Whitesides Mountain Rock Climbing, Alamuchy Mountain State Park, Copperhead Snake, Thought of Largemouth Bass and Pickerel Fishing

 Hiking the mountains was much easier even than April and May hikes this year. Plain easy, in fact. No, I haven't been exercising strenuously, although I swam laps three days in a row this week, which adjusted energy much more than built muscle. This is the key--energy--not muscle. I'm a little overweight, not obese, but I could improve my muscle/fat ratio. 

We visited our secret copperhead den. We tell no one where it is.

"I have a bad feeling about this," I said.

We approached.

"Me too," My son said.

"I think they boogied out of here after we caught them last summer."

The place looked as dead as abandoned copper mines in the general area, or as dead as a patch of Bull Run Battlefield as it might have appeared months after the fighting.

In April, we found none; the last visit of last summer we found 16. We did find one today, and the photograph does little to help you. But we didn't care to drag the copperhead out with the snake stick. Let them be awhile. Besides, we have caught and released so many snakes that the initial curiosities are surpassed.

Afterwards, we ate at Gyro Bobs in Stanhope. I love this place on 206 in New Jersey. As we walked up, so much dynamite was going off in the quarry nearby it sounded like a fireworks show in the middle of the afternoon. The owner is Greek born, so I profoundly identify with this stop we have made before and will again. Cash and checks only.

Whitesides Mountain nearby challenged Matt for some climbing, but without equipment, he couldn't do a whole lot. He wants to do more rappelling here. Matt is fearless of heights, or almost so. He did say that when he first rappelled, it frightened him a little as he seemed almost to free-fall. But compared to Matt, I was paralyzed by heights as a boy, although I got up in some high places and managed to do my best in trees, Bowman's Tower, the Fire Tower at Apple Pie Hill, and at age 17, a friend and I actually scaled a 300 foot cliff from the top down without ropes--at the Devil's Tea Table near Raven Rock and the Delaware River. That face is not perfectly vertical, but close. We didn't even know if we would find hand and foot holds. It got hairy once. 

The Whitesides Mountain face is awesome, just the outer front of a giant, stone outcropping about 200 feet high that looked more like schist than basalt, although I did not examine it, having other interests in mind. Basalt is dark grey. We met climbers who did have ropes, and the first thing I asked is whether or not they had come upon snakes. Yeah, ribbon snake. I have to tell you, scrambling up the ravine to the top did not feel strenuous for me, but having reunited with my wife below, I chugged water forgetting everything else absolutely. Heaven. Sometimes water absolutely surpasses for pleasure any other beverage possible.

Jefferson Lake nearby is a very cool place, but shore fishing is worse than limited: if you want to take a few casts at the launch, go ahead. In the future, we'll put a boat on.

Sunset Largemouth Bass on Spinnerbait

The bass struggled in place. The rod moved it slowly towards the bank by gentle, firm pulls, and just as I was about to swing the fish onto the grass, an eruptive thrashing welled water up with great intention as the head suddenly exploded rebelliously, shaking with lightning intensity, the spinnerbait thrown like a rock at my face. Never mistake a bass for a willess subject. They are powerfully vital with an awareness that if any intellect were present, it would throw thoughts of challenge our way. They do seem to enjoy the fight.

I fished maybe 15 minutes after sunset, the local pond, releasing four bass, all caught on a spinnerbait with what I feel is too slow an action. It cannot be retrieved at a moderate speed, only slowly, and even then it nearly buzzes the surface. But the swirl of one of these bass was so dramatic, I thought I had hooked a three-and-a-half pounder. 

Thank you, Twins and Fins, for the comment--great online name, kids and fish as perennial as weather. Maybe we will cross currents. 

Thanks also Mackenzie for your recent comment on fly fishing smallmouth bass. I've got to get over to the North Branch again and do some soon. 

Small River, Stream Smallmouth Bass on Plastic Baits

Last I stream fished smallmouth bass, I tried plastics for ten minutes after shiners ran out and turned away despising these imitations. Today I fished the South Branch Raritan under an hour with five-inch Senko-type worms to catch three bass, miss too many hits, and suffer the sting of a good bass breaking the line at the knot just after catching the 14-plus- inch bass I photographed.

