4/4

No posts as of late, I apologize, I still don't have any good reason to write these posts aside from boredom and enjoying typing about fishing.

Heres a fish story. I was fishing a wickedly windy and cold night 2 weeks ago and lost one of the biggest Striped Bass I've ever hooked. It hurt a lot, because it was my first Striper attempt of the year and my first good bite and the fish popped off after about 10 seconds. It turned out ok though because throughout the rest of the night I was able to score 2 really nice Bass both in the 35-36lb range. I was fishing with Kenny who'd also gotten a nice size fish, 28lb (give or take a pound I dont remember exactly), and we both got a couple smaller fish in the 2-15lb range.

Spring is the best time for urban city folk here on the east coast to tie into the biggest bass of the year, at no time will there be bigger fish this close to home. They come up the rivers early spring and stick around to feed on herring and also to spawn, and often times they are knocking on our doorstep with how close they are, these fish swim right through downtown Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and more. Best baits are Bunker, Clams, Bloodworms, Jigs, Plugs, Poppers, and chunks of random species of fish like creek chubs, perch or worse - trout.

I have been spending a lot of time Striper Fishing the past 2 weeks, and I have concluded that these fish are sometimes in feed mode and sometimes in slump mode. Slump mode means you're getting skunked, feed mode means you're getting cows on 3 day old soggy bunker. It happened, I watched it happen, I lived it.. I watched Bill catch that 25lb fish on Monday on Saturdays Bunker, which I bought a day old. Better yet, you ditch the bait and go out and plug and jig and you find the same thing, the fish are on or they're off.... You know they're there, sometimes they hang out in the channel, the channel edge, other times they're on the flat or they're 10 miles of where they were yesterday. I don't know how much sense that makes but the point is, being in the right place at the right time is the challenge, and its not the kind of thing that anyone can predict, its the kind of thing where you have to be out there and see whats happening and gauge the situation and then know what it is and how to make it happen. That is Striper Fishing.

None of this post has any value until pics are posted to prove the author is someone worth trusting, let me tell you that I see a lot of Bogus shit on the internet these days, it's horrendous, completely horrendous, Facebook and its "fishing groups" can get incredibly off topic, offensive and cut throat over stupid things like the way someone holds a fish for a picture, the weight or length of a fish being exaggerated, a spot being revealed, or pics of breeder fish in the kitchen. All these situations are actually worth being checked, as holding a fish wrong or killing a breeder out of season are both cause for concern, the point is the majority of the "fishermen" on the internet are jack shit nobodies who don't even fish. This post for example could be written by anyone, the internet is a free place to state opinions or ideas and again, a large number of the guys online who talk are the guys who don't know what they're saying. Remember that as you browse the internet in your quest for information, in the mean time I am pretty siked about the beginning of the 2016 Striper Season.

Closing words: There are more Bass this spring than the previous 3 Springs. HERRING are still illegal despite obviously flawed data. Bunker stock is up and is contributing to stronger bass population, but bass numbers being knocked back by raritan fleet. The first wave of fish has been here and the 2nd push will happen this week, lucky for the bass the weather will be complete garbage making it tough on the masses to get out and on the slay. I dont know if Ill catch any nice bass this week but next week? next week will be so good that I will end up deleting this post. These closing words are less fact and more bullshit but the following fish are all 25-36lbs and caught in freshwaters from PA, NJ, DE and MD, all from shore at night, the one fish on the boat in the daytime was caught on a Redingfin (loaded through wired redfin). I have the Striper Fever very bad. It is some very severe striper fever.... I would rather skunk on stripers than go catch trout, LM bass shad flatheads or anything else... It is a legitimate addiction. Expect the skunk.

2/6

The weather forecasts going into this past weekend were looking promising, Sunday showed highs well above freezing accompanied by a light and variable wind, so I ended up scooping Kenny and his boat on Sunday morning and driving north to the Valley. Round Valley Reservoir is an awesome lake in central NJ, Deep Clear water and a healthy population of both naturally reproducing and state stocked trophy trout. I had always wanted to try fishing here but the 55$ fishing license and the drive alone kept me from ever actually going there, until last winter, when we had one of the most wicked ice seasons we've ever seen on this side of the appalacians. We had upwards of a foot of ice last year in during the first week of March, and it was after many Marsh Creek Musky skunkings that I asked Kenny if he wanted to go up and give it a shot. I asked Romo too, for the record, but he said "no way, too futile", a common response from him when I shoot him a bat shit crazy idea like Ice Fishing a new lake for a new species. Anyways, we did really well through the ice up there last year, one of the rare winter seasons where the Valley was locked up with a foot of ice.

