The Chatter Has Already Begun

After a spell of May-like weather in the middle of the month (though the beach was often fog shrouded) the last week of March brought talk of a show of fish.  The key words were beach, bunker, bass, and bluefish.  Of course as a story gets passed on it often gets altered by each successive storyteller, but I do believe the terms to at least be true.  Other statements like 'they nailed them out in the boats' also seems accurate.  Remember that it was only two years ago, in 2010, during our warmest spring on record, when bass and bluefish crashed the beach as early as the second week of April.

I love to fish and will certainly take to it when I see them up there, but I also like to earn the spring.  I like waiting for those first 60F days, then the hard S winds, maybe one last nasty nor'easter.  It's like a tension and release thing.  After a cold winter getting out on a warm day in April is like aaaahhhhhhhhh.  It's orgasmic in an overall body kind of way.  But after a wet noodle lukewarm winter this year, I just feel kind of off.  It doesn't have that feel to it, and I am missing that right now.  It's like oh yeah 60s again blah blah, 70, yeah but it's cooler at the beach, this sucks, it's only 62 today, it's cold.  This must be what it's like to be superabound with nothing to do.  Like yeah I have like 25 Rolex watches, but I bought another this morning and saw it was scratched so I just feel kind of blah today.  Much different than if I was poor and someone gave me 26 Rolex watches and said the last one is scratched.

We had the Great Nor'easter of March 2012 today, relatively speaking.  After a generally calm March, it was nice to have a day of blustery NE wind and drizzle for some energy in the air.  Since the wind started from the SE last night, a cross-up, the surf and tide were pretty minor since the NE wind had to overcome the S.

There was some rain last night, however, most of the day has not been much more than a hard drizzle.  Here is my theory . . . I don't know if anyone is noticing it but recently there has been a trend for it to rain at night and then turn to a much lighter rain or drizzle during the day.  My theory is that, since weather systems have been weak recently, the atmosphere needs the coolness of night to produce rain since the temperature at night is closer to the dew point and condensation is more likely.  Then when the morning comes, and remember it's always sunny above the clouds, the sun warms the air up there, dries it up, and you get a steady drizzle during the day.

The generally light rainfall recently has caused a degradation into short-term abnormal dryness in New Jersey.  That is pretty remarkable considering that 2011 was our wettest year on record and now only three months after the New Year we are in a drought status.  Connecticut was record wet last year too and now they are already in moderate drought.

Is that extreme weather?  I don't think so.  If it rains and rains and rains that sounds extremely boring.  If it's sunny and sunny and sunny that also sounds extremely boring.  But extremely boring weather can lead to climate extremes since the weather isn't supposed to be so extremely boring, maybe in a desert or at buoy 41101 off the Windward Islands, but not in New Jersey.  It's like a bulimic.  They do the same thing every day- food, food, food, and they get extremely fat. Then they diet- no food, no food, no food and get extremely skinny.  Then you have some one who eats a little of this and a little of that, they take a walk once in while, they sit on the couch for a bit, and that person is always doing variety and they are a lot healthier.

For at least the next 10 days we have the weather forecast of a cool desert.  Extremely boring.  April showers bring May flowers?  More like February sun brought May in March, now there's drizzle, and we'll soon be parched.  I would not rule out the chance of some drizzle or a deluge of 4 inches of rain between today and the 9th, but I think it's a good idea to go ahead and water the March flowers.

I have my rods rigged up and ready to go . . . As soon as I walk over that dune and see fish I'll do it . . . Until then it's running and surfing and sleeping like a normal person . . .

A March Like May, a Fish on the Beach, and a Hole in the Sky

I went for a run on a boardwalk the other day and almost threw up. Not because I was out of shape, but because I just couldn’t stop asking myself ‘what planet am I living on? This is March?’ It was like a scene from a movie that is real. Those are the best movies by the way. The ocean was that clean green that you see in May, gannets were diving here and there a few casts out, people were sunbathing on the beach- to top it off the weird New Jersey lady with the posters all over her car was there- and the sun was scorching like it was fourth of July weekend.

After the run, I put in a call to Rick to inform him about the gannet sighting, but he was already on the next level as he informed me he just unhooked a fish caught on a white shad. I stood at my vehicle surveying the scene as Rick spoke, panting with near heat stroke, and just took it all in. May in March.