Senko worms are an old standby. They cast a mile--that's an advantage. But the disadvantage for long casts is the bow in the line the current quickly creates. Even if you set almost immediately--and quick sets prevent gut hooking--chances are high that you will just pull the worm out of an opened mouth, the bass reacting to tension too loose to drive the hook.

Stepping into a wild space really lets you know you have brittle nerves if you happen to be stressed out. I had spent most of the day unaware of my condition until I stepped onto gravel and rocks and had a difficult time at it. Honestly, even after hiking well upstream, slogging against strong current in my sneakers, sneaking through thick aquatic vegetation and algae thigh deep and wondering if a snapping turtle would claw out ahead of me, nature did not restore me to normal today. But while marching back to meet a schedule felt very stressful, the good-size stream bass I caught did make it feel worthwhile. 

Jigging Smallmouth Bass with Berkeley Gulp Leeches, and Rebel Pop-R Surface Plug

I've never enjoyed fishing a jig so much as I did for a half hour along a stretch of Delaware River today at Barryville, NY. Current moved along the east bank, shallows to the west side. We didn't get much more fishing than these moments with jigs tapping rocks, hits missed, and five smallmouth bass for me and some for Steve Slota, his son Tom, and wife Donna. Wind flowed from the south and paddling was hard. We made for the Zane Grey Museum area with thunder in the air, phoned Cedar Rapids Rentals, and called it a day as a downpour drove some of us into the museum to observe the writer's preserved legend.

Back at Cedar Rapids, the boys swam for a long time, and Steve caught a smallmouth on a Rebel Pop-R that would weigh about 3 1/2 pounds. We didn't judge the storm well because this was a joint family venture, not one of a few daring outdoorsmen willing to risk whatever would happen. The storm isolated as predicted, the real line of storms has come in the evening. At the Salmon River I twitched a Wacky rigged Senko-type worm through a similar V current at the tail of a stretch to catch my biggest bass of our efforts a month ago. Steve did the same with the topwater plug. I caught a couple of big red breasted sunfish, and lost a few more bass on the jig with Berkeley Gulp leeches while wading a stretch part of the time the boys swam, a rocky range where I have waded many times before to catch some bass.

Part of the reason I enjoyed jigging so much, apart from fast action, involved efforts flustered. I suppose I would have caught at least 20 bass today. After awhile, they might have seemed to come all too easily. On these annual ventures we normally stay on the river until 6:00, getting at least eight hours of fishing.

Catch Smallmouth Bass Now and Later: Delaware River Shad Fry Forage Soon to Descend

Delaware River Shad Fry Forage Soon to Descend

Catch Smallmouth Bass Now and Later

          Thanks to Interstate 78, the Delaware River in Warren County is little more than a half hour away from the Bedminster area. My son, Matt, and I have done well for smallmouths from the bank and wading within city limits of Phillipsburg, and The Fisherman magazine has on occasion reported walleyes, muskies, channel catfish, and late at night—striped bass over 20 pounds. If you want to get away to quieter stretches, River Road from Carpentersville south to the Hunterdon County line at Riegelsville and the mouth of the Musconetcong River has many access points along its length.

          Smallmouth bass are the Delaware’s main attraction from Callicoon, NY, to the tidal zone in Trenton. My family enjoyed our annual float trip from Sparrowbush, NY, to Port Jervis, NY, last year, and despite off-color water we caught plenty of bass on Rat-L-Trap plugs. Tomorrow we may enjoy better water. These rattling lures prove effective wherever fish lurk in the river if water is stained, and are great for walleyes as well. I managed to get a typical walleye—about 18 inches—alongside our raft last year, about to net it when hooks of the chrome Rat-L-Trap threw. The trick is to retrieve the plug near the bottom without snagging.  Rat-L-Traps sink at a rate of about a foot per second. Since you won’t always know how deep the water is, let the lure sink as you count until line slackens only on the first cast. If you’re lucky, it won’t snag almost as soon as it takes bottom.