There won't be any Ice on the Valley this winter, at least I hope not. It would have to get very cold and stay very cold, and I really don't want that... I would much rather see above average temps and openwater fishing to turn on. So 7am Sunday morning we launched Kenny's boat into a very favorable looking situation, no wind and mild, we thought we were going to roll out to the marks we had made from last winter and start catching Lake Trout again. Well that would turn out to be a very ambitious dream as we found out pretty quick that the fish were either not there or not on the feed. Long story short I caught 1 Lake Trout... Kenny caught no Lake Trout. It was tough like that. We did mark some fish and miss/lose a few, but bites came very inconsistently and it was nothing like our past experience at the Valley.

Weather was awesome, the water was awesome, anticipating the next bite was awesome, but it didn't happen. I hope for better action on a trip like that but this is fishing.

2/6

Nothing good to report. Living in Philadelphia is a drag. Its February now, our saltwater action is non-existent, ice fishing our overpressured impoundments sucks, the rivers are icy and muddy. Theres very few options and the options we do have are 1-20 hours away, basically need to drive far just for the hope of catching something decent. Driving out of PA is certainly the only option. Im about done with all this and am dying to go to florida, I have never been to FLA but have been reading reports, looking at pics and videos online and talking to people who know the land and water down there, why do I even live in Philly? Why do I pay so much money for such a shitty apartment in a shitty location?

I woke up in the middle of the night last night, sweating uncontrollably, with the weirdest craving for the sound of tree frogs. I've never felt such a craving, my soul has had nothing to live for over the past month. Every year, after months of agony, cold and hopelessness, it is the tree frogs who restore peace to the minds and souls of all of us. It is this noise that makes us complete once again, after falling apart and living in pieces through the dead months, the sound of mild weather is rebirthing. Walking to a fishing spot through the woods, along the river when the night is dead quiet except for the deafening roar of the tree frog colony. This is the noise that starts it off, you know the herring and shad are there if you hear the frogs, and if the herring and shad are there the Bass are there too. Just to know they're there does something in comforting the soul. These trips often produce nothing, you get skunked a lot on these types of trips, but for every skunking there will be a productive trip to come in the future, and if you never got skunked then you wouldn't feel like you accomplished anything when your time finally comes. Thats all I want - to feel complete again, driving to an unknown location, stopping for bloodworms at an unknown walmart, and to sit and wait and watch that rod tip.

Although our rivers are dead now, soon they will turn to highways and parking lots for Striped Bass Shad and Herring. Feeding commences. Cows roll. Hopes and dreams of a bigger fish than I've ever seen keep me on the water late into the night. and again the next night. Its the Spring Striper run, anything can happen. The breeders are knocking on our doorstep, at any given time we could be placing our bait or plug in front of the face of a rogue bass. I dream of a 50. or even a 60. 70's and larger have been caught in our rivers. It is within the Tree Frogs that we find hope, reason to live, and comfort in our surroundings, and the anticipation of a big run off, hooking the one we can't stop, all begins with the Tree Frog.

This is all I look forward to. It is usually around the Trout Opener that the Striper Fishing starts to pick up. I will tell you honestly, It has been over 10 years since I have fished a Trout Opener, in my opinion there is nothing worse than participating in this nonsense. Opening day trout is for the birds.

So with all that, fuck winter. Fuck February especially, there is no worse month.

1/13

It's been a couple days, but Sunday evening I did a little flathead fishing with Romo and James to try to attempt the impossible, the January Flathead. The condition of the river went from low and 40 degrees to 5k cfs and almost 50 degrees in about 12 hours, basically a big warm front came through with an inch of warm rain, and it got the Flatheads moving just enough to be able to stick a few. We fished only 2-3 hours around dusk and between the 3 of us we got 3 Flatheads and a channel, nothing of any size, but mission accomplished. Here they are. Chunks of Bluegills did the damage. From here, where do we go with dismal winter fishing? Friday Ken Romo and myself plan on Tog fishing off the coast of MD/VA, water temps plummeted over the recent days cold weather and I believe going south is the right move. Im still on a quest for a 10lb+ Tog and hopefully I can make it happen come Friday. After that, Ice Fishing awaits. Can't believe Im posting Flathead Pics and talking about how close to ice season we are in the same post. Anyways, good luck to anyone still fishing, spring will be here before we know it.

1/10

Yesterday seemed like one of the last chances we'd have to do some openwater fishing before the freeze comes, but looking outside right now shows otherwise, its 60 degrees and sunny? Kenny and me trailered his boat 2.5 hours down to the Potomac in attempt to catch Blue Cats yesterday, we stopped along the way to try and snag gizzard shad for bait, which worked perfectly. We didn't get out on the River until about 11am or a little after, we didn't really know where these big Blue Catfish would be holding, but we moved around and had a good time enjoying the amazing January weather. It wasn't cold, 50 degrees or so, zero wind, flat calm, overcast and at times so foggy we couldn't see shore in any direction. We used smallish chunks of fresh Gizzard Shad and caught close to 10 Blues although none of them were very big. Average size would turn out to be around 10lbs, with our biggest going 25lbs. Thats a decent sized freshwater fish, but for a Blue Cat its not nearly enough to raise any eyebrows, as these fish grow to 100lbs+, and 50lbers aren't all that uncommon.

