Happy New Year!

Matt and I did get out and fish this last day of the year. His mother came along with Sadie. Round Valley. 

The fishing is hit or miss. I explained to Trish that it's a lot like the surf fishing I do when we go to Island Beach. Sometimes--often--there's simply no fish out there. The surf is barren. Likewise, along the shore of Round Valley. I told her that trout cruise along the shorelines, and if any were to swing in where we were fishing and see and smell the bait, most likely that bait would get taken.

But some days the fish never show.

Trout on Power Bait

Matt and I rode over to Round Valley, where I decided to see if Dave Delucca was at the ramp, instead of going directly through the main gate. He was there, and had caught two rainbows. Got to meet Matt. The three of us talked. Dave was curious about Matt's work on the fusion reactor. (I realized after we got home that I had forgotten to tell Matt that Dave's son was drafted by the Yankees. He never got to play for them, but he managed to have college paid for.)

One of our rods got hit after 10 minutes or so; Matt took it and missed the hit. We had two rods baited with shiners, two with orange Power Bait. The hit came on Power Bait. Matt insisted that the next hit would be mine.

It came as dusk began to fall and we were about to leave. Stripped line off the spool rapidly, but turned out to be a little 14- or 15-inch rainbow, on Power Bait. 

Ice Fishing Creel Surveys Lake Champlain

Probably be the last year I post this. Get's old. DEC 

Round Valley With Matt

Merry Christmas to you.

Matt's back from California. We bought shiners at The Sporting Life and headed over to Round Valley, rigging one rod with Power Bait, also. Otherwise, we fly cast. Woolly Buggers. And as you can see in the photo, relaxed.

Guy next to us caught one about 18 inches on Power Bait.

We talked about Matt's main project at work--devising a way and measuring the plasma density of the cold fusion reactor. The company isn't producing fusion energy yet, but it might get there and be the first to do it. We also talked about his vacation coming this spring, when he hopes to hike a mountain north and west of Los Angeles. The base of the trail is at about sea level, and from there it's a 10,000-foot ascent to the summit. He remarked that its the same vertical elevation as Mount Everest from the base camp.

 

NY Enhances Artificial Reef Network

Any of you who read the recent comments...so Fred cast a size 3 Mepp's on his way home from trying for white perch down the shore. He also caught a pickerel.

DEC

 

Winter Trout Trifecta

Fished with Mark Licht this morning and early afternoon, using my two-weight TFO. I have caught wild trout out of New Jersey streams with it, even a stocker rainbow once, when I expected sunfish and maybe a smallmouth bass late in June. I keep trying to catch more when I get the chance. Mostly, I find I improve my casting, but I did hook a seven-inch brookie during fall 2020. Tried a size 16 or 18 pheasant tail for the browns, that and a red dart for the brookies. I figured a brookie might get turned on by the red, but it never happened. I never used an indicator in the little creeks. I'm not saying I think I got hit and just don't know  None of the trout I've hooked in little creeks have involved use of an indicator; I always see my line twitch, if I don't see the trout hit. Mark caught two other browns, nice stream browns of about 9 or 10 inches, though smaller than the one photographed, which was at least a foot, more like 13 inches. About as long as the rainbow he caught, and the state says they don't stock them in the fall smaller than 14 inches.

In the river, Mark used Blue Goo from the Pulaski/Altmar region. It sure works on stocker rainbows. He fishes it under a float on a center-pin outfit, steelhead style. We probably didn't even fish a half hour, but he caught two. I put an indicator on my line and continued to fish that size 14 dart. Nothing happened, but I felt I fished pretty effectively. I was surprised at how shallow, both fish caught. Actually, when I began fishing where Mark caught his first, before he finished getting into waders, I did feel strongly there could be a trout there, even though the water was two-and-a-half or three feet deep. On down the river we walked a bit before quitting. Mark pulled one from quickly moving water that didn't look deeper than two feet.

 

First "Overview" in a While

The first really cold weather of the coming winter season--if you call upper teens cold--might be with us overnight in the Bedminster region. I gave the forecast a quick scan, so as to judge whether or not marginally safe ice may form on ponds. Doesn't look like it, but I'm not about to pass judgment on points further north.

Clicked on the blog's "Round Valley" label and read "Fortune or Misfortune" from not really all that long ago. Though I'm not disvaluing the followers who help make what the blog is now by being there for it, we used to have many more, and you can see that reflected by the number of share bar clicks at the bottom of each page. (If you access the blog by mobile device, Microsoft Edge, and likely ohter browsers besides Google, the share bar might not appear for you.) Actually, 2020 was the banner year for number of followers and clicks shortly after posting, as COVID got so many interested in fishing, as well as in slowing down to read more at length.

You may have noticed my posts are much shorter these days, and stick tight to the fishing, rather than going deep into ideas. Before I began blogging, I used to write in notebooks nobody read. For the most part, I didn't even read them myself. And yet, for decades, I wrote passionately, and even as I grow older, and wiser about what's possible and what isn't, I still wonder if my journals--big stacks of them--have posthumous value. Imagine, people reading Bruce Litton a hundred years from now. No, I don't think it's likely. But history offers any reader so many examples of writers--and other artists--who were totally ignored during their lifetime and later became icons. At least I have you for readers. William Blake literally made no more than pocket change for a day or two from his poems and paintings. Same for Vincent Van Gogh. He was a nobody. Now, just one of his paintings is worth about $100 million.

It was even worse for poor Blake. Everybody thought he was mad. At least Van Gogh proved he was mad at least some of the time by spending time in mental institutions. 

It's not as if I've forgotten you by no longer writing long and in-depth. Everybody seems to say nobody reads any more, but that's not true. I know it isn't, because many of my long and in-depth posts--even ones without photo support--have lots of share bar clicks. I'm not saying there are people who wish no one would read any more, people who hope our entire civilization goes up in flames, perhaps; people who might feel triumphant as nuclear missiles descend upon us, their hatred of humankind vanquished, but I believe we not only will see no such end, but that people will go right on reading, no matter what those who wish people would be illiterate say.  

