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Good reports John and Jim. Nice to see some forum activity; I was beginning to wonder if anybody was paying attention to our forum anymore. I’m as guilty as any. I’ve been distracted lately and haven’t been in since December, hopefully that’ll change soon. Our only daughter gets married in March in St Augustine after which I look forward to jumping on any SBS or chimarra caddis that may still be hanging around. My logs show March as a productive time for both the small stones as well as the caddis larvae. Unlike Jim, I’m too lazy to tally up my logbook year, but suffice to say 2021 for me often found tough stream conditions due to storms, Hopatcong releases as well as the unusal level of pressure on weekends. I still managed a few size able ‘bows plus a few gorgeous, fat Browns. After Ida deposited a fair amount of sand throughout the runs in September, I’m curious as to how (or if?) it will affect the balance of our aquatic
entomology. Hopefully we have a buggy, productive river year. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the dinner.Mike:
Sorry to hear about your shoulder problems. I can directly relate. Last year this time my right shoulder wouldn’t allow me to throw more than a few short casts without having to medicate and ice it. December 5 I had corrective surgery for the tears. It’s been a painful road back, daily rehab routines, lots of ice, still occasional OTC pain meds as needed but after almost 8 months I’m 95% back to long sessions on the river. Glad to share my experience in more detail, just email me so we don’t bore the rest of the club. Did I mention ice?
BTW-
Water temp was 67.9 Saturday 7/3. It was off color and 200cfs. Lots of flotsam and suspended materials. I fished 1-4pm, and went a whopping 1/2. Saw 2-3 rises, the air seemed lifeless with no obvious bug activity of any kind. Zero terrestrials seen. We had 50 degree air here on Friday am. Best guess is the cold spell shut the bite down for now. Either that or I just really stunk.Friday morning 6/25 water was a cool 62.8 degrees at Farmhouse. I checked in again Sunday afternoon and it was up to 68.9. Water turbidity is very good with just some slight color, not quite summer “gin clear” yet. This current heat wave will easily put temps >70 degrees. NFG.
Hopefully the cooler nights forecast for Independence Day weekend will bring temps back down to more fishable conditions. Spinners or #14 stimulators fooled ’em lately for me. Also further harassed them with a 17 year old foam cicada in my box since the last hatch. Fun watching them blast the surface on the initial “plop” like a pike hitting a spook. But this pattern is way too overdressed so hookups are few- just as exciting to watch them just charge and try for the mouthful.
Happy Independence Day MTC. God Bless America.🇺🇸Hey John:
There’s nothing like a couple of cool mornings in August to get one thinking about September in NY. By this time of the summer we’ve been through the heat, the sweat, one too many barbeques, mosquitoes, mowed the lawn too many times by now, high stream temps and spotty hatches. It’s getting to be about time to move on. The 2 handed set ups were cleaned and stored last winter and area ready to go for a Pulaski run. I’ll soon be moth balling the trout gear, so they’re ready for next season( ok I leave one set-up ready for fall/ winter). The tying desk will go through the cleaning/organizing process. Necks and capes will be replaced mostly with bright colored yarns and feathers. The #16 hooks get stashed to make way for the #8 2457’s. It’s now sort of the February/March interval where tying and gear prep become the sport. Re-stock some proven patterns and throw a couple of new ones in the mix to keep it interesting. The more pressure Pulaski gets, the more I find that naturals work for me so I’ll be restocking my soft hackles and wooly buggers along side some bright stuff like “O” cheese glo bugs and chartreuse comets. As I sit here this morning on the porch with a hot cup of coffee the thermometer reads a “chilly” 58 degrees. It’s still early August but you can feel it starting. Time to start penciling some hookey dates for September and October….Glad to hear you guys are getting out and catching some fish. Maybe these cooler nights will help with the river temps for a few days. With the higher levels and lower temps maybe we can squeeze in another outing or two. John- congrats on the fluke tournament! Great job- those are some huge fluke. Any pics?
After last weeks monsoons I had to give it a try on Memorial Day morning, even though it was still ~390. I was fishing in a stretch outside MTC water, down near Bloomsbury. The Musky still had some color, what I might describe as about 50% between clear and milkshake muddy. I could see bottom up to about 18″ of depth. After that, visibility really dropped off. I opted for a black crystal bugger, which really showed well against the latte colored background. I managed 4 bows and a brown by either dead drift or just holding it to wag in the current. Didn’t get a look when stripping. I stuck to the seams along the bank. Biggest was a hog that measured 23″, maybe 4 lbs(?). It took about 5 minutes to revive him (and me) and in the course of my fish first aid I splashed my phone (about 18″ of depth- hence my earlier description of visibility was then calibrated….) The big rainbow survived but my phone didn’t. Got pic’s before the IPhone drown though. BTW- the guy who sold me the new phone swears it’s “waterproof” up to a few feet for 30 minutes. Considering we went up to 2000 cfs last night, it looks like I won’t be water testing the new phone this weekend. Almost terrestrial time folks.
