways exist to take you further south, although there are boats to various island sections. </p><p>But about Delmarva, I have fished the Susquehanna Flats, which these reports call "Way North." The other day, I wrote about being a member of Mercer County Bassmasters. I remember that for our Spruce Run tournament, we stayed at the Sunset Motel, but I have no more memory of that. It is interesting, though, that many decades later, I met a man some 10 years younger than me, a popular New Jersey poet, BJ Ward, lauded with many honors, who had worked as a waiter at the Sunset Motel's restaurant. I told him about that, but if he was awed--as I was--it stayed hidden. He autographed a copy of one of his books for me, joking about how, if you change the "a" in waiter, the word is "writer." One of Ward's books, <i>Gravedigger's Birthday, </i>is endorsed by Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Stephen Dunn. Another greatly awarded poet, Stephen Dobyns, also endorsed the book. </p><p>Another decade and some years passed, and BJ and I communicated on Facebook Messenger about pike fishing...at Spruce Run Reservoir. He was going with his son? Or was it a friend?</p><p>In any event, it's one of those cosmic connections that keep repeating themselves. Trying to get a message through. We think we think in the head. But something else thinks us. </p><p>But here's what I was getting at. Mercer County Bassmasters not only held a tournament on the Susquehanna Flats; it was the most memorable tournament for me. I might have caught a smallmouth bass. I know one was caught. The water is big. Wide. Bay-like indeed. Biggest bass caught was an even four pounds, but there were some others. We stayed at a motel, and I distinctly remember playing cards. </p><p>Amazes me how long ago that was. Going on 50 years. And to have living memory from events that long ago. I had passed that region while traveling south to Washington DC a number of times. Havre de Grace. </p><p>I kind of like having a Delmarva fishing report I can find online. </p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2023/10/narrowing-it-down-to-big-one.html">Big One</a><br /></p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-32042173919522838322024-02-22T00:08:00.001-05:002024-02-22T00:08:33.956-05:00Santee-Cooper Bass Tournament <p><a href="https://www.bassfan.com/news_article/10906/Prespawn-Tactics-Should-Prevail-At-Santee">bassfan.com</a> Major League Bass Pro Tour is holding a tournament on South Carolina's Santee-Cooper Lakes from this past Tuesday through Sunday. "It'll still be cold..." I read, and a lot of rain has fallen, possibly rendering some of the lake unfishable, though pre-spawn tactics are anticipated, some of the bass to be caught in the trees. Santee-Cooper Lakes are "full of cypress trees." Click on the link if you care to read an informative article about the event.</p><p>Cypress trees must be cool to see. I never forget the first time I drove past the lakes on the way to Florida in 1984. When you're only 23, age 18 seems a lifetime ago. At 18, I gave up on fishing bass tournaments. I began fishing B.A.S.S chapter tournaments with the Mercer County Bassmasters when I was 16 and could still dream of becoming a tournament pro. No pie in the sky. I took trophies from guys twice my age and older. Next to me, the youngest club member was 23. He proved to be the best at the game, too. </p><p>I had a chance and Tim had my back better than anyone else did. The guy who was 23. But I was also writing about fishing for magazines...and reading novels. You know what happens next. A conversion happens and the ambition changes. I wanted to become a novelist. </p><p>But when I saw the sign identifying Santee-Cooper when I was 23, even though I was infinitely wiser than I had been at 18 when I fished my last tournament on the Salem Canal, Cumberland County, New Jersey, I felt a rush of recognition like none other the whole way down to Grant, Florida. I read Bassmaster Magazine religiously during my teens. Santee-Cooper was like a household name to me. So to actually pass by the lake, that was quite the rush.</p><p>I know. What is a 16-year-old doing with a bunch of older bass fishermen? Drinking beer in strip clubs, at that? Those were the 1970's. A free world. I looked 23 anyhow. Talked like it, too. And placed in bass tournaments. Won one of them. </p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-65617179828928287602024-02-20T18:34:00.007-05:002024-02-21T14:34:41.155-05:00Wading to Where I Expected Trout<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTdIBD00PNcQ-f-hb1u6M1x9H7x9tHKCFSRG7Vkii6aAd5pvXSfLVaKzp4NOCg4Pb_fYJWLBSI3eQXa6s4FKECp02uH9zPLtzRNyFKMlwivRb6EjPjLd105iHUamZSLNgOvwt2wj-4kw3Ht_V2fV9Mo8Jv7S9s06DBzACBfoulQkCynyUEGWSTfO-bnBh2/s2992/DSC_1912.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2992" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTdIBD00PNcQ-f-hb1u6M1x9H7x9tHKCFSRG7Vkii6aAd5pvXSfLVaKzp4NOCg4Pb_fYJWLBSI3eQXa6s4FKECp02uH9zPLtzRNyFKMlwivRb6EjPjLd105iHUamZSLNgOvwt2wj-4kw3Ht_V2fV9Mo8Jv7S9s06DBzACBfoulQkCynyUEGWSTfO-bnBh2/w400-h268/DSC_1912.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p>I caught the trout where I expected to catch one. For months, I've thought of going to Neshanic and making my way downstream. There's a spot I know about from way back. All this time, I've imagined finding trout there.