Nice Rainbow Round Valley

Wife went to Manhattan. I decided against going because rainy, cold, and I can do without the risk of getting COVID. Wait until summer. I've seen enough of Andy Warhol, anyway. Got bored working on my book. Lonely, really. So I took Sadie and headed over to Round Valley, where Dave DeLucca showed after 10 minutes. He shot me with the trout.

Orange Power Bait. Left the bail open. Good thing, because both of us were surprised at the rush and big loop of line going out.

Released. 

RV Trout on Big Rat-L-Trap

Got home from visiting my dad in time to ride over to Round Valley with my black Lab Sadie, and dunk Power Bait, hoping to duplicate Dave DeLucca's success on same last week. Never happened. 

But as dusk came on, a young guy walked down and began throwing a plug. After five minutes, I suddenly heard splashes, looked, and saw a rainbow of about 16 or 17 inches in the air. It was hooked well out & away from shore, too. Later on, I watched the guy and he didn't seem to be letting the plug sink. A big Rat-L-Trap.

I congratulated him on his fish. He certainly was happy. And I told him it's good to see one get caught on a Rat-L-Trap, instead of the Power Bait I was using.

Warm Weather Incident Cape Cod

OTW 

Tried a Little Midge North Branch

Took my two-weight to the North Branch before sundown, and I managed to roll cast well enough to drift my zebra midge under an indicator back underneath the 202/206 bridge where I wanted it to go. I wanted it to drift back under even farther, but it did get further in than where I hooked a 16-inch rainbow late in November some years ago. 

Mild late afternoon.

I also tried the exit bridge at the Zoo, and for some reason, there I couldn't roll out my line as far as I felt I needed to. I almost think I need heavier grain than whatever two-weight line I have on my reel.

Ran into one of the guys I saw fishing there in October. He caught one last week. 

Some Trout at Round Valley

DeLucca releasing his rainbow

Got a jolt today, over at Round Valley. Came with my wife and black Lab Sadie, shooting photos. I was just walking over to my wife when Dave DeLucca drove down, window opening, "Bruce, how's it's going?

"I haven't seen you in years!" I said.

I used to run into him when I fished here. Realized as we spoke for half an hour, that the last I did fish here was about two years ago. After I crossed the gravel to meet up with my wife, before we made headway back to the car, I saw Dave set the hook, so I hurried over and watched him catch a rainbow. Another guy had just driven down and come over to watch. He led me back to the catch of his wife and him, asked me to photograph him with it, two of them 15-inch lakers.

I've been over there at least twice a month all year, and almost always, I see no one fishing, although more often than not, I park over at Lot 2, through the main gate. I believe last I was at the main ramp, no one was fishing then, either, so today felt surprising. 

 

Changes to NY Freshwater Regs Proposed

DEC 

Latest RV Project Update

Water Authority 

NJ Offshore Windmills Concerns

BOEM 

Plugged the South Branch

Matt and I fished the South Branch Califon northward, catching nothing. We stayed warm, out of the wind, never needed gloves, though it never got out of the mid-30's. According to Shannon's online, water temp was 39.

So we worked our way from the back of a stretch into its belly, figuring the trout had settled into the depths. At another spot, I kept reeling in snagged leaves from depths eight or nine feet down. I did consistently work the plug--a Rapala Countdown an inch-and-a-half long--at bottom. Must've got snagged more than a dozen times, but I never lost it. 

 

D & R Greenway Preserves & Trails

D & R 

Musconetcong River Pipeline Removed

Lehigh Valley Live 

Winter Trout Stocking

Fish & Wildlife 

Here already.

10K Trees Along North Branch

RHA 

Veteran's Day Jigging

Today made me look back on when I fished with Kevin Murphy near October's end. That's when we used what we needed today--live herring. I had thought Tuesday on the lake with Mark was an anomaly, and that with added cloud cover, Oliver Round and I would get them on the Binsky.

I did check into the supermarket this morning for chicken livers, but none were available. At Dow's, I asked Laurie if she had any for sale, and she gave us a supply-chain horror story. (The economy is getting scary.) Oliver had told me about guys on NJ Freshwater Fishing.com catching a boatload of hybrids on chicken livers recently, so I went on and read the post. And saw the photos. It happens, and I figured that maybe we would try that.

I left my treble hooks at home, but Oliver and I decided to stick to the Binsky before I realized I had, anyway. (Dow's still has plenty of herring.) 

It was an interesting day, beginning with casting Binskys along a favorite drop. I always bring a rod I can use for a plastic worm or Senko, and I rigged a six-inch Chompers without weight, casting it against rocks. It didn't take long before I caught a largemouth not quite 11 inches long. We continued to cast our Binskys--working the bottom, up and down the water column, in close and out far, but nothing hit--while I had my eye on some rocks too distant for us to reach. There's a kind of pocket there 10-feet deep. After I positioned the boat by use of the electric, Oliver caught a largemouth of about 11 inches on a Senko. After he released it, he told me it hit very lightly on the drop in that pocket, and then a few minutes later, he missed a solid hit.

So at least I got that much right, and so did Oliver by catching one and tempting another. 

We positioned along another drop. Cast Binkys. The graph screen filled with fish. That's when I felt crushingly--while I helplessly jigged vertically in the face of fish that wouldn't hit, fish traveling in an immense school--that I should have brought the treble hooks and bought herring. But other guys who come out here and jig for hours, catching just a few walleye, they must see fish on the screen en masse, too.

The wind carried the boat, the anchor dragging, and we found many fish well out and away from the drop-off, too. At the drop and beyond, fish were at bottom and everywhere else--as shallow as seven feet over 40 feet of water.  . 