March 2012: A long spell of foggy weather at the beach with no waves while the interior of the country was roasting under a historic heat wave

I really learned how much I hate foggy weather this month. As heat roasted the interior, the natural air conditioner at the beach was in full effect, making us stuck under a marine layer for a about a week and a half. Day after day of dreary fog, no real wind, and no waves got to be really annoying after a while. While it was cooler at the beach, the heat elsewhere across the United States and Canada was like this:

They don't even have shadings for the intervals past +8F.

• Low temperatures in Marquette, MI and Mt Washington, NH were warmer than the previous record highs for the date
• The temperature soared to 80F (27C) in Nova Scotia which broke Canada's all-time warmest April temperature record
• The high temperature in Chicago was 80F or more for 8 days from the 14th through 22nd

While those places are pretty far from New Jersey, it is important to remember that no man is an island, and that weather in New Jersey is very much connected with weather in the United States and around the globe. The atmosphere does not care about state lines and country borders like humans do. So I interpret it to mean that because we didn’t have a winter and it is like summer in everywhere but along the barrier islands the fish will probably show up early this spring.

As to the fishing, Rick, and another gentleman and I hit up a back bay area, but could only put together a few bumps in the fog. The spearing were there and we saw splashes from something bigger, but that was all. Though I didn’t get a fish, I had the feeling that it is the 11th hour and I should finally put that new line on my reels. It is certainly time to have all the equipment on standby because it will be any day now when I walk up to the beach and see a fish on the beach . . .

. . . And it didn’t take long! That day was today 7:00am March 24, 2012 . . .

7:00 March 24th, 2012

As soon as I walked up my instinct told me that it looked fishy. I don’t know what it is in words exactly, it’s just a look or something, something that words fail to communicate. I glanced to my right and saw two guys geared up and casting. I figured this would be interesting. Within 10 minutes I saw one angler make that quick jerk of the rod that is silent but you can almost hear. Fish on! After a pretty good battle he landed a nice looking striper. He and his buddy were pretty stoked and went right back to it.

Immediately the thoughts entered my mind . . . I have to get my stuff ready . . . Should I come back up . . . Ah this changes my whole day . . . No I’ll move that around so I can rig the rods . . . Good it’s ok if I miss today . . . It’s only the beginning . . . Right it's only the beginning . . . Don’t have to get hectic . . . Stay calm and cool . . . Get the rods ready after lunch . . . Don’t rush into it . . Just keep checking it . . .

So here we are. May in March. A fish on the beach. Now if those bunker show up next week that’ll really be something.

As it is time to start plying the waters, it is wise to be gentle on yourself with too much sun exposure right now, even though the warm weather increases the urge to be outside all day. The ozone layer is usually in its worst state during the spring months, and this March is no exception. To make it worse, the lowest levels of ozone are usually found atop the hot high pressure systems that make going outside and bathing your skin in sunlight seem like an irresistible idea.

The ozone layer has been thinner over our region for at least the past weak, to as low as -20% to -30%.  The ozone hole is not just for the penguins in Antarctica.

You can feel the days when the ozone layer is weaker because the sun will feel like someone is holding a magnifying glass to your skin. Like the other day when I was running on the boardwalk, it felt like I was stuck in a UV chamber, as the bright sun felt like it was burning me from the start. When I was younger I didn’t care as much about the sun, but then again when I was younger I needed someone to wipe my butt for me. Now that I am older and hopefully wiser I understand that it is important to be cognizant of the atmosphere because it directly affects health. You can track the state of the ozone layer at Northern Hemisphere Ozone Maps if you want to connect some dots. I like to guess which days the ozone layer is diminished by how hot the sun feels, and then I check the maps to see if I was right.

So there it is. May in March, a fish on the beach, and a hole in the sky. I’m going to continue with my regularly scheduled routine today like I didn’t even see a fish this morning. But fishing is computed into the program from here on out . . .

Spring is REALLY Here

I surfed this afternoon from what I will call a '2006 European heat wave after effect wind swell.'  In July 2006 Europe suffered a historic heat wave.  Eventually cooler air from the ocean moved in to replace the stagnant heat wave air during August, causing an exceptional period of cloudy, cool, and dreary weather.  A very similar situation is occurring right now, here.  The middle of the country is overheating under a stagnant air mass, and here in the Northeast cooler air is flowing in off the ocean in an attempt to soothe the heat in the interior.  A soft easterly wind has been blowing in from the ocean for a few days causing low clouds, drizzle, cool temperatures, and a small fun windswell.