</p><p>I didn't expect to go to Neshanic today. There's another stocking point from where I would have walked well upstream. With the snow on the ground, though, I didn't find any parking. </p><p>Beginning elsewhere, however, was an interesting exercise I decided upon as I drove from Bedminster. A spot where I've never got skunked. Today, I waded out, got into position, and then I noticed the brown of flood detritus and bare trees looked distinctly rust-colored in the sun. That was really quite unexpected and it surprised me, my emotional response lowering my anticipations even deeper into realism, everything about the trout seemingly brought low as if none held in the currents now. The sap of life gone like a rusted car body, and I got not a tap. </p><p>Then I drove from there to Neshanic, where the water above the white bridge is very interesting, but nothing hit. Another guy came down. We talked for a few minutes, and then he took position a hundred feet above me. </p><p>I started wading downstream. </p><p>My lower back has been giving me trouble today, and it wasn't entirely comfortable out there for that reason. Temperature got up to at least 39, and I never felt cold. Not my bare hands, either, except for my left hand after I released a sucker I had snagged. Never troubled with gloves. It did take effort wading my way downstream, but it was a pleasurable way to release mere convenience. I cast as I went, aware that maybe there'd be a trout my black maribou jig would cross paths with. It wasn't until I got a cast right on the spot where I expected trout, that I got hit, and I played the fish patiently. It put up a good fight on my four-foot, six-inch St. Croix ultralight, but was only about 15 inches. A couple of casts later, I hooked another, but it got off. </p><p>I might have got a foot or two of better reach with a five-and-a-half-foot ultralight, and I have one by Shimano, and another I built from a St. Croix blank, but my casts pretty much got where I wanted them to go. I was aware they were a little short sometimes. I like that little rod, though. The fight of the sucker I snagged in the back was a lot of fun. I thought I had a smallmouth. </p><p>It wasn't, I believe, true that I "had" to do some trekking to catch trout. I know people today suspect everyone is lying, but the guy I spoke to seemed an aboveboard character. I decided to come back his way to tell him of my catch. He also told me of his!</p><p>"It was only five minutes after you headed down that way," he said. "It was 18 inches. I put it back."</p><p>"Good to know there's some fish."</p><p>Told me he caught it on a worm. Another reason I don't believe he lied.</p><p>There's a line you cross between the online world and the real world. But what is the online "world"? Everything that has become routine within its parameters. This post is part of it, but it does point to what lies beyond, and that's a world very similar to the world I lived out during the 1970's. A world in which I felt free, except when I was in school. I got beyond school every day, fishing, and otherwise. A world exists that the online cannot capture. It's always moving. It can't be caught. It can only be lived. </p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH3b7vVzhhSMC0AvNwxgb4sVpDw2BgG7h31gTZQuiPXyyHz2gtx7Xl89EQjmTv3GExbzh4kDZbJjcZACxg2v7yD5M5-mup9CwXxA00t3IOjcBdclzXA14BUNGItaUocWvj5UcHxYv0Tfa_1GRImil9BHvuc7ZhHh2snyyxGBLwT01TEwbVqlT2lOyC2i8p/s1000/SB%20Snow.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH3b7vVzhhSMC0AvNwxgb4sVpDw2BgG7h31gTZQuiPXyyHz2gtx7Xl89EQjmTv3GExbzh4kDZbJjcZACxg2v7yD5M5-mup9CwXxA00t3IOjcBdclzXA14BUNGItaUocWvj5UcHxYv0Tfa_1GRImil9BHvuc7ZhHh2snyyxGBLwT01TEwbVqlT2lOyC2i8p/w400-h266/SB%20Snow.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2023/01/nice-rainbow-river-fishing.html">January a Year Ago</a><br /></div><br /> <p></p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-66546832931816118542024-02-17T22:32:00.004-05:002024-02-17T23:11:20.396-05:00Califon Dam Removals and River Restoration<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVwKSzaK5WrqFq7VUoAZqKwkMlXJzphhRZ-0y9wARCky6NS01U5syT_oGwhhzMcjqU1g0LuQ45igaBSO0FJFqAA81Qpxvf7M9PH7_au8ob7R82z0eElRfD3W1AlaASthoahkW8FM2Kh_f4znThizv5zqfNs86y-EbQW2D6wp2YYCuL58DMZfawv5FJ7ZtM/s1000/Matt.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVwKSzaK5WrqFq7VUoAZqKwkMlXJzphhRZ-0y9wARCky6NS01U5syT_oGwhhzMcjqU1g0LuQ45igaBSO0FJFqAA81Qpxvf7M9PH7_au8ob7R82z0eElRfD3W1AlaASthoahkW8FM2Kh_f4znThizv5zqfNs86y-EbQW2D6wp2YYCuL58DMZfawv5FJ7ZtM/w400-h266/Matt.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Sluiceway down below the dam in the town of Califon. This spot is now posted. According to Dumont, it "always holds fish." My son and I failed to catch any on that March day I photographed Matt trying. We tried and tried. Interestingly, sunlight singled him out when I shot the photo, so he was overexposed. He alone, which is kind of cool, even though it destroyed the photograph for any large print use. You can tell because his face and hands are grey. I compensated by reducing highlights in Lightroom, but the overexposure was too much.