Fished Deep and Shallow

Felt surprised Lake Hopatcong's water temp was 57, and relieved, but I guess that with such light penetration, little chop at the surface to break it up, the hybrids and walleye just weren't going to comply. Mark did seem to have one or the other on a Binsky for a moment, but other than that, he caught two yellow perch on a jig with a spinner underneath. A Roadrunner..

We had taken the ride in Mark's 22-foot Tidewater center console to the State Park, casting worms in close. I thought I had a pick up, but after I felt no resistance upon setting the hook, I believed the sense of line moving had been caused by the boat moving. It realistically seemed to be a take, though. 

Afternoon temperatures might have hit 70. We did have chilly weather for three or four days prior. One morning, my car thermometer registered 26 degrees as I drove to work. It was below freezing four consecutive mornings, I think. Mark took his boat out the other day, and the first question I put to him was, "What was the water temperature?"

"50.8," he told me. 

Even that was some relief. Once it gets below 50, I don't feel comfortable about catch prospects. Other guys go on vertical jigging through December, and they catch walleye, but while I've caught plenty of cold water fish, including December walleye from the Delaware, at least right now I'd rather fish warmer. 

Mark had to go to work after we quit shortly after 3 p.m. He's working late into the night. Me? Right now I'm off for the week, and it feels more natural than when I have to work, as if that would surprise anyone. 

Mexican restaurant

Some nice fish on bait balls.

Lee's Cove

 

Seems Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Will Become National Park

AMC 

Keep in mind the DWGNRA reportedly already gets the same number of annual visitors as Yellowstone, but doesn't get the same sort of funding, because of lesser status. When the Area becomes a National Park, as I'm assuming it will, visitor traffic will increase, though I don't see in my mind a Jamboree. It's a large region and supports visitors.

What will funding buy? I know that for a long time--I don't remember exactly how long--Old Mine Road on up near the Flatbrook was an absolute mess of potholes. Maybe with the increased funding that comes with the increased status, the likes of that situation will not happen again. Otherwise, I read the article and like so many I read quickly, found it not too specific. 

New York Deploys Barge for Artificial Reef

DEC 

Walleye, Hybrid Striped Bass, Panfish

Kevin Murphy's first time on the lake, he drove to Dow's on Sunday, just so he could be sure of the route in the dark very early Tuesday morning. They told him Bruce wasn't going to take anyone out on Tuesday, there would be a big storm. Meanwhile, I was coming home from an afternoon in New Hope with my wife, and I didn't learn of  the storm until after we got home. So we met up there yesterday at 11:00 a.m. to stay until a little after sunset. 

I figured live herring would be the best approach for a beginner, and we also bought a dozen nightcrawlers, which kept Kevin occupied a long while. He caught nice-sized bluegills and a pumpkinseed. Tending herring lines, I felt a fish on one of them and insisted that Kevin take it; I had already told him we take turns on the bait lines, but he said, "Nah! I just feel good being out here. The fish is yours!" He wouldn't take the rod and I reeled in a walleye about 18 inches long. Unhooked, photographed, and released it. There I was, catching the fish when we bought the herring expressly in the interest of Kevin's getting acquainted. 

Later on, he caught a yellow perch on one of the herring rods, and then, after we moved the boat for the third time, something jerked one of the four bait rods forward violently--I immediately thought hybrid!--and I just grabbed the rod and set the hook. Since the fish was on and the rod was in my hand, I let the situation be as it already was defined and fought the small hybrid of 16 inches. I keep bails open, but even so, hybrids rush away with the bait so fast that anything hampering the line from flowing smoothly off the spool means the rod will jump.

I cast a Binsky bladebait repeatedly and eventually hooked a walleye of at least four or five pounds, lost at the net. The fish never took drag, but walleye never do no matter how big, Like other big ones I've caught, however, it stubbornly refused to come to the surface, and being a big fish, was hard to raise. A moment or two before Kevin would have slipped the net under the fish, the treble hook just gave out under the force I exerted.

We moved to a fourth spot where I put out the last herring and Kevin fished a dead one. I cast the Binsky, missing a hit and finally hooking something that came in easily at first. Then it began fighting and took off on the several powerful runs only a hybrid striper could exert. The fish measured 20 1/2 inches, a fair-sized bass. I worked the same water, maybe 25 feet deep, not letting the Binksy hit bottom before I began a yo-yo retrieve. I felt another hit, missed it, then hooked and caught a small white perch. 

The other hybrid and walleye came from water probably no deeper than 20 or 22 feet  The big one I lost might have been 15 feet down. Water temp was 62. The trees are still mostly green, although some color has definitely worked through a fair percentage of the leaves. It' s almost November, I would hope there's some color, but the lake is turned over only so deep. I never noticed a fish mark on the graph deeper than 21 feet yesterday..

Last year, when I fished the lake in October with Jorge, we finished the day by jigging Binskys. (Jorge did try other lures.) I think I never got hit, but I was into the exercise and considered coming out here the next season--this one--only to jig. That's how I feel again about nest year, and maybe we'll really limit ourselves to Binskys, besides nightcrawlers for some panfish. Kevin was talking about his learning how to jig a Binsky. One thing for sure. By anchoring in place to set bait, I've jigged the water thoroughly. It would be possible to jig spots all too superficially before moving on to others.

 

Kevin's pumpkinseed. I wanted to get a close-up.

Kevin also caught a nice white perch on one of the set lines.

 

Does Woolrich Cater to Hipsters?

Woolrich shirt birthday gift.

My wife went to Woolrich in Manhattan with my old and torn, rustic Woolrich shirt, and she showed it to them and they said they had nothing approximating its look. They told her they keep all the old patterns in a vault and release them some years, so she should keep an eye out in the future.

She also had trouble sizing the shirt with them that she got me. (A shirt a little too red.) They told her they switched to European sizing.

"Why would they switch to European sizing? Woolrich supplied blankets during the Civil War," my wife said to me. Woolrich is an American outdoor tradition. 

"It's odd," I said.

