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.