2012: The Summer of Thunderstorms

There is a certain amount of hope that is part of fishing, but after a while too much 'positive thinking' becomes delusional and mental patient-like.  As far as I'm concerned, this entire year of fishing, aside from a nice boat day, has been more disapointing than lifting.  Or it has felt very fleeting.  Doug and I had a great experience the other night for sure, but we were also barely hanging on to get a night without a thunderstorm.  And then an hour into the fishing- which was going to be the night of the summer- some snot 20mph SW wind picked up and forced us to leave.  Just like the bass bite this year- it always feels like what you have is about to be lost at any moment.  The plague now, as it has been, are thunderstorms.

It has been difficult to find a fishing day this summer without a map like this.  Here is tonight's map.

Yet another Midwest-style thunderstorm moved through on Thursday.

As drought decimates the rest of the United States, the Northeast and New Jersey are under a weak trough pattern that is keeping the air unstable and ripe for seemingly endless summer thunderstorms.

Sometimes I have a difficult time dealing with the weather because it can be frustrating.  Yesterday there was a nice west wind blowing, the water looked nice and alive, and I figured there would be a shot at some sharks even though it wasn't a moon week.  So I go through the whole process of bait gathering, rod rigging, prepping, etc and the wind switches onshore at 6:30pm, the water gets that junky stale dead look with a calm wind, and the best Will and I could do was land a stingray each.  All I am asking for, at this point, is one night where it's just nice or surprising and exciting.  A good bite, no threat of death from lightning, no abnormal 25mph SW wind picking up at 10:30pm.  Just a few solid hours of good fishing, being all pumped up, without having to look over my shoulder for the next weather misery.  Until then . . .

. . . more thunderstorms.

Wow.  Even ANOTHER Midwest-style storm rolled though while I was writing this . . .

My well of staying motivated has run dry and I am in full hunger mode.  Fortunately, I have some more wild plans that have a serious risk for disappointment, but they will yield an incredible reward if things work out.  It's high risk investing, fishing portfolio, but the profit is worth all the drudgery and obsession with the darkness of the western sky.  Snakes are associated with the devil, at least that's what wise people purport, and I assume sharks are too, so I'm playing with the dark side a little bit with this one.  If you pretend thunder is angry angels stomping the ground in heaven and lightning is what god does when he is pissed, and I'm using snakes to catch the most evil fish in the sea, then this is some heavy fishing.  And it's where it is that's really spooky.

There are sharks where?

The great thing about fishing is there is always another level to take it to and there is always someone who has more knowledge on the subject and who is happy to pass on what they know.  There is a ceremony in that, moving to a higher level and learning, which I consider a sacred and mystical act, not something to be bastardized by the information transfer disorder so prevalent in modern communication, evidenced by the debasing of words into argument and debate.  If you want to be the best you can be you'd be wise to learn from the best.  Last night was the synthesis of information I received and it really changed the way I view the water around me!

Doug and I set out our live eels.  I was in a bitchy mood for some reason, but fortunately Doug was not and he was real cool because he expected nothing and was happy just to have a line in.  All I was thinking was the spring sucked (from the beach mostly) and if I just spent the last four hours, again, to stand and stare at a rod and catch no fish . . . And then my rod tip started really going.  That eel is scared!  Here we go.

Bam!  I picked up my rod and got the slack, but there was nothing there.  Wait for it.  Wait.  Boom!  I gave it a five count and set back.  Zip, zip, zip.  Break off.  I reeled in and had only a 1ft mono portion left of the Beach Shark Rig.  The shark had a chance to rub my line and that will break it.  The mono was even sandpapered a few feet into my mainline!  They're here!  It wasn't even dark yet and my eel was only in the water for 15 minutes.

I removed my roughed up mainline, tied back up, and baited a fresh live eel, taking about 10 or so minutes.  The bait was chucked out.  I don't remember how long it was, but it wasn't very long before the rod was going down to the ground.  I set up and was on immediately!  However long into the battle Doug and I shined our headlights on the water and saw a dorsal fin cruising back and forth.  Sick!  With some effort the fish was brought onshore for the standard hook removal and pictures.  Back in the water for a successful catch and release.  Awesome!

