One of today’s striped bass, at the end of the fight.
I fished numerous areas for them, and applied a ridiculous amount of effort. I found clean water, baitfish and the correct water temperature, not a hit. Not even a rumor of a New Jersey red drum or speckled trout being caught, to spite prime conditions this past week. The only way I avoid getting skunked, is by cherry picking striped bass on the way home. Worst October for Jersey reds and speckled trout in a lifetime, so far.
Two Jersey specks
I have been called over the top, crazy, and more by many people that do not share the passion for salt water fishing that I possess for it and other activates in life. Here are a few examples: I was called crazy last December for taking my skiff for a 5 mile ride at 2:00 am in a 30 kt. NW wind,10 degree wind chill and no compass. Crazy was replaced with wow when I returned to my dock with a cooler full of speckled trout. I was called nuts for talking a friend into flying me to Florida in his jet for fresh ballyhoo hours before the mid Atlantic. When Governor Florio tried to dismantle the fish and game council I use the same over the top, crazy whatever attitude to start a grass roots letter writing campaign that started in Cape May County and spread through the State of New Jersey all the way to High point in Sussex County, NJ. The thousands of individually written letters helped I am sure to change the Governors mind. I used the same crazy. Nuts, attitude to personally call over a thousand people to urge them to attend the federal fish and wildlife meeting in Cape May county co… So many of our people showed they over flowed into the parking lot. The meeting went our way to say the lest. I also started a grass roots letter writing campaign to keep the land open to hunting and salt water fishing. When the manager made the decision to keep the land open to hunting he reported that 98% of the letters he received were in favor of keeping the land open to hunting, this was reported in the Atlantic City press. When the Cape May county park purchased hundreds of acres of traditional hunting land and decided to post no trespassing signs on the land. I used the same attitude to start up the grass roots machine to urge all cape may co. hunters to attend the Cape May co. Freeholders meeting. When Ruth fisher took the podium she asked if there was a sale on flannel shirts! The meeting turned out a record crowd that I think still stands today. The freeholders reopened the traditional land to hunting.
Ken's Dock 