Concern for Menhaden (Bunker)

Over the years, I've followed the concern somewhat for our primary saltwater forage fish. Here's a link to an article from the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership:

http://www.trcp.org/menhaden-recovery/

A Pine Snake and the Law

Sitting here bummed out a little, I reflected on my state and asked myself what to do next. I thought of posting my concern. I admit I'm a naïve sort. All of these years herping with my son, who no longer does much of this, now a Sophomore physics major at Boston University, I never managed to inform myself much on the law. I knew you can't keep reptiles from the wild, and we never had the slightest intention of doing so. But you can't "harass" non-game endangered species like the pine snake, either.

I believe 100% in a boy's natural inclination not only to look at such a snake, but engage with it. Of course, when Matt did just that, I was his grown-up father who had no desire to run after and capture the six-foot creature with the powerful jaws to get around without getting bitten by them, which Matt managed to do. I did put on the brakes for him. He saw the snake from the window as we traversed a Pinelands sand road with New Jersey Audubon, and before the car even came to complete sudden halt, his door was open and he was out running clad only in socks, having taken his sneakers off for some reason.

We did no harm to the snake. Matt held it briefly as not only I photographed it, but a dozen or so NJ Audubon members did so as well, not a word of protest from anyone about the broken law, only amazement, photos immediately circulating online. Actually, the link I've connected you to features a pine snake he caught a year later in the Pines, but the point here is moot. No law about "harassment," as if we had any such intent--no, not at all--trumps a higher natural law about boys and their engagement with nature. Nothing will ever prompt me to take this post I've linked you to, and the photo, down.

Who knows. Maybe Litton's Fishing Lines has never taken any awards--many other New Jersey blogs have--because we're too edgy. If you're with me, though, you believe not only in freedom of speech, honesty, candor, and rigor, but freedom to act, as well.

https://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2012/04/snakes-in-new-jersey-and-waiting-for.html

Shifting Borders

Another fall nears closing as once again the surf striper run on the Jersey coast has fallen apart. This fall, a lot of bass got caught three miles or so out to sea, but repeated nor'easters contributed to vacant surf lines. I don't know much of the whole story, but my brother Rick and I have been talking about surf fishing since August, so we were ready to take our opportunity, which never unfolded. He lives in Wall a mile from the beach, and he's been at the ready to say go.

We also hoped to fish Lake Hopatcong. I doubt he's even seen the lake since January 1978, but he's up for walleye and hybrids sometime. Our plan got cut short because Dow's Boat Rentals had to pull the boats, the lake level sinking too low. Every five years, the lake gets drawn down five feet so docks can be maintained.

I also hoped to fly fish on Wednesday, but rivers already high and off-color are flooding plenty now with the next heavy rain falling two days after the previous. More rain is in the forecast for later this week, too.

The climate is mixed up. It seems to me as if the bulk of the stripers weren't interested in the surf line this fall or last regardless of waves as high as 15 feet. Why specifically I don't know. And I don't know if climate has anything to do with it, just that my gut tells me it might. Borders will change as seas rise. The way maps divide regions now will alter. 

3 Degrees

It got cold. Three degrees recorded at Walpack. Four degrees at Pequest. Even seven degrees right over here at Basking Ridge, but we took a road trip today, down through Musconetcong Valley, back over in our home direction on I-78 and getting off to drive by Round Valley, where the pond has no ice on it, though that pond is very deep and exposed to the wind that's been pretty persistent the past few days.

A pond with 35-foot depth takes a while to cool off, and though I am curious about how thick ice got and is getting yet on shallower ponds to the north, I feel just as disappointed because my hunch tells me the wind prevented much from developing.

Back up to 50 degrees tomorrow. I wonder if we'll enjoy some 70-degree temps before January. 

6 Degrees

Happy Thanksgiving! (Watching "Sorry to Bother You" on TV with my family.)

Took Sadie for a walk in 21-degree cold, temperatures expected to fall to 11 here in Bedminster overnight: https://www.bing.com/search?q=temperature+bedminster+nj&form=EDNTHT&mkt=en-us&httpsmsn=1&refig=a159f7fad2ea45a5c2be9bc0e929ffe7&sp=-1&ghc=1&pq=temperature+bedminster+nj&sc=1-25&qs=n&sk=&cvid=a159f7fad2ea45a5c2be9bc0e929ffe7

North of here in Sussex it's 19, the temperature expected to plummet to 6, and with cold persisting into Saturday morning, I suspect ponds up there may support ice fishing for anyone who would care to do it:

https://www.bing.com/search?q=weather%20forecast%20sussex%20nj&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&pq=weather%20forecast%20sussex%20nj&sc=5-26&sk=&cvid=8B8026C040654893869F1956234E5243

Just a fascination of mine. I probably won't ice fish until January, and not a whole lot this winter. Walking Sadie, I paid my respects to the pond, not frozen. Wind is always a factor when it's present.

Looks Like Marginally Safe Ice

Come Wednesday night, temperatures are expected to plummet to the mid-teens, getting down to 15 after a high of 27 on Thanksgiving, and then dropping to 24 Friday night. This is Bedminster's forecast. In the northwest corner of the state, it's likely marginally safe ice will have formed on ponds, although after early Saturday morning, milder weather will return and knock out anyone's taking advantage of November ice fishing.

Here's a link to the forecast. Think it will get dated quickly: https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/USNJ0032:1:US

Winter Trout Stocking

Fred used to catch winter stockers at Speedwell Lake, but this late stocking of ponds and lakes is largely about ice fishing, and none is allowed there, so they phased out the stocking. A pond I fish a lot, Mount Hope Pond, I know supports some jigging--and catches--when the freeze comes. I will keep you abreast of developments concerning ice or lack of it as ice season comes.

Here's the link to Fish & Wildlife information:

https://www.njfishandwildlife.com/wintrstk18.htm?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery