Once it Warms, I Will be Compelled

Pretty soon these barricades will be removed and campers can launch from the Lot 2 area. Round Valley Recreation Area will charge admission to the area I've spent most of the winter visiting in solitude. Beginning Memorial Day, not so long off now.

Quite a few dog walkers and hikers present in today's sun. No one else fished but one man I noticed briefly at the vanishing point of a bend. It's about time for me to get on my feet, walk, cast spinners, but surgery on my foot recently is forbidding yet, and my right knee, which I had surgery on over a year ago, is acting up, but not so badly that I can't amble about.

I sat in the car most of the time today and read Edward Abbey. I'm so into reading, I feel reluctant to get out and cast. But once it warms, I will be compelled.

Good Weather for Trout and Walleyes if More would Hit

Strong wind, overcast sky, falling barometer--good fishing weather and no trout. Perhaps what I should do is buy shiners and fish the Delaware and Raritan Canal at the lock on Weston Canal Road for walleyes on days like this. Likelihood of catching one is very slim since not many walleyes exist in the canal, but some do, or at least now and then some do, making the swim all the way down to the New Brunswick region having entered from the Delaware River at Bulls Island. To catch one, you probably need a day like today, and the cold water doesn't stop a walleye from hitting, although late October might be ideal if any walleyes happen to be there.

Another man was fishing when I arrived, had been at it since morning for two hits. I saw his rod bend and he missed that hit also. That's why I prefer to leave the bail open. Let the trout run on a loose line.

Looking forward to really fishing. Felt that today. Just happen to desire saltwater more than freshwater now, since we've been planning a vacation to Ocracoke this summer. I can just smell the brine air in back of the house we rent with a boardwalk to a tidal cut full of killiefish my son and I pot for bait. My present curiosity is whether or not fluke will be in the surf as they are along the Jersey coast and accessible to split shot casting. My son hooked a fluke over three pounds two years ago right at the boat launch on Pamlico Sound, but we had no more time to experiment since Hurricane Irene bore down on us our second day. The 10-day forecast now is for weather in the 40's as of yesterday. But that probably means it will warm up when I'm on vacation first week of April.

The vacation in North Carolina will be even better. That I can promise myself.