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">I'm writing an article for <i>The Fisherman </i>about the South Branch Raritan River. Should be published in June. I interviewed one of the many guides working for South Branch Outfitters, Gerry Dumont, gathering information about the river. I always collect a lot more than I can use, which got me thinking this time: I can use some of it for my blog. Information I can't use for the magazine. I felt inspired by what I will relate to you as too important not to divulge. </p><p style="text-align: left;">According to Dumont, "We're gonna have a little bit more trout water--what I consider trout water--by, not this trout season, but the following one. We're expecting in June, at least the dam above the shop, I'm pretty sure that's coming out this summer. And we're hoping that the other dam below the shop--the big dam in town--that's planned to be coming out, too, and they're going to restore, it's got to be close to two miles of river. That will lower the water temperature in the (Ken Lockwood) Gorge three or four degrees in the summertime." </p><p style="text-align: left;">So that's breaking news from a primary source. Stuff online about dam removal in Califon is very little and requires--besides what I screenshot, below--passing a paywall.</p><p style="text-align: left;">As I began to say in the caption to the photo above, we've lost some water between the town and Hoffman's Crossing Road just above the beginning of Ken Lockwood Gorge. As Dumont put it, "Some areas are now not able to be fished. With COVID, there was a lot of problems. Some places got posted." And he added, "Things happen, things get closed," but with the dam removals and the restoration, water worth respecting will become available. We don't expect another mass exodus into the outdoors as COVID inspired, so we can probably keep the newly flush riverscape.</p><p style="text-align: left;">With lower water temperatures and improved habitat brought about by river restoration, it's easy to imagine that the numbers of benthic organisms and their insect hatches will improve, and that, naturally, so will the wild and native trout population. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikQCG7DePHoWGRG0yCQxxJOsI3jjY_wuvRut6hl09EK7qvKe4tzC6L9lhpKY21eeBDc_4oexEzxZZES-WXQmAidBbY5P1XFKdUuUq_gitfeEH6aA1G7clNVuM7eIWo-tpCSal-pojjpzahusUBdVRLCJJ-o_xSBE4r3XA5T1D6t1AF63ORltVyg4AjeRyl" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="964" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikQCG7DePHoWGRG0yCQxxJOsI3jjY_wuvRut6hl09EK7qvKe4tzC6L9lhpKY21eeBDc_4oexEzxZZES-WXQmAidBbY5P1XFKdUuUq_gitfeEH6aA1G7clNVuM7eIWo-tpCSal-pojjpzahusUBdVRLCJJ-o_xSBE4r3XA5T1D6t1AF63ORltVyg4AjeRyl" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(newjerseyhills.com)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2017/04/califon-south-branch-rarital-rainbow.html">Califon</a><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-83506635870774333782024-02-13T21:04:00.001-05:002024-02-13T21:04:15.672-05:00Sedge Island for Youngsters--Excellent Adventure<p><a href="https://dep.nj.gov/wp-content/uploads/njfw/sedge-island-field-experience-2024.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery">NJ Fish & Wildlife</a> </p><p><a href="https://dep.nj.gov/wp-content/uploads/njfw/sedge-island-field-and-research-experience-2024.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery">NJ Fish & Wildlife</a> (Two links to separate dates)<br /></p><p>Every year, I post about the Sedge Island experience for youngsters grades 7 through 12. On an island in Barnegat Bay behind Island Beach, they stay in rooms in a research facility. Click on the links to get an idea of the deep educational value New Jersey Fish & Wildlife offers students. </p><p>When my son did Sedge Island two consecutive years, the program began with kids who had finished 6th grade. I guess that's what they mean by 7th grade. (After 8th grade, Matt went on a Boy Scout sailing adventure in the Florida Keys.) For Matt and the others with him from throughout the state who did Sedge Island, it wasn't all science and research. They fished blues, and I believe fluke and some other species. They ocean kayaked. They treaded clams, and judging from what he told me, the clamming was pretty good. </p><p>Currently, youngsters from grade 7 to 9 get to explore, in addition to the biological life of the bay, Barnegat Bay history, and that's interesting to me. I read <i>The Bayman </i>by Merce Ridgeway, which goes into Barnegat Bay history in depth. Ridgeway was a clam raker, coming from a family long in the tradition. Treaders are the new wave--or were. I haven't heard of anyone treading NJ bays commercially since 1993, but I have heard that the clams are coming back.</p><p>I think of the hard clam as the bellwether for the decline of the ecological health of a bay. Someone on Facebook pointed out to me recently, however, that the clams were never lost altogether in Great Bay, because the volume of transfer between inshore and marine brine flowing through Great Egg Inlet is so much the greater than in the bays behind Long Beach Island. Behind the island, most or all of the eel grass was lost to excess nitrogen and phosphorus leached into the water. Clams depend on eel grass, because once they hatch from eggs, they swim freely before attaching themselves to that grass until they mature enough to fall off and take hold on bay bottom. </p><p>Let's hope the best for the bays, and for the youngsters who get to experience Barnegat Bay firsthand. It's truly an excellent adventure for them.