"I think they're catering to hipsters in Soho," she said.

Well, what the hell. If they're catering to hipsters in Soho, they can't escape Woolrich's past as an outdoorsman's company. 

I still wear my old and torn shirt, and the red plaid? Looks like Santa Claus but it might have its occasions.

Put Four Walleye, Two Crappie, in the Boat

Leaving Dow's Boat Rentals, we headed into whitecaps, but beyond the lake's midpoint, wave action moderated. I found fish on a drop-off where I never fail to find fish, although I saw none on the graph deeper than 16 feet. Water temp was 63. We began to prepare as the boat drifted over a 13-foot flat. Having marked some good fish there, we put herring out without weight, but before we would have stayed there long, I got my best idea yet.

We motored maybe half a mile to a third spot, anchoring in 20 feet of water, intending to fish as deep as 24. I put a herring out without weight, and two weighted by 3/4-ounce slip sinkers, 20-24 feet deep. I had felt moved to come here by one of those deep, abdominal affirmations that seem to know of success before it comes. I'm an older man, so when it happens, I don't get especially headstrong, but in a way, it feels better than it can at any other age. As you get older and job stress still plagues you, to get moments like that assure you of life remaining real.

Soon, I caught a small walleye on the unweighted herring, realizing it couldn't have hit in water deeper than 14 feet. Not that the situation was terribly surprising. The other day, my wife commented on how we used to imagine moving to Maryland or North Carolina. "Now there's no reason to,," she said. "Their climate is ours." 

I got another small walleye from 20 or 22 feet, before Oliver caught one from directly under the boat at 20 or 21 feet, his fish about 20 inches. He had weighted a herring by a split shot. He caught a crappie and another walleye, 18 inches. I caught a big crappie on a Binsky, and then I missed hits on two consecutive casts and very soon thereafter hooked the biggest walleye of the afternoon on that Binsky, the fish lost at the net. 

I hooked it in about 14 feet of water. I'm used to catching them as deep as 33 or 35 feet this time of year.

We fished not quite four hours, excluding dock prep and boat travel. It was a great time. It made me feel beyond any doubt that I need more time like this yet.

Sunlight on the trees made them appear more golden than they are, but they are coloring just a little bit.

With no sun on the trees, you can see how green.

 

Invasive New Zealand Mud Snails Found in Musconetcong River

MWA 

Maine Stocking

Maine stocks trout in the fall, too. You'd think there's enough native fish up there. 

Maine Gov

It's Official: Joe Satkowski, an RVTA Member, Holds Record Salmon

Fish & Wildlife 

Oct. 23 is NJ Free Fishing Day: Laurie's Report

Laurie Murphy:

With some cooler weather and less boat traffic, There is still some great fishing going on here at the Lake. We are seeing nice walleye in the 3 to 5 pound range, caught while jigging and also on bait. There are still hybrid stripers being seen, caught off any of the points on Rapala ice jigs, or herring. And lots of white and yellow perch, along with some crappie and we have seen some pickerel in the last few days also. Jim Welsh weighed in with two nice channel cats in the 4 to 5 pound range caught on herring.  The State will be having their second  free fishing day of the year on Oct 23 where no license is required.  It’s the perfect time to try fishing to see if it’s something you like. Have a great week !!!

Maybe It's More Sunfish and Smallies

Oliver caught fish. A few redbreast sunfish and a smallmouth bass of about nine inches. We used dry flies, wet flies, beadhead nymphs. As we walked in, Oliver saw one rise. I approached the pool carefully and sighted what I think was a brown trout a foot long. Soon, I saw two more, smaller, but my sight wasn't perfectly clear, and though I did make out the black tail fins...smallmouth bass can appear to have black tail fins. 

Upstream, I did spook a seven-inch fish from depths under a large sycamore. Looked like a trout to me.

Any case, Oliver swears he spotted trout downstream, but since--once again--he caught none, he thinks the water this far down the creek might be better suited to sunfish and smallmouths. He had fished here once about five years ago and got skunked.

I went upstream, he went down. I have no trouble driving these days, nor is work any problem, but when I'm fishing or taking photographs, the loss of awareness due to cataracts is very annoying. It makes me less inclined to cover ground. 

Oliver went all the way down to where the creek goes under a major highway. About a half mile. When we met and fished that first pool one last time, we soon hiked out, talking about the demise of a couple of our former spots. He'd been to both of them during the Lockdown. The places were pounded. Banks worn down and spent worm containers left where artificial-only regulations...simply do not work when people refuse to respect them and the law isn't enforced. 

Places where we used to catch and release wild trout. 

Oliver said people probably say online where they caught fish and a crowd follows, but I reminded him that people are mum on Facebook about spots, and besides, anyone can access the NJ Fish & Wildlife interactive map of wild trout waters. 

After I mentioned that, Oliver came up with a great idea. That local law enforcement should be given the power to hand out summons to anyone breaking with fishing regulations. 

It could seem better yet that we scrub the web entirely and start over.

The One-Pound Test

RV Update

10/13/2021 

Tried Where the River's Even Smaller

Brought rod, tackle, camera to work, and afterwards--forgot. I was well on the way to Interstate 78 when I remembered, so I decided to fish well upstream of where I would have fished in Gillette. I figured, I already know pike exist down there. Sooner or later, I would try up here to find out what I can.

On my second cast, I twitched the #9 Rapala and got hit, but it could have been a sunfish. The river up here has less holding water than down below, but why would pike swim upstream as far as Gillette and not keep on going? So I made sure to fish any breaks in the uniform flow, as I made my downstream. Those included leaves grouped together behind branches in the water, a downed tree, boulders, other branches. None produced so much as a wake. If there were any pike on these spots, my plug didn't interest them.

I fished pretty far on down, and you would figure that if any pike--or bass--are in the river, they'd relate to those breaks in the flow. 

There're pickerel in the river, too. At least there are for certain on down below. I know of catches.  

