From the information I gathered yesterday, though, it sounds like there are still fish doing a dusk bite not too far from here. The way I see it now is to let that area have their time- I picture a handful of hardcore regulars enjoying some fish alone, occasionally hooking into a surprisingly large fish for this time of the year. That's cool with me. Getting a January fish is pretty sweet, and it's been at least a couple of years since that's been possible.
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| From big spring bass, to sharks, to a lot of fluking on the boat, and to a ridiculous fall season, I was content to finish bringing in the gear last night. Winter is a time to rest and recover as well as a time to try out what it's like to live as a semi-normal person. |
Now the last time I said it was done 20lb-30lb fish crashed the beach on herring, but that was last week and something like that hasn't repeated since. After a very mild December (over +6.00F in Atlantic City) a temperature in the upper 10s this morning was a sort of reality check that it's supposed to be winter, even though a high of 55F with mild weather is forecast for this Saturday. I think the combination of flat surf, westerly winds, and cold nighttime lows, this time, is enough to drive the fish down and out so that if there is a recovery this weekend it will only be a trickle.
A breathtaking sight, literally, greeted me on the coldest morning of the season so far:
Sea smoke! Sea smoke is essentially a type of fog that forms when a cold wind blows over relatively warmer water given the correct meteorological conditions. If my face wasn't so cold I would have spent more time watching the smoke dance silently out to sea, but I still stayed long enough to enjoy it. I remember when I was really young I would run up to the beach on cold clear January mornings to see if the smoke would be there (like I said before . . . live as semi-normal person :) and I still like to do that.
With temperatures in the 10s, sea smoke, and ice and slush on the bay I'm going to say today we're having some winter interjected between our mild spells. 50s again on Friday and Saturday, likely with calm weather since there isn't going to be any waves. Even so, it's really over this time, at least for me. Time to buy new line . . . put together gear storage in my truck . . . replace bad hooks . . . send in reels and waders for service . . . it's never really over is it? Good.
