Fall Fishing and Festivals

 Long Beach Island October 2012: Hi Folks! This weekend was mostly a bust for fishing as Tracy and I stayed on LBI for the annual south Jersey fall festivals. I did however wake up early Saturday and got a line wet for an hour or two. Turned out there was nothing doing but a gorgeous sunrise and some pesky callico crabs. Tried clams, plugs and metals all to no avail.

By 9am we packed up and left for the Cranberry Festival in Chatsworth, NJ. As usual it was a mob scene but they had a lot more vendors and even then more food then the last time we attended. With live music, good food, wine tasting and of course, plenty things cranberry it turned out to be a fun day for my gal and I. Worthy of note was DiMatteo's cranberry and apple wines especially the mulled apple wine. All I can say was YUMMMY! For anyone interested in cranberry or apple wines Im sure if you visit there website by clicking this link: DiMatteo Vineyards website, they could provide you all the information necessary to obtain some!



On Sunday it was off to pick up my little brother Alex and the three of us headed on to Batsto Village for their annual Country Living Fair. That is a really cool fair in that they have a little something for everyone. If you dont like crafts then you can check out the antique farm machines including early gasoline powered pumps and corn huskers or steam powered tractors and the like. If thats not your forte then their is antique cars, trucks and a whole slew of other interesting items to try and figure out.

 

Anyway it was a great weekend to be away with perfect weather and a great place to stay. (We were less then a 100 yards from the beach) I hope to back into full fishing swing come Friday or Sunday whichever is best to fish.

 

Till then, Always fun .... Always an adventure.

 

Tommy

Fall Trout Fishing on the Ramapo River

New Jersey Freshwater Fishing Report 10/14/2012: I was supposed to get up at the crack of dawn and head down to Sandy Hook again, but that just didn't happen. So today Tracy and I headed over to our old favorite trout spot on the Ramapo River.

 

We fished most of the day without a bite until we happened upon a spot where I saw at least two trout actively feeding in the water column. I quickly yielded that spot to my beautiful girl Tracy and after a few casts one of them followed her lure all about the river until it finally decided to bite!

 

The reward was a nice fat 16 inch rainbow trout, a happy honey and a home cooked meal for me! Ok so the meal is not gonna be trout as we are catch and release kind of folks however, the venison in the freezer will do just fine.

 

I must say the look on Tracy's face was priceless when she hooked that fish!

 

Oh well next week we will be on the striper trail again this time down on Long Beach Island. Should be a good weekend. Til then ... keep it reel!

 

Always fun .... Always an adventure.

 

Tommy

Sandy Hook, NJ: False Albacore Fun

Sandy Hook, NJ Fishing Report 10/7/2012: Today Tracy and I started out for Sandy Hook at about 8am figuring on catching the last 3 hours of the incoming tide. I was hoping that the cold front that came through last night would wake up the stripers today but that was just not gonna happen. Water temperatures are still way high to really get em going strong in the surf.

There was a good amount of baitfish in the surf but not as densely packed as it was on my last trip two weeks ago. The only thing hitting on them were false albacore and let me tell ya they were jumping all around us.

So after catching nothing but sea robins on bait I decided to toss out some metals to try and catch one of those speedy albies and boy was I rewarded.

I tied on a Run Off Lure Co. 2oz chrome sand eel and started casting. Remember that when fishing for false albacore you have to retrieve your lure as fast as you can possibly crank your reel! So on my third cast the first one hit! Let me tell you when an albie hits its like throwing your line out to catch a commuter train and then its off to the races.

After a few blistering runs and a trip down the beach I finally banked the critter and was just absolutely thrilled. The day would produce 2 other hits one I caught and the other I lost shortly after I hooked it.

Also worthy of note was catching a good sized fluke which thanks to the state regulations, I was forced to release.

Anyhow, next weekend is trout time on Saturday and if I can convince my Tracy, back to Sandy Hook on Sunday.




Till then keep it reel!

Tommy