March 16th current temperatures at 9:15 pm.  It is the same temperature in St Paul, Minnesota as Orlando, Florida.  You can see the cooler air in the Northeast from the 2006 European heat wave puff of air off the ocean to cool the interior effect.  The only thing saving the Northwest from being warm is the mountains and persistent wet weather and clouds piling up behind the warm bubble.

The ocean really isn't even that cool.  I had no problem going underwater- it actually felt refreshing because it seemed I was over geared in my 5/4/3.  That my boots were leaking upon entrance into the water didn't even matter.  It actually felt good.  I thought I saw some splashes the other day, but I know that was just my brain playing tricks on my eyes.  It won't be long until life returns out there I know.  I hope it's not the kind of life that drives seals onto the beach, though.  I saw one seal hanging out on the sand in the dark during my morning run the other day and another one this afternoon.

I always remember March being windy, wild, stormy, and a tumultuous change from winter to summer- kind of like the stereotypical teenager changing from a child to an adult.  I think some lazy parents gave their formerly rambunctious teen too many tranquilizers this month . . .

Flat line temperature in Washington DC with highs in the middle to upper 70s no less.

The Fairgrounds Swingers Club decided to hike atop Mt Washington in New Hampshire and found that weather in one of the windiest places in the world was surprisingly delightful and tranquilized as well . . .

When it's nice enough to take your shirt off on Mt Washington and the high breaks 80F in Chicago for 3 consecutive days in the middle of March you can see it.

Historic March weather . . .

But will the warmth this March beat the legendary warmth of March 1910 that no one has probably ever heard of before?  I don't think so, because there is probably too much warmth to the north of us that will moderate the temperature.  That freak event, March 1910, was pretty incredible and it really stands out in the temperature record.

It's going to be hard to beat 1910, but if you focus your eyes enough you will see that there have been a lot less cool March temperatures since at least 1990.  It may not be like March 1910 every spring nowadays, but it never cools off as much as it used to.

I'm still on standby for the fishing and I'm not going to do it until they're in my backyard in the surf.  I don't have a crystal ball, only a brain that works like a computer, and when I compress everything together in it I think I will be casting sometime in the middle of April.  Until then I will enjoy some small warm waves and seal spotting . . .

Spring is Here

Meteorological spring officially began on March 1st.  Getting to March usually means we are almost clear of winter, just like September usually feels like summer is over.  March 15th is usually a turning point where there is no going back- the days are longer, the sun is brighter, and there are enough mild spells to convince you that cold weather is exiting.  This cold season, with such a warm fall and a 3rd warmest winter on record in the state, it has felt like spring has been trying to break since December.  Here is a glance at some very interesting weather statistics regarding the abnormal warmth:

A very mild February finished a 3rd warmest winter on record here in New Jersey.  February was record warm in Massachusetts.  Now here is what was really amazing.  Since most of us felt the warmth here locally this winter, we could really appreciate it, and it was obvious there was something amiss.  But for how warm it was in the Great Lakes and Northeast this February, it was even warmer in Canada.  Look at the orange and red colors in northwest Canada that indicated temperature departures of +5C to +6C above normal.  The big red blob in Canada made the near record warmth in the Northeast look paltry by comparison.

The new batch of Shoestring Teasers!

Bringing it back to home, some people were actively fishing the beach for stripers in February, which was unusual, but what was even more unusual was that they were catching fish sometimes.  I almost participated in the frivolousness, but I steadfastly held to my belief that winter is not a time to fish the beach.  It is supposed to be a time for regrouping, cleaning gear, and spending nights in the house with the nice low lighting of a fire and Christmas lights.

Donald and I spent two sessions doing the winter activity of making more Shoestring Teasers and reliving fish stories from the fall.  Donald recounted a great afternoon when he walked onto the beach without a vehicle and started nailing fish on a Yozuri crystal minnow behind a line of guys trying to hit the Azores with their metals.  I'm very happy with the product line this year.

I loaded all of my fishing gear into the vehicle today, because the past few years the fish have hit the beach hard all at once and I want to be prepared.  I have a feeling something will happen in April which has been the trend with the warmth over the past years.  If it stays warm like it is forecast to, it may start sooner because how many fish really went through the whole migration thing if they were still biting in the surf in February.  As it is with the spring, I'm not really in a rush to get fishing, I usually just slide into it as it begins.