          Diving crankbaits work great for smallmouths and walleyes, so long as you feel the diving lip trip on rocks every so often. You can modify retrieve speed so that you don’t dig the lure directly into bottom (you’ll feel it!) and get snagged, but stay very close. Crankbaits come in varieties that run three to six, six to 10, even 12 to 15 feet deep, but the deepest diving crankbaits give great deal of resistance, so they're meant to be retrieved on heavier baitcasting tackle.

          The best way to try the depths—some holes in the Warren County stretches are as deep as 35 feet—is with quarter-ounce jigs tipped with Berkeley Gulp! synthetic bait or live nightcrawlers. You’ll lose jigs to snags, but buy them in quantity wherever you can get a good price and you won’t feel the loss as snapping the line on an expensive plug stings. Soft plastic Mister Twisters, etc., work well on jigs and make less of a mess than synthetic leeches, but synthetic bait does put a powerful fish attracting odor in the water. In dark depths that may be an advantage.

          However, smallmouths in particular like shallow water: pockets of calm water near fast moving currents, eddies behind boulders, edges of shoreline calm, exist as reliable holding water, and in fast water, smallmouths benefit from increased oxygen levels in warm late summer temperatures. My personal favorite for such spots is the #9 Rapala floating minnow plug, but all sorts of minnow imitations work, as well as small spinnerbaits and in-line spinners like Mepps and C.P. Swings. Spinners work best by a straight, moderate, steady retrieve, close to bottom if some depth is encountered. Minnow plugs come alive by erratic twitchings of the rod tip, virtually lifeless without this action.

          We are nearing the annual tail end of an annual river season when the food chain is based on insect life. Until late September, fly fishermen catch smallmouths on nymph imitations otherwise suited to trout, and the bass do feed on larval as well as hatched and terrestrial insects, as well as small, molting crayfish and a smorgasbord of immature fish species. But shad fry will soon descend downriver on their seasonal trek to the Atlantic, and smallmouths school and herd these Omega acid-rich forage for their greatest boost in yearly health.

          I’ve never seen it happen, but reputable writers have reported that sometimes the bass attack the fry on the surface in sudden blitzes the way hybrid stripers go after alewives in Spruce Run Reservoir or Lake Hopatcong in June. A half-ounce chrome Rat-L-Trap casts forever with a medium power spinning rod and six-pound test line, resembling a small shad very closely. If you spend a late September or October afternoon scouting the scenes along River Road and catch sight of such action, don’t be without a few of these plugs!

         

Grunts: Fighting Panfish of Southeast Coastal Waters

 We've caught them from Outer Banks, North Carolina piers and from a bridge and boat both inshore and at the reef in the Florida Keys. As humble by name and size grunts are, they fight very hard on light tackle for fish without pelagic build (but look at the shoulders), and they taste great from the pan. That photo of the open mouth reminds me of a philosoraptor dinosaur. The coloration is for their peculiar kissing behavior, actually a territorial face off. Fish do some weird things; the grunt also is named for the pig-like grunting sound it makes. They don't sound exactly like wild boars the way Floridian pig frogs do (amazing to hear at night in the Everglades), but the mandible features without the mouth opened wide like that in the photo vaguely resemble pig snouts. The blue-gold wavy patterns on the head give a stunning view, and the eyes seem as innocent as a Pollyanna cartoon figure.

Most of them measure about 11 inches long and take shrimp, frozen or live, with a firm whomp. Set the hook pretty quick or suffer it swallowed. Even with 20-foot depths, unless current is strong and/or wind brisk, a good-sized spit shot is sufficient. Since grunts have no disarming teeth, mono is fine, and we go with six to 10-pound test. Ten-pound test relieves the nerves when a big fish opts for a shrimp, which happens in the Keys inshore waters and certainly the reef. I hooked something five years ago I may not have been able to hold had the hook not pulled. But light tackle is light tackle and you can't compromise if you use it. The best you can do is turn the key on the outboard and follow along. Perhaps if the fish does not dip into coral and fray the line hopelessly, you'll gaff it.

