Lake Hopatong Jigging & Herring Attempt at Walleye and Hybrid Stripers.

Obviously a nice morning on the lake if photos of natural events don't bore you. The feeling I get from the photos is sweet and simple at first take, but actually being there was more. Besides, there's enough variation of form and color to interest me in these images.

 

We fished four hours and got skunked the first time in five years' fishing from Laurie's boats. I had thought Dows Boat Rentals were closed for the season, but they will be open next weekend also. Winds went in the direction contrary to wrecking the place during the recent hurricane.

Water temperature was 45, so I told my son, Matt, that it was almost like ice fishing from a boat. Temperatures at bottom under ice are 37 to as high as 39. Could be in the low 40's on the bottom now.  We marked loads of fish off Chestnut Point, suspended over 50 to 55 feet of water 37 to 22 feet down, but even with our herring placed right among them, none took. And no one else I spoke to caught any either.

Best moments included contemplations of changes of light and form by the positions and amounts of clouds in the sky, and jigging a Gotcha at Sharp's Rock. That was our last stop, way up lake from the dock. Lots of sun on my face, the water slightly riffled, the huge face of glacial stone before me felt complementary to my awareness. Air temperatures had climbed out of the crisp 20's we ventured out into in the dark before dawn, and my hands felt nimble as I worked the jigger deftly. I became clearly aware, as I maneuvered with the electric motor, that if this was like ice fishing from a boat, it sure has better odds than cutting holes to jig through one little spot at a time.