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2012/06/adventure-in-underground-economy-when.html">When We Shelled It Out</a> </p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-50096748710695151422024-02-12T22:37:00.002-05:002024-02-12T22:43:24.152-05:00Roscoe New York Trout Town USA<p><a href="https://www.roscoeny.com/two-headed-trout">roscoeny.com</a> Outdoor writer Jim Stabile sent me information on the Two-Headed Trout Dinner event at Roscoe, New York, in April. "Trout Town USA." That immediately made me think of my wife, because I had--fairly recently--spoken to her about the possibility of a future trip up there. I knew nothing of the dinner that celebrates the opening of fly fishing season. I had thought of the other attractions the town offers--little shops and restaurants--that might appeal to her. The dinner incorporates businesses in town, so there's more to it than trout fishing. Even so, in the final analysis, it's almost pointless for me to pitch the dinner as an event to attend, although she might like the town as a Bed & Breakfast destination. </p><p>More than a decade ago, my son and I visited Roscoe, staying at a campground at town's edge. We actually camped beside the Beaverkill. That's where our allotted space happened to be located. It was August, and our main plan was to fish Pepacton Reservoir for smallmouths. The owner of the campground persuaded us to try for big brown trout, too, lending us a couple of rods rigged with color-coded weighted line and silver trolling spoons. We also rented the rowboat from him.</p><p>We caught no trout, but my son did catch a little smallmouth, and I caught a channel cat that looked like a trout. We jigged both of the fish, and many rock bass, besides. The water is so clear that the catfish was almost white, except for black spots. </p><p>We had time to fly fish the Delaware River East Branch after lunch, catching nothing. We also checked out the confluence of the Beaverkill and Willowemoc, noticing some persistent rises, but the water felt about 70 degrees to me. Too warm to catch and release trout, so we didn't fish there. The West Branch was cold. </p><p>What I remember best of all is getting up before first light the first morning, feeling how fresh the 48-degree air felt in August, building a fire, boiling water, making coffee and getting started on it, all before my son awoke. That might have been the best coffee I've ever had.</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLIdVGFvCFOodLYT0Ur2pqW0xGo85YhA7zUMyj8XbPhna1S7A1a9uGXwq0KooZSaakwJd5GINsSGB3Wd8OCKRUEKV8QVDARfhSF1u7op_1qX6eiCsRzhWqR6fiWwgtf0WeGVx6VNgft99CVPkNl6epZUKfEr2hes4WB5VZtuvtDYm4aYSRyjo55V-TK9P6" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1071" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLIdVGFvCFOodLYT0Ur2pqW0xGo85YhA7zUMyj8XbPhna1S7A1a9uGXwq0KooZSaakwJd5GINsSGB3Wd8OCKRUEKV8QVDARfhSF1u7op_1qX6eiCsRzhWqR6fiWwgtf0WeGVx6VNgft99CVPkNl6epZUKfEr2hes4WB5VZtuvtDYm4aYSRyjo55V-TK9P6=w429-h640" width="429" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEuNocHH29eJnKgRpibn7MzMLTVBdlEcyRJjYdF6ZkZY9hKePnRPJ7w5ehBADor1gHYHqjRS8dXw-JzZl_Mvjt0ocTOlT-c41Mq5-RL8lL6GAccScUxpsQQZPVWzE_hodbICbrjv0f4SntbKgrL7XTS02uJRKj-4viuVeMiohCwXLUAuxTV3f5Jtertolu" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEuNocHH29eJnKgRpibn7MzMLTVBdlEcyRJjYdF6ZkZY9hKePnRPJ7w5ehBADor1gHYHqjRS8dXw-JzZl_Mvjt0ocTOlT-c41Mq5-RL8lL6GAccScUxpsQQZPVWzE_hodbICbrjv0f4SntbKgrL7XTS02uJRKj-4viuVeMiohCwXLUAuxTV3f5Jtertolu=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2013/07/pepacton-reservoir-smallmouth-bass.html">Roscoe Trip</a><br /></div><br /><p></p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-12808601358237982552024-02-09T00:04:00.004-05:002024-02-09T00:34:28.209-05:00New Jersey Shark Attacks<p><a href="https://www.app.com/story/news/local/animals/2024/02/05/shark-attacks-rose-2023-jersey-shore-surfer-bite/72435702007/">Dan Radel Asbury Park Press</a> The news story is about shark attacks on the rise, one of them in New Jersey last year, though not fatal. I wanted to add to the record, though the two incidents happened decades ago in the 1980's. I was attacked by a shark, but of course I never reported it. Nor did an acquaintance of mine, after I witnessed him get attacked. Both incidents were nothing to alarm authorities about.</p><p>We were clam treaders. I held a commercial license, my acquaintance recreational. Both incidents happened along a deep channel where large boats travel. I clammed alone minutes from sunset, up to my shoulders in brine where I worked the edge of the drop off lowering down into 15-foot depths. My back was turned towards those depths for a moment, when a tremendous pressure wave knocked me forward. I knew that had to be a brown shark, but a big one. They have teeth but don't use those teeth on people. But they will careen into you with great force. </p><p>That's more like what happened to the other guy. The shark came at him at waist level, and he actually got his forearms underneath it, lifting it out of the water, which I witnessed. Not a very big shark. It appeared to be about four feet long.</p><p>Since it happened after the big one had me walking steadily to my boat, I immediately remembered that solitary incident. I had never panicked, but it made me feel uneasy. The size of the shark felt scary. Its pectoral fin must have come very close to clipping me with a lot of force. </p><p>It's funny, but I remember the sun from just after it happened to me. Big and red, but still just a little sky underneath it, summertime. I walked towards the sun as I walked towards my boat. It's as if, on an unconscious level, I took enough of a scare to feel especially drawn to the life force. </p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-74888298134071531732024-02-06T15:47:00.004-05:002024-02-18T22:11:24.041-05:00Sunlit Temps Over 40 Stimulate Winter Trout<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhccrZZypLju-s8RGtj0u-BXftXmuh8cg2Gn1kFY_pDXtC8qLYlajSLqFvR68qRJZMGT5i55mKvXuDaN22dWRe7dHnl-FMxBMw2xBITXyUNJ7t3kDxZTQgjYbT5yXz8xexASqs2wR2HUfaRkAELQK01HeNTrDifnwMRhDzx41SOeJK8A3a1YyDHxByQgUuq/s2992/DSC_1833.