There is something different about this photograph I will tell you.  A nice sandbar a bit out of place from the sandbar.

Wow.  One for two sharks in about an hour.  Doug wasn't even fazed that they liked my rod more, he was just as stoked as I was about the score.  Unfortunately, that would be it for the night, which I blame on a snotty SW wind that picked up and the dying eels from my poor storage method.  Another hour of snot wind and elderly eels produced no more bites so we packed it up and called it a success.  The tide and moon 'sucked' so I won't factor that.  A snotty wind I will factor, as well as thunderstorms.  The liveliness of eels seemed very important, and I thought of a method for that today.  What this means is there is a good chance the drought will be replaced by a flood- kind of like the weather around the world nowadays.  It's all just so interwoven.  Success!

Frustrating Fishing but Interesting Cooler Weather

The thing about fishing is that- sometimes it sucks.  It's like with gambling, unless you are rigging the cards or reading them or whatever, or if you are fishing a stocked car-sized pond in your backyard you will be disappointed from time to time, sometimes for a streak.  When the bet is higher and failure occurs the result is that much more disappointing.  All I will say about the A effort that Doug and I put in last night is that we essentially drove two hours for ice cream.  But I thrive on frustration and a blocking atmosphere, so you bet I'm going to try that much harder next time, and when I score it will be huge!  And there will be more than one . . .

Yet another ominous shelf cloud moved through, but this one had a lot less wind than the one the other weekend.  The downdraft dropped the tempreature some 15 degrees for a while and it felt awesome compared to the relentless 90s.

Just like there is a 'January thaw' there is a 'July cool down' but this is no ordinary cool down in July.  Today, the 20th, I arrived at the beach to see life guard stands on the verge of drowning and knee deep brown foam blowing around them.  A July nor'easter!  Climatologically, the middle/final third of July has to be the least likely time for a nor'easter, but yet as I type there are gusty NE winds, cool air, rain, and 4-6ft wind swell.  By September, or next week, this storm will surely be catalogued in the whatever category in memory, but for July it is a pretty decent nor'easter- and just as good as any of the winds during the past winter that wasn't a winter.

July Surprise!  I think in the last update, in a caption, I mentioned how when there is storm the beach would go right out because there is no outer bar to break up the wave energy.  If I didn't move the stand the high tide tonight surely would have.

Record warmth in Greenland and a high pressure means cooler weather and NE winds locally.  It's a big world, but then it's not, but it is certainly interlinked.

So as the central United States roasts and Greenland is coming off of record warmth, locally the weather is nice and cool and refreshing.  If you've ever noticed how when you let air out of a bicycle it feels cool, that is similar to what the low pressure overhead is like.  Expanded air is cooler.  The July nor'easter is traceable to the effect of record warmth and high pressure over Greenland, since that type of pattern tends to force cooler weather and NE winds here.  There is a weather station in Greenland that only broke 32F four times from 2000-2011.  So far this July the station broke 32F five times, and on four consecutive days from the 11th through 14th.  That record warmth and high pressure creates a profoundly negative High Latitude Oscillation- and in New Jersey that translates to an unusual July nor'easter.

What this means for fishing is that it's time to surf.  Waves only.  This moon is cancelled, so it's now up to the August full moon to get it done.  But what will it be then?  Thunderstorms, sea weed, upwelling finally, jellyfish . . . That's why when I see someone with a picture of a nice fish and they show it off to me I am happy for them.  There is a degree to which it is okay to brag as I empathize with the dedication and enthusiasm and perseverance that is attached to this great activity.

I might gamble some more tonight- the worst i get is a nice couple of hours in my favorite NE wind weather and the best I get is a night that will make the summer . . . Whenever I can I rig it so I never lose . . .