Secret Santa Stocking on the Way...Can Anybody Guess....

Fish & Wildlife 

Seneca Lake Sea Lamprey Control

DEC 

Tried the New Lamington River Pool and Upstream

Plans were to maybe fish a private lake for big bass, but that depended on the wind. Since wind was right for a deer hunt, Brian did that instead. I asked him where he would suggest I fish today, and he came up with two really good options, but I felt stuck on checking out the North Branch some five or six miles from home. When Trish and I drove home from a hike Sunday a week ago, I noticed two parking areas where I had never fished the river before. 

Can't let that go without at least checking it out. 

The first spot had a trail leading angularly down what otherwise is a very steep bank with a vertical elevation of about 50 feet. I got down near the water, but I found the river all but inaccessible. Mind you, I'm suffering from cataracts and will go in for surgery in December, so my depth perception is not good right now. Oddly, I find no difficulty driving, but walking a trail is another matter, and when it comes to descending a sharply steep six to eight feet to the river itself--forget it. I did scope out the stretch and it seemed deep enough to hold bass. I know a similar stretch upstream from there, maybe four feet at the deepest, and we used to catch bass left and right from it. 

I drove on to the next turn off. Vertical elevation there is only 20 or 25 at most. Access is definitely more doable, but the stretch impressed me as too shallow, about two feet. I was in no mood and really in no shape to put on my waders and wading boots to cover water and ground looking for deeper water up or downstream. I'm not at all incapacitated, but I might feel more willing to search the river during the summer. Fall has definitely come since last I walked along the South Branch with my wife and a friend little more than a week ago.

I drove elsewhere in the region looking for access, and instead of finding more, I ended up fishing the Lamington River where TroutScapes LLC removed the wing dam and created a nice pool. I did get a good tap on my Senko there, and then I tried upstream, where I started getting some pickups that could have been small bass or larger sunfish. 

At one point, I got snagged, and the violence of trying to work the hook free loosened the ceramic ring in my tip guide. It went down the line, presumably to the eye of the snagged hook. I made my way further upstream--an exercise that proved my steadiness of foot by my walking an edge of rock outcropping allowing my feet no more space than the width of my boots--hoping to free that hook by getting ahead of it, when it broke off all too easily. A couple of years ago, I lent the rod to a guest who reeled a barrel swivel against that ring, breaking it loose. I glued it back in place and that worked well until today. Before that hook broke off and the ring was lost, I had realized I was fishing the very same stretch of the Lamington where I first used the rod--my very favorite rod, a five-and-a-half-foot St. Croix medium power--in the summer of 2000. On that day more than 21 years ago, I caught a single smallmouth bass from the stretch.

Is the rod--as is, without compromising its length and flex--a total loss? Did it really come full circle like that, or can I simply heat the tip guide, remove it with pliers, and put a new one on? That all depends on whether St. Croix affixed the tip so it is removable, or glued it on there so it won't come off without destroying the rod's tip section. I'm going to have Fairfield Tackle heat it and find out. I already tried asking St. Croix about getting a tip guide, and since I got no answer from them, I'm not going to waste my time at that any further.    

New York Catch & Release Trout Season

DEC 

Laurie Murphy's Report

Laurie Murphy:

The Knee Deep Club held their Fall Walleye contest this past weekend , the last  of the year. Unfortunately they were unable to fill the 6 winning places, but the guys did manage to pick away at some nice fish. First place went to John Moran with a 5 lb 8 oz fish. Second place went to Krzysztof Bak with a 4 lb 9 oz walleye, and third place went to Petro Chang with a 3 lb 14 oz fish. Gift Certificates to Dows Boat Rental went to fourth place finisher Bob Smith, with his fish weighing in at 3 lb 8 oz and fifth  place went to Mike Anzalone with a 2lb 13 oz. Herring, night crawlers and jigs seemed to have the best results. Bob Smith also landed himself a nice smallmouth bass weighing 3 pounds. Junior Knee Deep club member Max Hughen landed himself a nice Largemouth Bass hitting the scales at 4 lb 5 oz. Several Hybrid Striped Bass weighing between 7 and 8 pounds are being caught along with lots of fish in the 3 to 5 pound range, using Chicken livers if you can find them, along with ice fishing rapalas , and small herring. We are seeing lots of white perch along with some yellow perch and crappie being caught on small plastic jigs and the small herring. We will remain open until the end of the month with boat rentals. We are open 7 days a week from 6:30 AM - 5 PM with bait & tackle.  Have a great week !

Former NJ Fish & Wildlife Career Goes National

Fishing Tackle Retailer 

Mississippi River Restoration

American Rivers 

Free Fishing in New York Sept. 25

DEC 

Round Valley Project Update

Project Update 

New Record Gray Tilefish

 Fish & Wildlife

No Point to Work Without a Life

Work stress blunts life, but don't string up the violin, because I got over it fairly well. 

Before I realized tide was going out, I fished the deeper water water between the wash and he sandbar, nothing doing. Usually, I catch fluke at Island Beach near sundown, so I decided to wait. By then, tide was so low the sandbar was exposed and people waded in the cut at their thighs. As you can see in the photo, there was no wash. 

But you can also see some wave action in the background. There's a cut of deeper water. I put away the 5 1/2-foot rod I use for in close, and cast a 2-ounce bank sinker to get my killie out there. Involved at all this, I began feeling life return to me. 

And when I felt a knock, I set the hook before I even realized what it was. The fluke I was into proved to be a little one 12 inches long, but I caught something. I missed a couple of hits before it was getting dark and we decided to leave. 

Something was telling me not to give up. I can't help but get beaten down by work, but there is no point to work without a life. 

Round Valley Project Update Coming

 A little frustrating. Got a Round Valley project update notice today, but when I click the link, only the updates from the last I posted backwards are available. So I'm waiting that out and possibly emailing them to ask about the new update. Will send it on to you.