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2992" data-original-width="2000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhccrZZypLju-s8RGtj0u-BXftXmuh8cg2Gn1kFY_pDXtC8qLYlajSLqFvR68qRJZMGT5i55mKvXuDaN22dWRe7dHnl-FMxBMw2xBITXyUNJ7t3kDxZTQgjYbT5yXz8xexASqs2wR2HUfaRkAELQK01HeNTrDifnwMRhDzx41SOeJK8A3a1YyDHxByQgUuq/w428-h640/DSC_1833.JPG" width="428" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Any of us sometimes depart for an outing not expecting much more than the quality of the day. It will almost be enough. Last I got out before today, the temperature was 38 degrees and rain fell hard, mixed with some snow. I fished as hard, wading on downstream, knowing that if I happened to put my jig in front of a trout, I might get hit. So I worked at that, and yes, eventually I did get hit. Hard. But I missed it. That happened in a stretch where I caught a 15-inch wild brown in November 2022, so it might have been another one or even the same fish I released. <div><br /></div><div>Today the air was almost dead calm. The sky cloudless, The temperature about 43. Last night was cold enough that I noticed thick skim ice on one of the ponds in my neighborhood. I wanted to hit the river while the sun was high and the temperature nearly peaking out. I'm not especially experienced at catching the winter stockers, but I hear that they hit especially before the sun begins to get low, when its rays warm the water a little. Temperatures above 40 accompanying that light on the water and on the rocks underneath are especially desirable. Trout get caught on frigid days, but supposedly they prefer such days as today.</div><div><br /></div><div>Even so, I wasn't especially ready for the fish, even though I caught them at the spot I visited today in January and February of last year. My first cast resulted in a fish on for a few seconds. Shortly thereafter, I hooked up and played a nice rainbow almost to the net before it got off. That's when I felt I'd had all the action I'd get, but I not only netted three rainbows within a half hour, I missed a hit after I caught those fish. Among the three I caught, two were a little over 16 inches, the other 15 inches.</div><div><br /></div><div>All the fish I caught and lost felt especially eager to strike, as if the sunlight and the relatively mild temperatures had stimulated them. It's possible the two I lost were the first trout I caught. The one I nearly netted looked like the first one I did get in the net. If so, that was an eager trout for being so plump. (The other two I caught were skinny.) The hit I missed shortly before I decided to leave gave me the clue to not all the trout being very willing, however. It was a subtle, noncommittal, pull. Repeatedly, I cast back to the spot, but nothing more happened. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2024/01/river-trout-fishing-cold-rain.html">Cold Rain</a><br /> <p></p></div>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-37532769628231011572024-02-01T22:08:00.002-05:002024-02-01T22:13:17.426-05:00From Small Florida Species to New Jersey Channel Bass<p><a href="https://tightlineswithalristori.com/">Tight Lines Al Ristori</a> Going to try and comment on the link posts for now on, because I learned that a website gets penalized for the bad search engine optimization practice of "thin content." That of not saying much! I know you like my newsy links, because I see the numbers of people opening the posts from their phones. How many of you click on them from laptops, I don't know. So going forward, if you just want the article I link to, click the link and ignore the rest, but then again, maybe my words will add to the time out of time, so to speak, a little reading provides.</p><p>Ristori was out fishing with Crazy Alberto Knie in the Florida Everglades recently, catching a number of small inshore species, including one they could not identify. Ristori got a photo and figured he'd find the answer among his many books that have information about species from that area. No. </p><p>When my son and I first fished the reef some six miles out to sea from Big Pine Key, I caught a very strange yellow fish. Bright yellow. That was 2007 when neither myself nor my son did digital photography, but I'm making a note to myself, because I have a print from 35mm film, and of course, I can scan that. Maybe I'll post it someday. Who knows, some of you might even know what!</p><p>I scrolled down a few posts to read about Ristori's skepticism about climate change. He opens with a compelling quote from Thomas Jefferson, but for me, the most interesting part of his post is about channel bass, exactly what I called redfish, red drum, or simply reds when I was a boy. Ristori makes the point that this southern species was abundant in New Jersey--and called channel bass--a hundred years ago. </p><p>So I looked online. Sure enough, I found corroborating evidence in the Bass Barn, from 2014. The comment thread includes information about abundant oysters and clams inshore having sustained the reds.