Cruising in July



The past week featured activity above the July standard of hot, flat, fishless and lazy beach weather.  A fun medium period swell filled in on Wednesday evening and lasted through Friday morning, an at least eight mile long school of herring was in the surf, and unidentified orange balls were again flying across the sky on Saturday night.  Waves, some fish, and UFOs are pretty good compared to the normally comatose conditions of mid-July.

Doug and I, mostly Doug, nailed a sessions worth of bait in 6 or 7 casts with the Sabiki rig for use at night.  I was using a metal and small teaser, but the herring really wanted those dart things, which left me and an angler to the north without a fish on the beach.  I eventually got one as soon as I put the Sabiki on, we left since we had enough, and the angler to the north took our spot and remained fishless.  Who are those kids that came onto the beach at 6:30am, caught a bunch of fish in ten minutes, and just as quickly left?  Is what that guy must have been saying.

Chunking the fresh herring out that night during the wrong tide with a shallow shelfy bottom not surprisingly produced no fish.  From speaking with other friendly fisherman, the information I absorbed is that the sharks are out, perhaps kind of like how the bass stayed out this spring.  There was mention of a good bite where there is better access to deeper water just off the beach, and the offshore areas have been producing a good number.  I was very fortunate to have some new ideas enter my brain and things are brewing about how to finally score a good bite this summer.

A very fun fill-in swell and water like North Carolina was a nice July combination.  Notice how gigantic the beach is.  I bet that since there is no outer bar to dissipate the wave energy, when we get a storm again all of that beach will go right out.

As far as the weather, you and I, right now, are living through a very significant national drought event that is ranking with the country's most legendary droughts in the 1930s and 1950s.  Unless you are bulimic or anorexic, or have an abundance of and ambivalence to money, the increased and possibly increasing price of food has surely been or will become noticeable.  In New Jersey we are on the borderline, so other than food and your extrasensory ability to be aware of the drought several states away, there have been enough gusty thunderstorms to keep it wet enough here.

If you look at a timeline of the 1930s Dust Bowl, and then at a graph of global temperature, and then back to the 1930s Dust Bowl, and then back to global temperature you may notice global temperature warmed really quickly from the 1920s through the 1930s- and the Dust Bowl happened during that time:

The atmosphere warmed really quickly from the 1920s through the 1940s- the first year global temperature was above the 20th century average was 1937.  The worst Dust Bowl years were 1934, 1936, and 1939.  Something was up with the atmosphere in the 1930s.



Back to the fishing, while the atmosphere from coast to coast is calm, aside from local severe gusty thunderstorms, my brain has been having a storm and I am looking to replace this years shark drought with a flood.  This week will be spent working on how to do that.  I still love this game because there is always another level to take it to- and there are usually always good natured people who will give you information to help you get on your way.  And the moon on Thursday coincides perfectly.

4th of July Hanging Out at the Beach at Night Second Half

The scene looked very tropical on Friday, but there were no fish.

. . . If we find good water . . . Well I worked pretty hard to find okay water.  Vinny, Jesse, and Jeff, two of them at least, worked extraordinarily hard to find the same okay water.  An imposing line of 8 rods were set up, and we waited.  And waited.  A few small dogfish made the rods move, but there were no hard take downs.  A couple of hours passed without anything before Doug's rod went down.  He set up on the beast and it took him south, then north into lines in the water.  Get them out!  All of a sudden it was like some parallel universe.

Vinny was cranking his bait in as fast as he could and was startled when he hooked up.  He drove it home hard, so hard that when his line snapped, he tumbled over backwards into the sand.  That was good for a laugh!  Doug continued to battle, but we could see it was a big ray.  Damn.  At least when shark fishing the trash fish are somewhat exciting.  Jesse handed off the camera to bring in his line.  Doug snapped off and when Jesse brought his line in there was a skate on it.  It was a different 10 minutes.  Encouraged by the brief action we fished hard to 12:30am, but it wasn't happening.  Will commented that he didn't like how the south wind was still blowing into the night.

The final unmotivated, tired, when are you ever going to be home night was cancelled by a severe thunderstorm . . .