It was the first time Either of us had fished the Potomac. Kenny had never caught a Blue. I have targeted them at Santee Cooper Reservoir in SC many years ago and I can only remember ever catching one, from the Rediversion Canal there at Santee in July. Long story short, we both caught PB's and did a bit of exploring on new waters. We tried fishing anywhere from 35'-70'+ of water and seemed like we had out best bite in around 50'.

For some reason I was pretty sure we were going to go down there and catch at least a 30lber, now I realize that was a little ambitious. Next time, however, I fully expect to catch one at least 30, however I do not know when I will be back. I should have done more research on Blue's because once we got down there we realized we didn't really know where to go. We had taken advice from Tan Bui, a local philly hater, who had fished the Potomac in 2008 or 2009 with Romo on a guides boat down there. They had caught some 50+lbers that day in November, apparently in 20' of water, I have heard about that day many times since then and know the approximate location, however we didn't find any 50lbers.

The Fisheries Departments there on the Potomac classify the Blue's as an invasive species and encourage anglers to kill what they catch. Sound familiar? We didn't kill any. We don't kill Snakeheads or Flatheads either, mainly because we enjoy catching these species.

For now, here's a couple pics of stiff-arm Kenny with his 15lb PB and my 25lber-

1/8

Doom and Gloom on the horizon. We're screwed. If Ice Fishing is your cup of tea you're in luck, odds are there will be safe ice by next weekend in parts of of the Northern and Western waters, There have already been some cracked out ice fishermen getting out on Lake Ontelaunee when we got that flash freeze earlier this week. Ontelaunee has absolutely the most insane Ice Fishing scene out of anywhere I've ever been, those guy risk their lives, year in and year out, for a shot at the first or last Crappie of ice season.

Props to Kenny Raines for jigging up a 13lb Tog and a 9lb tog earlier this week on the Osprey out of AC. He jigged these on light spinning gear with super light line/leader, Ill keep the specifics on the DL because Kenny probably wouldn't want the whole world to know his secrets, but he walked off the boat that day 220$ richer, taking everyones pool money. There have been a lot of nice tog caught the past week, but now with increasing wave heights, rain, and a serious cold front coming through, who knows when the next hot tog bite will be. I'd like to think there will still be opportunity to get out there and get on a nice tog bite but the reality is that Tog are already super depleted and a big drop in water temps will make it tough to justify paying 100$ or more to get out on a boat for a shot at a big Tog.

We all knew it was coming, we just weren't sure when, but now its just about here. Winter time, its the worst time. Shout out to anyone who has no intention of stopping as old man winter blows his cold breath of death for the next 2 months.

Yearning for the sounds of tree frogs on a warm night in early April, the sound of drag zipping off my reel with a big cow Striper in the wee hours of the morning. Looking forward to making a trip to VA for Cobia in early June, for the sound of Big Black Drum under the kayak, for adult bunker spraying out of the water with Bass and Blues filling their stomachs, and even just the run of a Schuylkill Flathead as he swims off with a big chunk of trout or live Sucker. It is the worst time of year. See you on the ice.

Kenny's 13lb Tog-

1/2

kayak in tow, driving to the beach. Romo and matt are already down there, going off with small keeper size bass and EVEN Blues still. Herring, bass, blues surface activity, hopefully I get there in time.


EDITED: I didn't get there in time. Romo and Matt had Fish Popping bait on the surface for a couple hours and got into 10-20 Bass before I got there 26"-32". I arrived around noon-1pm and got 2 Bass and Blue. The fishing was slow, electronics were key, Herring were easy to acquire. Working on the Video from today, as slow as it was out there I cannot complain as catching any 28"+ Bass or Bluefish this time of year is rare, we must be grateful for the bounty that has taken up residence off our beaches over the past month or 2. The bite will last a little longer, but eventually the Arctic Air will prevail and everything will go quiet during the 2nd half of Winter (AKA Hell on Earth). Kenny was out Party Boat Toggin today and witnessed a 23.11lb Tog caught on the Osprey out of Atlantic City. Thats huge! Just 2 pounds shy of the State Record! I know where Kenny will be tomorrow.

Once we landed the Kayaks I fished off the Beach for the last remaining period of daylight, Herring everywhere along the lip, and managed to pluck a 31" Bass just as the last of the light was waning from the western sky. There are giant tog and BLUEFISH over 10lbs as well as bass, anywhere from short size to monster size. There was a 50lb Bass caught AND RELEASED from the beach earlier this week, since then we've seen more fish to 30lbs run the beaches, and boats are also finding that class of fish. All Hail King Herring!

Heres a Video/pic of that Tog and a couple pics from our fish-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJLXiX765Oc&sns=fb&app=desktop