Bizarre Weather

Nothing bizarre about this little tornado.

Not once in my life--until tonight--have I called weather this. All my life, I've paid keen attention to weather. Blizzard, hurricane, tornado, 96 degrees early in April, all this and much more I've appreciated first hand, no instance of weather whatsoever have I stooped to name bizarre. I have too much respect for and understanding of this planet.

But this October is really abnormal. It's not actually climbed above 90 this October, not this year, only in late September and for at least two days then, other days near that figure, but days on end have reached the 80's or near this range--71 degrees out right now near midnight--and 70's, including mid-70's, are forecast all the way through the 22nd!

Mid and late August was the weirdest of summer weather, also worth mention. It felt like October. In other words, the weather is acting like a badly led government, not a natural system.

So. What about my plans for Hopatcong? Well, Landolfi didn't phone me. We have an understanding of the likes--or he should by now, too. Especially since he's the one who doesn't get back to me. He must have read the forecast before I read it. So the point is completely moot, other than to say we're not going and that's the simplest way of his saying so. I've called him a kite in a tornado and I've featured a photo of him falling on ice. He knows I get on his case. But no else gets him out fishing as I do, and no one else offers appreciations for this as he does, either. Which I don't simply take, but listen to and remember for hopes of life getting better. Honestly, he can really use some fishing, instead of baiting the hornets tearing around his brain at a million miles per hour. The implication such a statement bears for potential talent is ultimately more complimentary than disparaging by far. That's something most people don't understand.

So the forecast for tomorrow. Heavy rain all day. Oliver Round and I fished some nine hours through steady rain in November on Lake Hopatcong, and neither of us--soaked through our raingear upper body and lower--had any complaint. Temperatures, as I recall, never got above about 52. I would, of course, fish Lake Hopatcong in rain at 75. Might not catch any walleye or hybrids, though.

Oliver and I got walleye and hybrid.

I emailed Oliver last night, asking about a Musconetcong River tributary. Hances Brook, he told me. Got home tonight and on the computer for info, deciding as I booted up that what I need is another tributary, so I can fill Oliver in on one he hasn't fly fished--but might yet. Or at least between the two of us, we will have Hances Brook and...I'll get to the names in a moment...down.

I selected New Jersey Wild Trout Streams as my search. A Google Maps guide really does help. I'm headed to the Belvidere Region. Buckhorn Creek and Pophandusing Brook. Brown trout. Not tribs of the Pequest, but Delaware. If I can't find access, there's Hances Brook to the south, and another nameless I found on the map to scout first. Maybe a road sign will inform me of the name.

The Musconetcong River has 19 Trout Production tributaries, but by the Google Map information, none of these are classified, which can make things feel interesting at ground level where life matters most.


https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1iWVVybxRwGCAJ8YjJczBbWzk24w&hl=en_US&ll=40.91240947458444%2C-74.63628850000003&z=9