A shelf cloud and gust front associated with a severe thunderstorm moved quickly across the bay around 7:45pm.  Minutes later winds were gusting to 50mph+, torrential rain was coming in the house, and hardly a second would pass without lightning.

Mammatus clouds were found in the wake of the storm.  These breast-like clouds are indicative of a severe thunderstorm.

The storm was a pretty classic summer severe thunderstorm for the area.  When the gust front arrived winds picked up from the west turning the bay into a white froth, rain was falling in sheets, and lightning was reasonably scary, but it was all over in 30-40 minutes as the storm moved swiftly to the south and east.  For a broader view, the Mid-Atlantic has been the target of some potent squall lines in the last week due in part to flow around a persistent high pressure area over the South that is making farming very difficult.

Only two states, Maine and New Hampshire, do not contain an area of drought or abnormal dryness.  48 of the other states do.  Heat and drought comparisons are being made to the 1930s and 1950s droughts, the worst droughts in United States history.  Squall lines have a better chance of occurring in the Mid-Atlantic when drought is in the South.

So when there's no fish I like to go into the weather because the two things sort of go together anyway.  This was especially apparent watching the boaters in the bay rushing back to dock before the squall hit last night.  Part of catching fish- and doing it again- means having an awareness of the surrounding environment.  Locally, a cold front is forecast to pass from due north, which means it's struggling, but hopefully the temperature will moderate to average this week.  The next moon for shark fishing is as follows . . . Provided there are no huge waves, seaweed, upwelling, thunderstorms, obligations, bad wind, bad sandbars . . .

Jul 18/Wed ------- H7:39pm
Jul 19/Thu* ------- H8:14pm
Jul 20/Fri ---------- H8:54pm
Jul 21/Sat --------- H9:43pm

4th of July Shark Fishing Series

The full moon and mostly good weather and water conditions are allowing for a 4th of July shark fishing series.  To be able to get up to the beach and fish night after night is a pleasure by itself even before a fish makes it in.  Will, Doug, and I started the event on Tuesday the 3rd, but when we arrived on the beach it was almost an unspoken 'the water looks too low.'  There is something to having an impression when you're next to the water, almost as if there is a sense whether the fish will be there or not.  The water wasn't coming up very far though it was high tide, but we dutifully rigged up and baited and waited.  Not even a hit, or at least not even a hit that was memorable.  I started to get the 'Oh man this summer, blah, blah' crap going, but I know better than to curse something.

And good thing the negative thought train was derailed.  The holiday dawned hot and bright, again, but the bait fish gathering was more successful.  Small bluefish were slamming metals thinking they were sand eels, which made it easy to fill the cooler.  Alright, alright.  Preparations were made and when we arrived on the beach at 7:45pm I thought 'this looks good'.  The water was high with a small south sea breeze swell.  Herring were popping in the wash.  I looked at Will and gave the telepathic nod that we're getting them tonight.  Then I repeated it several times out loud to reinforce.  A few fresh caught herring later and the baits went out . . .

Fireworks?  Who cares?  Let's go look at the shark!  Doug was all smiles with his ~3.5ft sand tiger in the ring of spectators.

. . . And eventually Doug's rod was going down.  Fish on!  Lines in, the shouting begins, the crowd comes, the backpack goes on and the ARC dehooker comes out of it.  It wasn't a long battle before Doug had his surf monster on the shore.  What is that thing?  I think it's a sand tiger!  I'm no certified ichthyologist, but when it rolled over and I saw the snaggle-teeth I went sand tiger Sand Tiger Shark.  The shark was unhooked quickly, photographed, and brought back into the water for a nice release.  Pretty nice, Doug.  Catch a few herring before dark, cut them up, and cast out for your own shark.  Pretty self sufficient.

Here we go!  You get one and you're going to get more.  Oh yeah, Doug's fish came after Will was hit and stripped clean of three feet of 80lb mono and 1ft of 80lb wire.  Will had another hit and was getting played with.  My rod also started to dance.  And then the sky starts flashing.  Damn thunderstorms!  A good flash and crack and we reeled in quick, leaving them biting.  We tried to wait it out, but after about an hour of watching lightning it was time for bed.  It was all smiles with the ice melted in summer 2012.