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMqtdXTXTCrKQ69CUH2Zk4hJnlHryFRxkc0C6eggEXDAIa8WoIpHasGKzSP6rnJ3xHPn4Xmh3ZosgjTjv468RTvngWqnPizHhV56yYqy0oAqYOdeqz9T0gDZJT_roYv9DAtADhwp_EW9Sog1MAUm6IcQ9c4SU8EVDohxXd7_U73X8KBCVDg6-qAukYHJTa" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="400" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMqtdXTXTCrKQ69CUH2Zk4hJnlHryFRxkc0C6eggEXDAIa8WoIpHasGKzSP6rnJ3xHPn4Xmh3ZosgjTjv468RTvngWqnPizHhV56yYqy0oAqYOdeqz9T0gDZJT_roYv9DAtADhwp_EW9Sog1MAUm6IcQ9c4SU8EVDohxXd7_U73X8KBCVDg6-qAukYHJTa=w400-h268" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Found the photo! Had forgotten the purple on the fish.</div><br /><br /><p></p><p> </p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-80366002783655489182024-01-30T19:40:00.005-05:002024-01-30T19:40:37.066-05:00AFTCO and B.A.S.S Grants Available<p><a href="https://www.bassfan.com/docktalk_article/23161/AFTCO-x-B-A-S-S-grants-available">bassfan.com</a> </p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-7012920009236036312024-01-23T17:09:00.008-05:002024-02-18T23:34:19.397-05:00Tip-Ups Set in a Row Produce<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuM1CmnJwpKOC4MewdAeyBy9WNBjEHDaC6dxlqYML6a2cdQbicBHelUQRUW9umLh1wZE7H1AdMt5GKUTi3TTD3eusU-R_icD0gD7VoJywT-b4r2D4wkhEv_53JQIMb7vZ7jHzbP7502DMXkFZlsAN2s3o91kmvMHgfWiv0q6g7AE00l_cgBtTGZXShtFzk/s1000/LH%20Still%20Pretty%20Sharp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuM1CmnJwpKOC4MewdAeyBy9WNBjEHDaC6dxlqYML6a2cdQbicBHelUQRUW9umLh1wZE7H1AdMt5GKUTi3TTD3eusU-R_icD0gD7VoJywT-b4r2D4wkhEv_53JQIMb7vZ7jHzbP7502DMXkFZlsAN2s3o91kmvMHgfWiv0q6g7AE00l_cgBtTGZXShtFzk/w400-h266/LH%20Still%20Pretty%20Sharp.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Cronk called me at 5:00 a.m. to cancel, so I ate breakfast, filled the Thermos with coffee, and headed up U.S. Highway 206 towards Cranberry Lake. I had found online that Andover Hunt & Fish doesn't open until 9:00, so I hoped Simon Peter would be open, not having found information about the shop's opening time. Apparently, Simon Peter is out of business. Door looked permanently shuttered. <p></p><p>I drove to Dow's, where everyone was happy to see me, and I was happy to see everyone. Joe Welsh told me he had driven 14 hours to get bait and that their shop is the only one carrying any. I needed only a dozen large shiners, lingering a bit before I got on my way. </p><p>At Cranberry Lake it was obvious the ice was safe with so many boot prints in the snow on top. I quickly opened a few holes that had recently been fished, including one that had frozen-in nearly four inches. Once I had my stuff on the ice, I used my splitting bar to open some new holes in a line along the shore. I didn't need to bother with the power auger, but the ice was a good five inches thick. </p><p>I had put a tip-up out further, but pretty soon I set it in line. I had got a flag before I had all the stuff out, and before I got my second tip-up set. Missed the hit. I found evidence of weeds when checking on bait, so I knew I had a good strategy, doubting the weeds extended much deeper. I set the five tip-ups--all of them in a single row along the shoreline--in about eight or nine feet of water. </p><p>It was nice out there. Ice fishing seems always to be a way to let go of daily routines and get a lift. There's an atmospheric quality. </p><p>I fished for nearly four hours that went fast. Three pickerel caught, two I had on and lost, three missed hits. The biggest was right about 21 inches, the other two about 17. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWz-LJAj6BY550gfTUuNN6J8CoEVJyoX7xFSvM7Sjz7xfPAyuhIdX-xMPymhaSYghVevN2DGLP4NeIQGRJIcDwIWC6A6U1rWVqdK9RbVed11GQ8drVt4wex8Ys2Me2UOC1Ov4DhtJzlTeHJ3fflhPrfJL4YXgkc3IJaMhN8QJmKNETEWXbygs-n0pHmHaC/s4032/IMG_0243.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWz-LJAj6BY550gfTUuNN6J8CoEVJyoX7xFSvM7Sjz7xfPAyuhIdX-xMPymhaSYghVevN2DGLP4NeIQGRJIcDwIWC6A6U1rWVqdK9RbVed11GQ8drVt4wex8Ys2Me2UOC1Ov4DhtJzlTeHJ3fflhPrfJL4YXgkc3IJaMhN8QJmKNETEWXbygs-n0pHmHaC/w480-h640/IMG_0243.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgppfrMPk6ig9OgYVdwgq9hGeLd6EnnBp0tX8HAmDfSF7jPNNKw-8v8L_FcSBj9eAK__I6DaLT9V4ppgzmn01GeqN6_d5BaJMErLh7y_xP3v_br0OuXwOPOz8iwMXIn9JiHOq-Hu9iSQmNuF_dfBSh9ebsjB_O9u547eVWk-MJpgrZCj5dLV2cA1pIpJblX/s4032/IMG_0256.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgppfrMPk6ig9OgYVdwgq9hGeLd6EnnBp0tX8HAmDfSF7jPNNKw-8v8L_FcSBj9eAK__I6DaLT9V4ppgzmn01GeqN6_d5BaJMErLh7y_xP3v_br0OuXwOPOz8iwMXIn9JiHOq-Hu9iSQmNuF_dfBSh9ebsjB_O9u547eVWk-MJpgrZCj5dLV2cA1pIpJblX/w480-h640/IMG_0256.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7BUMjacEd7Up4NTyULUmZ2qaTeybhmciZO3n2Z6grctztT26MEcsr6oMUk06SrjcS5doIPSt40a_Raky4tEX_XfXuXY2ALNY8MBhSLh9mSA-Em22in1p3_PdN5EROYo5gQobm8tz0djwyUV4PhGQ-7_yZv6KtyjRfhI8r7kVb87X6OXKrd5vERBTgz0AL/s4032/IMG_0258.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7BUMjacEd7Up4NTyULUmZ2qaTeybhmciZO3n2Z6grctztT26MEcsr6oMUk06SrjcS5doIPSt40a_Raky4tEX_XfXuXY2ALNY8MBhSLh9mSA-Em22in1p3_PdN5EROYo5gQobm8tz0djwyUV4PhGQ-7_yZv6KtyjRfhI8r7kVb87X6OXKrd5vERBTgz0AL/w400-h300/IMG_0258.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><a href="https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2019/01/nice-ice-fishing-on-private-lake.html">Five Years</a><p><br /></p><br /> <p></p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-25006509416368226202024-01-20T14:57:00.003-05:002024-01-20T14:57:31.194-05:00Using Meat for Big Pike<p><a href="https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/How-to-Catch-Mega-Pike-From-the-Ice/468089">In-Fisherman</a> This isn't Jersey, but it's cool to entertain for sure.