If wind turns the boat into a trampoline, go with a half-ounce egg sinker, possibly three-fourths ounce. A size 2 plain shank hook is all you need besides a disgorger on occasion. Drift or anchor. Either way produces, although anchoring can draw fish in that become interested in the action rather than spooked. From piers--again--shrimp is best. And avoid those heavy sinkers. Conventionally named "saltwater," they're just conventionally convenient, the default choice against the extra step of thinking that lighter may be better--and usually is.

Action with grunts can be episodically non-stop and typically alternates with runs of other species like snappers south, and spot and croakers northward. When we fish shrimp, we hope for an unusual, large fish and almost invariably hook up with one. We also take a few grunts or other legal panfish and use them for cut bait, which results in fewer but larger fish. And some more grunts. 

I like to take a few for dinner and breakfast. Scaling a grunt is like scaling a bluegill. The large, abrasive plates resist difficultly, and like sunfish, the fins can smart. Just make sure the fish remains moist or take them directly from the live well to the cutting board. No reason to grunt even if you bloody your own skin a little.

King Mackerel, Spanish Mackerel, Cero Mackerel: East Coast Near Shore Speedsters

Growing up, I got fascinated in stories of huge Boston mackerel catches (by number) just off the Jersey coast in May, but my impression was of smallish, not very gaming fighters. So when I encountered my first Spanish mackerel on Kitty Hawk Pier, Outer Banks, North Carolina, I felt doubly stunned: the fish hit me awestruck by the beauty of the blue side and golden spots, and I felt no doubt by the shape that it was fighter. They are.

King mackerel, like that photographed above, are fished off the ends of Outer Banks piers, for just our familiar example. A spider anchor is cast with a stout surf rod--a 12 rod is a good idea, these anchors weigh a lot--and the line from a big game rod and reel gets lowered on the clip line with a small live bluefish hooked with a treble hook/wire rig, a tailor blue of about 12 inches. Other fish like pompano serve when blues aren't around, caught from the pier on light tackle, sometimes volunteered by other anglers. It takes all day to get a king, but it does happen, and usually does, although cobia, tarpon, barracuda, and sharks show as alternatives. Kings range from South Florida northward past the Banks: nowadays some of them frequent New Jersey with the warmer climate.                                       

                                                                                              Cero

And so do Spanish mackerel, fully regulars along the Jersey coast now, dashing into the surf as far north as Long Island perhaps. Mackerel pelagic sight feeders, they have dangerous teeth, but use wire and they will avoid the lure or bait. Twenty five-pound test fluorocarbon is maximum, tied directly to braid without swivel attachment. Hard to catch in the surf, irregular schools dip in and out, staying mostly a couple or few hundred yards out. As quick as they come, they're gone, so trolling is highly productive, although in southern inlets where great congregations may amass, live-lining baitfish is extremely fun and effective. Just about all that goes for trolling are Clark spoons, size 0 or 00, although thin, flashy casting spoons like Deadly Dicks and Sting Silvers catch surf Spanish. From the piers, Gotcha jiggers are all that gets used for Spanish, rods turned downwards over the rails, depth achieved. Some mornings fantastic action results, others slow, although most summer mornings--and evenings--see some. Spanish usually run not much over a pound to about three pounds, although five- pounders get caught every summer with some frequency. Schools tend to be uniform by individual fish size. The world record is 13 pounds from Ocracoke Inlet, Outer Banks, North Carolina.

That's a cero mackerel just above that my son caught in Bahia Honda Channel, Florida Keys. These fish more often run in the five-pound range, although the world record, I read, is only 11 pounds. This one about 21 inches, the pelagic tailfin impressive, also the gold, horizontal line and small gold spots. Cero remain mysterious as yet to me, although I've known a few things about them for years and Matt's catch came as a very welcome sight. I don't know what kind of schooling presence they have at Bahia, for example, which is just inside the Atlantic and prime territory for pelagic race runners to streak in and out. We didn't try trolling flash spoons; this one hit a live shrimp on retrieve. Light tackle fun, the fish captivated us both when it came in sight. Captain Ryan O'Neal, who charters at Ocracoke Inlet, told me that cero come on occasion, but no one has spoken of them in New Jersey yet that I know of.

Spanish Mackerel