Did get over there on Tuesday but not to fish. I've been there  a lot this year, taking photos. 

On the way, I hooked a right onto Rockaway Road and explored six miles of Rockaway Creek, looking for access. I was able to park and walk to a bridge and have a close look at the water. Man, if only the streams in New Hampshire and Maine I recently visited were as beautiful! The water is gin clear and looks cold. Fresh spring water. 

Since there's no access--it's all posted--I wonder how many thousands of unfished brown trout.

Inlet Tog, Black Seabass, Fluke, Triggerfish: He Has It Down

Fred and I have been talking for months about us fishing near his new residence in Barnegat. Spent the whole day down there yesterday. Thanks to him, I got back on Long Beach Island for the first time in 11 years. If you let things go--they do go fast. I want to hold on to Fred's offer. Feel very grateful to him that I have the opportunity to come down when I can. 

He's been fishing the jetty for, I guess, a couple of months, and I'm impressed with how well he has it down. Apparently, he always comes away having caught at least one keeper fluke, as you can see in the photo he did this time. Twenty and a half inches. He's been working at the tog and sheepshead, and though he hasn't caught a sheepshead yet, he's caught dozens of tog, but by what I've gathered none over the 15-inch limit. (If I'm mistaken, please comment, Fred.) Twelve inches is abundant, and they fight like hell. When you get one up from the depths and then over the rocks--they dive for those rocks forcefully. 

Sand fleas, also known as mole crabs, catch them. (Fred says even fluke will hit them.) Black seabass hit them, too, as well as triggerfish. Among many others, I caught a 12-inch black seabass, the largest Fred has yet seen there. Half inch under keeper size. Fought hard. Fred ties leaders that work for all the species we caught. I found them to be uniform and tight. We attached one-ounce and two-ounce bank sinkers at the bottoms of them. Forty- and fifty-pound test means they can take some abrasion. I was using 20-pound-test braid as the mainline, Fred forty, I think. Appreciated the braid's sensitivity when it came to bites. The sand fleas are selling at bait shops for $20.00 a pint. That prompted Fred to buy a rake designed for the purpose of collecting sand fleas in surf wash. Fifty bucks has saved him a lot of money. 

My son, Matt, and I used sand fleas for sheepshead in North Carolina. On that trip, he also caught a black drum on the same. Some black drum are being pulled up onto the rocks here, and Fred looks to next month for some redfish to arrive. In any event of fishing jetties, Korkers help you gain traction. The rocks at the edges--where you'll stand while casting--are slick and a fall could be serious. We saw a couple of military helicopters fly over, and they were a sight to see. A medical-life helicopter wouldn't be. 

He caught 10 or 12 fluke. I caught only one. Some of the time he used Berkley Gulp, but the killies I bought did serve him well. I did as he did. Or at least, I thought so. Cast oceanside, out as far as I could, then very slowly reeled back. I did lose a fish as it pulled drag, but so did Fred.

We were out for hours. Mid-way through, someone we didn't know came and we welcomed him. Just minutes before Fred and I left as dusk began to gather, he caught a nice triggerfish. The walk out there and back is a long one, a half mile, but because most of the sand is packed, if you don't have a bad back as I do, or a bad heel as Fred does, it can be no more than a pleasant stroll. You have to carry gear, though, so we didn't carry too much.

Hadn't fished with Fred in months, and it was definitely a good time catching up. He's retired now, and although I've asked the same question by email, I wanted to put it to him in person. "What's retirement like?"

"It doesn't suck! It's good, really good." 

That encourages me. I have some time yet to work a job, but when it's over--I want it over. I know a little about the challenges of aging already, but nothing else challenges my aching body more than the job, and while the mental stress isn't meaningless--it has its reasons and its needs to get over--I can do without so much.   

Twelve-inch black seabass.

Triggerfish. Notice the dorsal shaped like a trigger.

Fluke on for Fred as the sky began to darken.

Nice Sheepshead

 

One Man's Life of Trapping & Selling Eels on the Delaware

Syracuse News 

New Hampshire and Maine Stream Tour

I thought I might drive to the White Mountains, but last night I found it's 86 miles to Mount Washington from here in Lebanon, Maine, and I just felt a two-hour drive a bit much. Especially since oil change appointments before the trip failed. I did further map research and headed out this morning to Milton, New Hampshire nearby. I was looking for Highway 75, and having not found it, decided to drive further up Highway 125, just in case I might find something else.

After two or three miles, I found the stream photographed above, and after a little doing, some access. Tannic water didn't surprise me. Nor did the temperature, which felt cool, but was probably 68 or even higher. Here in the south of both of these states, the terrain isn't mountainous, though there are some hills around Milton. The stream resembled the larger Salmon Falls River, where we caught smallmouth bass two summers ago. I cast a little beadhead on my two-weight fly rod, catching a chub. I found that floppy sole of my left wading boot dangerous, because when I waded upstream, it bent under.

Putting on my hikers as if I would go back down and wet wade in them, I thought it over. Prospects weren't good, and I don't fish trout when water temps get above 68, so I decided to continue looking for the smaller stream I had seen on the map. I did find Highway 75, but never found a steam crossing, driving on to Framingham. When I drove over a hillcrest, I saw a hill some three miles distant with a vertical elevation of about 800 feet, but I didn't find a road leading it's way, though I did find a stream similar to the one I had fished in Framingham itself. Eventually, access, too. It had flow but was flat and shallow. Water temp felt the same. I decided to pass on fishing it.

Things got interesting after I made a U-turn a few hundred yards after turning onto the road leading into Lebanon. I had noticed a little bridge over a side road to the right. I went down to the water and spooked a fish I thought was a pickerel, since it had been hanging out against the bank and slow-poked its nose forward. So I rigged up with my largest beadhead, which has a red head. A nice pool there below the bridge. I caught a chub, and then minutes later, hooked something that gave more resistance. At first I thought I actually had a brookie, though here, too, the water wasn't cold, and the stream slower moving on even leveler ground. A moment later it became clear I had my first chain pickerel on a fly rod. 