In my opinion the sharks and the sky were showing who really rules this place.

Doug is so good he catches three fish at a time.  Filling the cooler with a 'Sambuki' rig.

After Doug caught all these fish the stoke was running high for the 5th.  But notice the water level behind Doug in the photograph.  It looked a little low.  Other than the insane biting flies, that low water level bothered me.  I've been having an obsession with the water level lately.  The wind was west all day so the tide was a lot lower than the 4th.  We fished it hard with a cornucopia of fresh baits, but only managed a skate and two smooth sand sharks.

Olivia was high hook on the 5th with two sand sharks

We were 1 for 3 nights and the only night with a bite was the night with water like the good shark water picture.  When casting from the beach the height of the tide is an important- and sometimes the only- factor.

It's halfway through the 4th of July shark fishing series, and the main mission tonight is finding good shark water.  Somewhere where it is running deeper closer to shore because I think that is the biggest variable right now in getting some more fish on the beach.  All of the other conditions are excellent, the weather is good, the water is flat and clean, and there are abundant small blues and herring in the surf.  The holiday vibe is in the air.  Right now the wind is east which should raise the water level and also push the biting bugs out of spot number two.  I have a good feeling that if we can find the right water tonight, it's going to be the night of the summer.

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Doldrums with Another Heat Wave while Gearing up for 4th of July Shark Fishing

At the end of last week I brought my 10'6" big rod into the house from its leaning area on the fence.  To me that act signifies the end of the spring fishing season.  I could have probably brought the rod in weeks ago counting the way the fishing has been on the local beach.  The fishing for small blues has been 'epic' but I never got into a bite of the big ones.  With hazy heat, warm water, small waves, crowds and traffic it is now the summer doldrums.  It's just another frame in the kaleidoscope.

Winter did not happen and the beginning of spring was record warm, but the temperature moderated somewhat during June.  But you get a calm pattern and beating sunshine- notice the purple shading across the United States in picture one- and it will be hot.  No hard S swell and S wind upwelling, it's just a direct scorching.

Right now, or for the past week or so, the atmosphere has been in a pattern similar to the 1988 drought and heat wave- you know, when a big chunk of Yellowstone National Park was burned in a wildfire.  It's very similar with general low pressure over the Pacific Northwest, central Canada, and eastern Canada and a clear area over the United States allowing the summer sun to cook the ground.  There have already been records similar to the 1930s heat waves- and unlike the 1930s it is equally warm in northwest Canada.  And the worst of the 1930s heat was in July, while this heat is earlier . . .

Hot and flat.

. . . What that means locally, when you aren't aware of drought covering almost all of the country where food is grown, is that shark fishing conditions are looking pretty good.  Hot without swell and it looks like the S wind won't get organized enough to make upwelling.  The expected good weather and full moon on the 3rd coincide very nicely with the holiday on the 4th when people shoot off fireworks from China and celebrate their independence from a country whose language they speak.  I'd like to celebrate by inviting the kings and queens of the sea to make an appearance for their equals here on this shore. 

That's right- you guys and girls sit on top of each other on burning hot sand in 95F degree air diddling with your i-crap and I'll go up to the beach at night when it's cooler and lonely and catch some **** that would make the sand a little roomier the next day.  Just a reminder of what it's like.

Nick H is a real cool guy who passed on knowledge of beach shark fishing to me.  He was real stoked one day because he knew it was going to happen that night.  He and I took a walk up his beach entrance and overlooked a summer daytime beach scene quite similar to the one in the photograph above.  'I heard they got them in Brigantine up to 150lbs!'  'I heard they were in LBI, too!'  'Look at that dip over there, that's where we'll set up tonight' he explained.  You would have had to say excuse me at least twelve times just to get to the water but that night it would only be his crew and our crew and bloody pieces of bait.  He looked at me excited and said 'If they only knew'.