</p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-43331974560726030112024-01-18T15:31:00.000-05:002024-01-18T15:31:02.751-05:00AI and Satelite Imagery Used to Map Ocean Activities<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/we-used-ai-and-satellite-imagery-to-map-ocean-activities-that-take-place-out-of-sight-including-fishing-shipping-and-energy-development-219367">The Conversation</a> </p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-51155271409136485392024-01-09T17:10:00.003-05:002024-01-09T17:10:31.313-05:00River Trout Fishing Cold Rain<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5gybj7ZJxNp9HYS8h1bDUn890gYq8x2sVXjE9SsiaGd2owYV1AKPxJCEeYhpoq8DTQKfLZTgPlqcs2wBCViZbdHJdWHzESb5WvIpNbcQMOG_ZwyeZxnWCtLcRiU7-BwVzJGW0SZV_kmopJMsE1T58-RuiDDInpKfTXFl0xVvD0xGiNV7M200xR3X1C5iW/s4032/IMG_0232.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5gybj7ZJxNp9HYS8h1bDUn890gYq8x2sVXjE9SsiaGd2owYV1AKPxJCEeYhpoq8DTQKfLZTgPlqcs2wBCViZbdHJdWHzESb5WvIpNbcQMOG_ZwyeZxnWCtLcRiU7-BwVzJGW0SZV_kmopJMsE1T58-RuiDDInpKfTXFl0xVvD0xGiNV7M200xR3X1C5iW/s320/IMG_0232.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's odd that the bias of comfort gives you an illusory expectation about what's out there when it's cold and rainy. You do need adequate clothing and bootfoot waders, but rather then being a bulwark against misery, the experience is pleasure and levity. You have to get past the illusion as you go out the door, and perhaps deal with a little stress towards the outing's end. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I began, it rained hard, snow mixed in, 38 degrees. I had put two pairs of socks on, including heavy wool, so my feet stayed warm the whole time. Never took the water's temp, but it's very cold. It was in the 20's last night, and hiking into the river from where I parked my car for the second time, a large puddle frozen over held my weight. Later on, the walk back to the car was even better, because going in, my anticipations for the fishing made me a little impatient. I was at least a half mile below the stocking point, and despite the chilly temperatures, I had made the deliberate choice to go without gloves. Too much of a pain to deal with them in the rain. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When later I drove off, the temperature had risen to 42, but it had become plenty chilly on wet hands, which did begin to get stiff when I decided to leave after about two hours of fishing altogether.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I had just begun to work my way upriver when my maribou jig got slammed right out in front of me. I had missed the hit, but I didn't fail to fish hard another 15 minutes or so. I had also taken two suspicious taps. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2X3lyVnAp5NyOhlm0R4VyY3w2kbgdqXopc-VqQpXfQzez3KKgms7acer3g2fOeubdpeSh7CUQgJzzTa4Etf2YceTf5RMsRYtG8oDROcRfIainK8gQ0Ke6-1hvDOk9rsFmeuL0aQ6m2CbcU7G-F0xinOQjTkmmxRH3u1S1SZYZc6imxuo_NbBpeeibR0A_/s4032/IMG_0235.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2X3lyVnAp5NyOhlm0R4VyY3w2kbgdqXopc-VqQpXfQzez3KKgms7acer3g2fOeubdpeSh7CUQgJzzTa4Etf2YceTf5RMsRYtG8oDROcRfIainK8gQ0Ke6-1hvDOk9rsFmeuL0aQ6m2CbcU7G-F0xinOQjTkmmxRH3u1S1SZYZc6imxuo_NbBpeeibR0A_/s320/IMG_0235.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Gasoline from highway runoff.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2021/01/a-plug-for-trout.html">A Plug for Trout</a><br /></div> <p></p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-27878734140010232222024-01-07T23:35:00.001-05:002024-01-07T23:35:08.508-05:00Hundreds of Invasive Carp Caught<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/invasive-carp-mississippi-river-capture-tracking-7030fcba5ec56ecee867738b3bd89c5a">AP </a> Hundreds? But there must be many millions of them. Still, an interesting outing.</p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-12028884087274489282024-01-03T21:16:00.000-05:002024-01-03T21:16:00.127-05:00Bobcat Population Reported on the Rise<p><a href="https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/environment/2024/01/02/bobcats-in-new-jersey-remain-rare-but-population-is-increasing/71594009007/">NorthJersey.com</a> My wife and I saw one near Blairstown a few years ago.</p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-43955082700386078752024-01-02T09:31:00.004-05:002024-01-02T09:31:47.473-05:00The Third Wave: Invasive Blue Cats<p><a href="https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2024/01/northern-snakehead-freshwater-drum-invasive-species-mid-atlantic-panel-on-aquatic-invasive-species-pennsylvania-department-of-environmental-protection-edna-alloways-creek-atlantic-sturgeon-russell-pet/">New Jersey Spotlight News</a> After flathead catfish and snakeheads.