When my wife and I will be back up, no one knows. But I think if there's a next time, I'll head for the White Mountains. In 2009, Matt and I fished up there a gorgeous, cold, fast-flowing stream with deep pools--no tannic coloration, just gin clarity, full of brookies. I don't remember if we actually caught any and my fishing log is at home, so I can't check. Vaguely, I remember catching seven, though I would need to confirm that. Who knows what else I might find on the way there, and though I would pass on tannic streams like those I fished today, that was a real nice moment when I hooked the pickerel.  

The Stream near Framingham.

Near Lebanon, Maine

 

Lake Hopatcong Report

Laurie Murphy:

Gabriel Kisiel while fishing with his dad had several nice hybrid striped bass, the largest weighing just over 8 pounds and a pickerel just under 4 pounds, caught on herring. Hybrids were also just starting to hit on liver. Knee Deep will be holding their Hybrid Striped Bass contest come Sept 18th & 19th. We saw some nice crappie this past week, hitting small rubber jigs or little herring. John Moran ended his week of fishing with a 3 lb 15 oz smallmouth bass. We are  open for bait, tackle and small boat rentals, 7 days a week from 6 am to 6 pm, and stocked up with shiners, fatheads, herring & worms should you need live bait. Have a great week ...

Charter Cancelled

It did rain hard around 3:00 a.m., but it's not raining now after 5:00, and I feel disappointed that our Lake Hopatcong charter is cancelled. I was going to meet Brian Cronk just before 6 for some hybrid striper action. I would like to beat my six-pound best.

I did get out the other day. I don't always post after I go fishing, although usually I do, and in any case, every outing is marked in my private log. Fished the Passaic just after work before I drove home. Missed a pike up top, then after a few more pitches to the spot next to wood in the water, went on down below but not far from the bridge. When I came back, I twitched the #11 Rapala on top at the same spot again, and a little pike about 12 inches long leapt over it. Before I finished that retrieve, twitching it hard, a bigger one slammed it but I didn't get hooks set. Not a large pike but at least 18 inches. 

First Lake Trout Reproduction Lake Erie in 60 Years

DEC 

Saw a Big Pike

I walked the trail directly to that nice hole I fished last time when wondered why it didn't produce. My first cast resulted in a small pike hitting the plug when I paused it--as it floated towards the surface. Missed it, and the fish wouldn't come back. I decided to keep with that #11 Rapala, because with the river so low, using a plug I can float over sticks in relatively shallow water makes sense. It casts well enough where the river is so small. In the same stretch, a bass whacked it on the retrieve, felt hook, and was gone. 

I began marching further downstream until, finally, the trail veered sharply right and away. I followed it awhile, then decided to go back and bushwhack, which began more of that than I enjoyed. 

When I began feeling dizzy, uncertainty came on. I don't know if it's true, but all I could think is my recent blood pressure medicine wasn't allowing a pressure high enough to match how strenuous the effort. Will speak to my doctor (who might think me a nut for doing it).

I got pretty deep back there, fighting off thick stuff, making sure the plastic bag I used as satchel didn't get ripped to shreds by thorns that made my left arm and hand a bloody mess. I didn't care about the blood; I didn't want to have to try and carry my things without a bag! Next time, I'll wear a backpack.  Along the way, I tried a few nice looking spots--nothing but the missed hit from a smaller pike yet, and a bass, that last fish up top.

Suddenly, I knew it was time to turn and go back. I wasn't thinking of the time, but the situation would prove it had seemed an inner alarm clock went off, when I thought it was just frustration. The sole of my left boot was coming off. My jeans were too damn tight. I would feel, on the way back, as if a hernia was developing just below my crotch on the right side. 

One spot appeared to try yet. I sat down on a rock to relax and take the day in as I cast leisurely and retrieved. And then I told myself I would leave. Aha, I saw opportunity for one last cast. The water looked a little shadowy towards the other side at an angle downstream. Plug touched down. I twitched, retrieved, and then before it came all the way back, I saw a great disturbance where it had touched down. Then I saw, where I could otherwise see bottom, a pike of at least 36 inches, maybe 40--stunning to see in that little river. I immediately inferred that this fish had been alerted from the fallen tree it hurried back to--by that plug. If only I had just twitched it in place a little. It had snuck up stealthily, and seemed to create a roll and shoot back having seen me some 14 or 15 yards away. 

I knew--because there was another fallen tree sticking out into the river immediately to my right--that had I hooked that pike, there was about zero chance of winning the fight. But what the hell. I kept trying to get my plug close to the tree it skooted under, and even worked out a miracle cast when I neither got hung on that tree nor the one close to me.

I got to my car at 7:54 and felt OK. Dusk had come on pretty deep but not too deep. Another 20 minutes, and I'd have been walking the woods in near-darkness. 

Two trips back into the thick, two consecutive Tuesdays, and to think I haven't lost that plug.

 

Laurie's Report

Laurie Murphy:

The Knee Deep Club's next contest is for Hybrid Striped Bass, to be held on Sept 18th & 19th. Their catfish contest produced several nice fish with 1st place going to Hunter Good with a 12 lb 4 oz Channel. His dad Jeff took 2nd place with a 6 lb 9oz Channel and 3rd place went to Alex Stockton with a 4lb 5 oz fish, also a channel cat.  Despite the heat this week,  we were seeing some nice walleye in the 3 to 4 pound range, caught early morning on night crawlers or live herring, along with some pickerel , white perch and crappie. Largemouth Bass , pitching lures along the weedbeds and docks and Smallmouth Bass and Hybrids off any of the points, with herring giving you the best results. Have a great week !

