Madness . . .

There is so much life in the water right now that just dipping a toe in would cure the worst state of catatonia. Miles and miles of gannets dive bombing the water, bass boiling the surface for miles at first light, hundreds of crazed fisherman patrolling the beach, yelling and shouting over the roar of the waves. It‘s an experience even for someone who has no idea what is going on up there. This is when the beach is alive. Long gone are the summer days of lazily sunbathing, unwittingly under the damaged stratosphere. Here are the days of engagement beneath a cooler sky.

A curious beach walker studies a mass of birds screaming over the surf.

There are sand eels, herring, bunker, and peanut bunker. Each morning at sunrise the ocean as far as the eye can see is boiling with bass. This is the best showing of bass in quite some time, actually I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen anything comparable. 2009 was a great fall, but was all sand eels that year so the fish were laying low. Last year sucked. With the mix of baits this year, the fish are showing all over the place, everywhere.

After an epic Friday, I still managed to put together very good morning bites this weekend with 12 and 7 fish, respectively. Unfortunately, junky SW and SSW winds seem to keeping the fish hanging out of the surf just behind the end of the cast, and have not made the night bite worthwhile. Out in the boats it's a different story. Eric H., who is normally a surf rat, motored out to sea and reported 60 bass yesterday and 100 bass today! Insane!

It’s a busy surf bag right now. An assortment of sand eel metals and big poppers and swimmers are necessary to adapt to the changing conditions.

It gets busy on the beach now, too, on a sunny Sunday when the word is out that the fish are in.

At all times in life, if possible, it’s important to be aware of your surroundings and the responses your are getting. I will not name a name, but I will say that it’s a good idea to try and work well with others when we have to be sardine canned like this. I witnessed an angler today walk over a quarter mile to take the spot, almost to the grain of sand, of one of the only anglers who was catching fish on the beach. If you were having sex, and when you took a moment to take a breath someone rolled you off and got in your place, how would you react to that? How would the offending adulterer expect you to react?

Judging by the holes in the ozone and the wars, I know there is still a challenge for many of grasping the concept of being ’civil’. Though it may seem daunting to solve it all, it’s still worth a try, and being respectful and courteous to others is a good way do go about it. How many industrialists have a mantra that says ‘I can’t change the world’.  Answer: None of the good ones. Carrying yourself well has a greater impact than you can imagine, especially if your imagination is dull.

Some pretty cirrus and cirrostratus clouds moved in this afternoon, associated with a broad flow of southwesterly winds that will linger through Thursday. So so for the fishing. Hopefully there is more west than south if it’s going to blow that long.

Will it ever rain again? The last time it rained in my backyard was October 29^th during the Freak Northeast snow storm. I noticed because I’ve been leaving my waders on the porch for some time now and I haven’t had any need to bring them in at night to the point where I’m saying ‘what the heck is going on here?’ And yet it someone pees on the rain gauge in Philadelphia tomorrow this year will go down as the wettest year in history. Lots of rain . . .dry dry dry dry dry dry . . . Lots of rain . . . Dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry dry . . .

After being up since 04:30, I appreciate the junky SSW winds allowing me some sleep tonight . . .