</p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-91858537814593681982023-12-30T20:42:00.003-05:002023-12-30T21:06:01.997-05:00Happy New Year<p><a href="https://travel.bdoutdoors.com/charters/">Bloody Decks Outdoors</a> Happy New Year! Link is to Southern Cal charters, but the website as a whole is pretty cool. I'm thinking of southern shores as the winter comes on. In 2026, I plan on driving to Florida, and this time I might make an even better deal on big fish, having time to leisurely figure things out. At any rate, I saw an article on the Keys by Vin Sparano in the pre-version of <i>Federated Sportsmen's News, </i>about really big fish. That got me thinking of expanding my plans to include them. Any of my friends are welcome to meet me down there. I'm planning on driving, but anyone else might find it convenient to fly. Renting a large center console doesn't cost all that much and I have the boater certificate integrated with my driver's license. </p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209286468796022587.post-65378522824955634172023-12-26T23:42:00.003-05:002023-12-26T23:46:44.416-05:00Annual Trout Outing at the Reservoir<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje8vWPh80tqKYdvhApUXY6NLuFQalnbupdxAhZCv8SBVDSAVD5n3ng0so1h7dAAzazDTmJkcJmjTdwv2xctrqgk7JT5tOP-ej6vv8-w-7VVy0bOfG_4GP4OCHM2F2qb34PX_M24d-3Otz_UToU5dDzSqz0nNJ2W1ONm4_gAg-f-Amibx3-4IHFhd4nbNuS/s4032/IMG_0211.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje8vWPh80tqKYdvhApUXY6NLuFQalnbupdxAhZCv8SBVDSAVD5n3ng0so1h7dAAzazDTmJkcJmjTdwv2xctrqgk7JT5tOP-ej6vv8-w-7VVy0bOfG_4GP4OCHM2F2qb34PX_M24d-3Otz_UToU5dDzSqz0nNJ2W1ONm4_gAg-f-Amibx3-4IHFhd4nbNuS/w400-h300/IMG_0211.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">By mistake, I set my alarm for P.M., so when I woke at 7:48, I knew I was 34 minutes late, and the possibility of us setting up on the point was threatened.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">First, Matt and I went to The Sporting Life in Whitehouse more than half an hour after they had opened. Two dozen shiners, fishing licenses, and maribou jigs. Nice ones for less than I'd have spent online. Those are for the rivers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We soon got to Round Valley, and Matt hauled stuff towards the point and returned, as I packed more stuff, to tell me there were fishermen on it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I figured they wouldn't be there all day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the meantime, we did our best to get all the distance we could out of each cast. It doesn't drop steeply there in front. I knew we could pack out and fish further along the shoreline towards the main ramp, where the water does drop off faster, but I wanted us to take the point when it would become available.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the meantime, Fred had arrived, and conversation flowed. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A fish jumped right out in front of us almost exactly where either myself or Matt had put a shiner down. About 10 minutes later, line peeled off the spool of my son's Cadence reel. Laker? Brown? No, rainbow. And five or 10 minutes later, Fred caught a smaller one--about 15 inches--on Power Bait. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A pod of rainbows had come and was gone as fast. Nothing else happened all day but the yellow perch I caught. I didn't expect lakers. The weather was too mild--in the 40's. Yes, I bought shiners, as if to be sure lakers wouldn't hit any, but although the rainbows surprised me, I did come confident in us making catches.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We weren't the only who did. A guy in a kayak came along, telling me about two smallmouths of about two pounds apiece on jerkbaits. I was impressed. He said, "I lost something too big to be a bass. Maybe a laker." Who knows. Maybe it was a monster pickerel. My friend Brenden told me about one over nine pounds hooked back in Ranger Cove. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Apparently, the guys on the point got skunked. They did leave and give us more than three hours of fishing right there, where water drops off better, but only the yellow perch happened. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_B2SSR3wM9iIC94V65PooNG2JFEX5H-NFbTL4hU9zAzO3ntmioiz81WtENxwfcv2gD8bXL0EhbvLg3K9lgFhi0UCNeWLwTkfldBDwbgaFZa00YWaaldzjGdMLOvkOVLU_NovfmFL-Pg2Y0GYvabyLeGbpg6MIhcGXygPozNpBYTL1928Mg9NqqxtqkpW1/s4032/IMG_0212.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_B2SSR3wM9iIC94V65PooNG2JFEX5H-NFbTL4hU9zAzO3ntmioiz81WtENxwfcv2gD8bXL0EhbvLg3K9lgFhi0UCNeWLwTkfldBDwbgaFZa00YWaaldzjGdMLOvkOVLU_NovfmFL-Pg2Y0GYvabyLeGbpg6MIhcGXygPozNpBYTL1928Mg9NqqxtqkpW1/w400-h300/IMG_0212.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD40oobwAmizP6ufywVSAlQhDjnq_kE0A1IWekczQC7eTwbkNZug0NoZ_SEgzpWzGXBOgx-oJxf0SytuT8vmsw-CU3CjWk_tjvFwmd_rXBGbaYJAaOyj65RyqzkWVGrhCc9p0RIFps948veOIi8PO04jICSkRSZohXC7Vbo7UCwdIrGVYWBzcbghub9n-b/s4032/IMG_0215.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD40oobwAmizP6ufywVSAlQhDjnq_kE0A1IWekczQC7eTwbkNZug0NoZ_SEgzpWzGXBOgx-oJxf0SytuT8vmsw-CU3CjWk_tjvFwmd_rXBGbaYJAaOyj65RyqzkWVGrhCc9p0RIFps948veOIi8PO04jICSkRSZohXC7Vbo7UCwdIrGVYWBzcbghub9n-b/w400-h300/IMG_0215.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihenEUB-JtjZyKpobB0QaqRgEH5Os3kHPvSXoJIL3nqVrmPf2CyVibDIZlLP8hoj52e09_mr2pU4xQ3bLVe80GKxRquvUO3nSyANnYWsXCfJ3km-BG1Z-3IiY8-94GG1rFE3O6gE62KCkCDfYaRdbNMNdoC3nDM7-bE9berd6BL71RZLxORLibuE4kAso/s4032/IMG_0219.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihenEUB-JtjZyKpobB0QaqRgEH5Os3kHPvSXoJIL3nqVrmPf2CyVibDIZlLP8hoj52e09_mr2pU4xQ3bLVe80GKxRquvUO3nSyANnYWsXCfJ3km-BG1Z-3IiY8-94GG1rFE3O6gE62KCkCDfYaRdbNMNdoC3nDM7-bE9berd6BL71RZLxORLibuE4kAso/w480-h640/IMG_0219.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2022/12/big-brown-trout-and-lakers-at-round.html">Last Year</a><br /></div><br /> <p></p>Bruce Edward Littonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17029604072966031704noreply@blogger.com4