 

Musconetcong River Safety Advisory from MWA

MWA 

Passaic River Lowest I've Ever Seen

Never saw the Passaic at lower level before. Hiking in, I thought I heard thunder. I got about seven minutes deep into the woods, when I took my first cast and a bass hit. Missed it. Further in, I found nice, deep water but didn't get any interest. I fished a #11 Rapala and had some difficulty casting balsa, compared to other plugs I've used like Smithwick. Had I more time, I would have switched out. It soon became clear a storm approached.

I never had time to settle in. Did catch a little bass before I got about 15 minutes deep, into the woods. Where I last stood, I missed two strikes from the same pike almost at my feet.  A small one but bigger than the bass.

Hiking out briskly, I realized I might have forgotten to stash a plastic bag in the little camera bag I keep my D7100 in. Did make sure to put one in there immediately after getting home.

As you can see, I got to my car in a nick of time. Always good to get out.

 

Musconetcong River Section Closure for Anglers

Musconetcong River 

Catfish Contest this Weekend

Laurie Murphy:

The Knee Deep Clubs catfish contest is this weekend, August 7th & 8th. It is a perfect outdoor activity to spend some time with friends and maybe win some money. And yes, the catfish are biting. Max Hughen  weighed in several nice fish. His 2 channel cats weighed in at 1 lb 10 oz and 9 lb 5 oz , along with a white cat weighing 4 lb 2 oz. Catfish will hit anything from hotdogs and liver to nightcrawlers and herring, dead or alive. Richard Hilton had several bass while pitching his lures along the docks at Nolans Point, the largest weighing 4 lb 2 oz. Hybrid Bass still being caught off Chestnut Point, the Main Lake out from Byrams,  and Sharps Rock areas. White and yellow perch are also being caught . Have a great week !

Checked on the Passaic

Found a good parking spot and scouted a little, finding there is some space for bank fishing, but the water was so muddy, I decided to try again later. Besides, I'm on jury duty call in Trenton, and if I had to go tomorrow morning, it would have been to bed early. Losing out on some fishing over that, perhaps.

Right near the supermarket in Stirling. 

RV Project Update

RV Project Update 

Funny Video

Short 

Laurie's Report

 Laurie Murphy:

The Knee Deep Club’s  next contest is for Catfish, to be held on August 7th & 8th.  Catfish are starting to hit with the warmer temps.  Junior member Max Hughen had some nice Bass this past week. His largemouth hit the scales at 4 lb 1oz, along with a Smallmouth weighing 3 lb 10 oz. Richard  Hilton also had a nice largemouth weighing 4 lb 6 oz, casting some rubber worms along Nolans Point and Lou Marcucci had a smallmouth bass weighing 3 lb 3 oz caught on herring.  Another Junior member River Graybill, while fishing with his mom and dad Aaron helped to land a 9 lb 9 oz Hybrid Striped bass. Jim Welsh had an 8 lb 3 oz Hybrid, also caught on herring.  Other hybrids caught this week also were in the 7 - 8 pound range, being caught on herring or rapala jigs in deeper water.  Several pickerel up to 4 1/2 pounds and some walleye have managed to be caught also. Jerry Freeman while trolling worm harnesses managed a 7 lb 6 oz walleye for his efforts. Some nice crappies have also made their way to the scale. Have a great week ...

Raritan and South Branch Farewell

This outing seems to bring a long history of fishing with my son to an end, as he goes back to Boston this afternoon and then on to settle in California in weeks, but I'm sure we'll fish again. Maybe even in New Jersey. In any event, I've fished New Jersey with him since he was two, 20 years ago. Though I've mostly been into literature all these years, I began taking him on explorations at six months, orienting him to science. 

Why not literature instead? I did read him all of Blake's work and from other books when he was little, but I felt inclined to introduce him to science. When I was little, science was my interest, and it came naturally to steer him in that direction. 

After I took him to Round Valley when he was three, during the drive home, we had an intensely long and detailed conversation about evolution. Many other discussions since. And now he goes and joins a team to build the world's first nuclear fusion reactor. Or let's hope it gets built.

It never was a one-way street. Matt got me back into fishing seriously, by insisting we go several times a week. That led to the blog. We fished more often than I do now back then. Today he beat me six to one. Three smallmouths, three largemouths for him. One smallmouth for me. None were better than average steam bass.

We began in Somerville long before dawn, where a garish electrical sign warned: River Closed. No Trespassing. But a friend from work told me he spoke to a police officer who told him it's OK to fish. They just don't want another party trashing the spot. Matt got a smallmouth on a popper. I missed two hits on my Torpedo and something large broke surface, swirling behind my big Rebel Pop-R. It behaved more like a pike than a smallmouth, but I'm sure it was a smallmouth....though, of course, I don't really know.

I had another spot in mind not too distant, on the South Branch. My Torpedo got hit right away by an average smallie, which didn't get hooked. Matt got one on his popper, and I missed a hit on a Senko. Not much was happening here, and though nothing's happened for me this year in my favorite stretch, to deny ourselves a try would have been foolish. That's where Matt did best, on a Zoom worm, and I caught mine on a Senko. 

Typically, he tries something other than what I use. And rather than sticking to my side, he's always venturing off elsewhere. It's been that way all these years, and on frequent occasion he either does better than I do, or puts me on a better path. 

He just now showed me Reptiles and Amphibians, the Peterson Guide he's taking to California, dozens of Post It stickers marking pages of special interest from when he was little boy, though he was reading graduate-level books on science in the seventh grade. 

  

Matt's back to the past as the river flows.

 

Fished a Little Pond for Bass

On the way back from getting my wife's car inspected, I stopped at a CVS and bought a 20-ounce Arizona Ice Tea in a can for 99 cents. I drove on with this little pond in mind. 

Caught nothing, but I have caught bass here before. The population is very sparse. I like the black "tea" water, though I'd call this coffee water. It has clarity but deep tone. My worm splashes appeared bronzed in the sun.

Had it all to myself, working on my casts, getting the worm tight against eaves on the water, underneath overhangs, on wood. 

The sun felt friendly.