We’re off and running! I think I still get as excited about opening day now as I did over 50 years ago. This year was no exception. The conditions were unusually good. After hitting Flat Brook in the am, I fished Asbury from Blue chair to Farmhouse mid-afternoon. High sky, water temp was 50.5, no Eagles, herons or geese. I went 2/6 in about 90 minutes on Golden retrievers and buggers. Nada on nymphs or caddis. Saw one rise. Didn’t get to Baileys.
Flat Brook was ok,but the chilly night temps and rain had them off until we got sun on the water. Found most fish in sunny shallows on the bank side of any seams. Mops and glo bugs were more productive than nymphs and streamers.He’s out of hibernation guys! I figured a couple of sunny days and (somewhat) lower water flows would wake him up. Been waiting for an update John, glad to see you’ve emerged…..and with good news. High and cold are tough conditions any time of year let alone it being February. Catching this time of year is a special treat. Looking forward to seeing everybody soon.
Sounds like a plan, John. Show season is also coming up. Nothing like burning down a Saturday morning in the winter browsing tables and booths for more stuff we don’t need. For the record – I bring cash, no cards. Then there’s less temptation to blow hundreds on stupid gear I’ll never use. Jeez, I need to fish. Happy New Year to all.
Happy Holidays everyone. Seems like the second half of the 2018 fishing season was a bust for many of us. Besides the Musky being blown out since August, the big D was a shambles with summer flows frequently about 4 X’s mean. Couldn’t even get out for a smallie float. We first tried in mid-July, kept an eye on it through Labor Day. We finally decided enough was enough and went crabbing instead. Kicked butt on crabs in Barnegat. NY salmon weather was fine, but I spent October in the office (duh). I finally drifted the Salmon River on 12/12. Perfect water level, low clouds, no wind, air in upper 20’s to low 30’s. Not a lot of boats or bank fisherman. Perfect. We hit it hard with everything we had from egg flies to soft hackles, natural nymphs, streamers, flees, you name it. Between the two of us we went 0/1 each. Not sure what’s going up there but seems to a trend in the past 3-4 years. Looking forward to January fishing on the Musky. Hopefully things get back to normal. Please put the rain dancing on hold for a while.
Best wishes for the Holidays
Anthony B.Hit the South Branch above KLG earlier this week. Water level was great, temp was 49.5 Saw one rise in riffle. Sporadic caddis group “fly bys”. About size 14, reddish brown. Only saw one rise. No hits, no runs, lots of errors. Leaves are starting to be a problem. Tonight’s nor’easter should put a lid on it for a few days. Better days comin’
Last time out (which was first time since July) I actually had an opening in my schedule when the river was fish able, before Hopatcong started the big dump. I hit Warren Glen for a couple of hours, flew the skunk flag for the first time this year – with an exception. The baby shad couldn’t get enough of a #18 ptail. Cute little guys about 4″ long that perfectly imitate a Cabelas soft bait. Nice striper baits. Curious to see how it fishes after levels return to normal.
Water was 68.3 in Warren Glen on Sat 6/30 @ 8:30am, so according to John’s reading at 4:00, it went up 4 degrees before the real heat wave even started. Had a mature eagle glide through low under the canopy heading for Bloomsbury. I froze to see how close he’d get. Felt like a B-17 coming past. A short while later the heron came in at the riffle below the falls hole, until I purposely spooked him. Managed one brown on a soft hackle, missed another then the heat started to get to me. Stopped by the local liquor store on the way home, almost ran over John Miller in the parking lot, grabbing some cold beer. We were on the same page; water too warm to trout fish now. Time to think about hitting the big D or the salt. We need that WG stretch excavated sooner than later. Some deeper holes with riffles will help keep it cooler and keep those avian invaders at bay. Swine. Happy Independence Day gang.
I had 63.3 degrees on Sunday night 6/24. So far the nights have been cool with local air temps down in the upper 50’s. Not sure what this upcoming heat wave will do to water temps. I guess we’ll find out soon enough. I hit the South Branch below Califon Tuesday eve. Lots of caddis in the air a few Dorothea emerging, a yellow Sally or two also in the air. No spinner fall where we were but Cahills and sulphur Klinghammers did the trick at dark. Also scored on swung soft hackles earlier until they started on the surface around 8:00. Not exactly a blitz, but steady action on this public stretch of water. All rainbows except one cute little wild brown and a couple of dinky smallies.
Getting to be that time of year soon when the water column is clear and largely sparse of actively hatching aquatic bugs. We managed a half dozen or so with my son on Saturday morning on the usual soft hackles and LaFontaine DSP’s, but I can see it coming- small stuff and terrestrials are next. Makes sense that the tiny stuff is working. Need to try harder to get in at dusk for the sulphurs before too long. How about Mr Saloukas winning that beautiful Thomas & Thomas rig from TU? Congrats Bill.