Jaymann's Blog – February 2011 Archive (21)

Monday, February 28, 2011: Pretty junky out there, especially after yesterday’s ultras-fineness. It seems we’re well out of harm’s way when it comes to frozen materials from above. Still, the winds of winter are going to continue popping up for the coming week.

FREE REGISTRY RULES: I know this is politically heavy banter but please give it a read through -- since it’s easily the largest fishing issue of the year.

Firstly, I am still fairly astounded that the…

Friday, February 25, 2011:

The wind was once again toying with 60 mph. This latest gustiness was pushing rain horizontally. I suffered a modest loss as one of my backyard clotheslines, loaded with my finest work clothes, gave up its grip and not only bit the dust but offered a couple of my better shirts to a piece of mud near the neighbor’s fenceline. I guess I should have gone the electrical dryer route last night, pre-soaker. Then, this afternoon, as the sun came glaring out of…

TUESDAY A.M.: What a revoltin’ development this is. That was my William Bendix-like read on waking up to yet another heavily whitened morning.

(I know: Who the hell is William Bendix and why is he saying, “What a revoltin’ development this is?” Go ask your Grandmother, kid.) 

This winter continues to have its way with us, especially those of us in Ship Bottom. This last blow’round, SB got a larger dose of white stuff than surrounding towns. Maybe we sin more or something. It…

EW JERSEY GOVERNOR SIGNS HISTORIC FREE ANGLER REGISTRY LAW

RFA-NJ Says Coastal Anglers Will Fish Free in the Garden State in 2011

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed New Jersey’s free saltwater registry bill into law today, which will allow coastal anglers to register their name…

Monday, February 21, 2011:  Truly raw and frigid out there this evening. Even though some flakes might fly, there’s nothing alarming short of a couple more subfreezing nights.

I’m getting together my weekly blog so below are some prime fishery issues. Note the first one in today Asbury. I know the fellow who’s in trouble. That translation thing is a bit bogus. I had said all along all they have to do is hit a violator with a fine per violation instead of an overall hand-slap…

Sunday, February 20, 2011: Was it just me or did is seems a tad breezy out there – for the last frickin’ 36 hours! I recorded half a dozen gusts well over 50 mph, pushing 60. It led to some of the season’s driest blowout tides. Typically, it was on a Sunday – no clamming or oystering allowed. Now we’ll see some iffy skies and possibly a cold front related snowfall of an inch or so. Then we’re back to relative mildness. Hard to believe but we’re getting close to bait moves,…

Friday, February 18, 2011:

Quite the day. Not only was it mild and easy by afternoon but heading into dark that major yellow moon showing added a cool eeriness to the woodscape.

I decided to look for old bottles. Dug half a dozen bottles from about 1900 but nothing of eBay worthiness. The oddest finds were a slew of copper pieces from old gas lamps, road-grade. That means that somewhere (along Rte. 9?) they had gas street lamps. Such an uppity look was usually reserved for…

Thursday, February 17, 2011:

I came across the last outposts of snow. The final remnants of blizzard days. They were damp and melting, sweating it out, as it were. Scattered and pretty much defeated, they were under siege from all angles, seemingly looking to the heavens for reinforcements. Won’t be happening tomorrow. Highs well into the 60s.  

Late today, I explored a coyote zone over in Stafford. I saw and heard nothing. A few old tracks. I stayed on into…

Wednesday, February 16, 2011:

Another day closer to another day. It was a tad nice out there. I did some afternoon out-time on the Quail Fields off Rte. 539. They’re part of the very large Greenwood State Forest/Pasadena Wildlife Management Area. That’s the largest piece of Pinelands real estate being preserved by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife's Bureau of Land Management. It is off-limits to motorized vehicles for a goodly chunk of the year but open during certain…

This week is going to be as eclectic as it gets, seeing there is damn little of fishing or even outdoorsiness to bandy about.

Per usual, the weather is a babble-worthy point – as we embark on a stretch of air that will feel downright tropical to those of us who have bitched and bemoaned the winter to this point.

Despite a recent burst of warmth, last week we saw an early-a.m. air temp of a mere 9 degrees. On seeing that mercurial bottom-out, I was convinced that we must have…

Saturday, February 12, 2011:

Well, today was NOT the start of warmer times. It was freezin’ out there. It’s dark now and I still have a chill as I settle down in front of the computer to check emails and weather maps.

I had some wood cutting to do over in Washington Township, Burlington County. For fun, I managed some TH’ing (treasure hunting) as the sun sank. I metal detected an area not far from New Gretna and managed to find a large cent. That’s always an exciting find, when…

February 11, 2011:

Nice day considering the wee hours of the morning saw the temperature dip to single digits. If you think that’s gotta be some sort of record low, you’re off by almost 20 degrees. Hard to believe but on this date in 1979 it dipped to minus 11. You heard right, that’s 11 below zero. You can look that up. What’s more, the night prior and the following night back in 1979, set record lows in that same well-below-zero neighborhood. I was in Hawaii at the time. I…

Thursday, February 10, 2011:

Some flakes flew last night but all that remained a-ground at sunrise was a tad of sparkle. By the time the sun burnt off the post cold front clouds, the trace had melted. Now, we’re in for a (big surprise) cold crunch for maybe 24 hours to 36 hours followed by – why do I say this and jinx it? – the mildest air since last November. The mildity won’t come in instantly. It’ll be more like a gradual move to normalcy (highs low to do 40s) followed by…

Wednesday, February 09, 2011:

A quick comment on the ocean: It's been gorgeous. I kid you not. The water has a clean almost bluish green tint. It looks supremely fishable , short of the fact there likely ain’t squat out there.  Below blog is more news on striped bass debacle to our south.

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I had a rare day off today. After some a.m. working on knife making – one of my many winter diversions – I headed into the outback, out near Rte. 539.…

Over the past couple decades, my main complaint in life has been how time has begun to accelerate -- without my even touching the gas pedal. Then up steps a winter like this one. The flow of time slows to a drip – then icicles up. It’s like watching a soccer match for three months straight. I’m thinking it’s a not-good sign that I’ve been repeatedly watching “The Shining.” and listening to my finger whisper, “Red drum,” meaning I should be fishing in Florida.

Let’s get this frickin’…

Saturday, February 05, 2011: Kinda crappy out. It’s rain and drizzle with virtually no chance of snow with temps well into the 40s. Fro the super Plunge tomorrow in Brant Beach, it’ll be pretty nice: sunny and highs in the 40s. After that it gets all screwed up – and frigid by the end of the week – with the chance of a snow event midweek. The only real watcher is a possible low around Thursday. This could be on that cuff for us. Oddly, if it stays somewhat small – and the winds don’t whip it…

Thursday, February 03, 2011:

A big tad chillier today. Still, it’s not all that bad. The forecast, however, is loaded down with bouts of rain/sleet/snow, as far as the forecasting eye can see. I don’t see anything in the extreme. Knock on snow. 

CLASSIC CHATTER: Thinking way ahead to the running of the 57^th Annual Long Beach Island Fall Surf Fishing Classic, a few changes have been made. In the bluefish category, the weekend prize is no…