Surf Fishing
If you're from Jersey or even the Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania, you know what it means to go "down the shore". A lot of people are surprised to learn that Jersey has great beaches running pretty much the length of the coast. Cape May, the peninsula that is Jersey's southern tip, is America's original resort town, and is the summertime home-turf (home-surf?) of thousands of PA residents.
Nobody is going to claim that surf fishing, in general, is the best way to catch fish. But the surf is magical, and at times the fishing can be amazing.
Bill Walters is one of the great folks we have met as a result of the wool business, and he has spent a lot of time afield and fishing the surf. Jersey does have blitzes of stripers and blues, but 24 November, 2017, was kind of quiet where we were fishing. The year 2017 has had a tremendous number of short stripers (striped bass smaller than the legal size limit). But we had action, and until fishing with Bill, I had never caught a striper.
The temp was about 50F / 10C and it was raining pretty much constantly. I wore our Big Brim Boonie Hat, MidWeight Pants and the first All-Around Jacket we made (current production is much nicer). After about three hours or so I felt moisture on my shoulders and arms, which surprised me a little because I've had that jacket out in a lot more rain than that. Of course, wool is not true, dedicated rain gear ... and I was not uncomfortable, either.
What was kind of cool was that when the surf splashed up around my Pants, the water just rolled off the Pants, did not penetrate the Fabric and did not get into my boots.
MANY THANKS to Bill Walters for hosting me and for taking these pictures!!
Sunrise in any natural setting is awesome ... and on the beach, WOW!
Thanks to Bill Walters for hosting me and taking all the pics (except this one of himself).
This little guy needs to double in size to be legal. He (or she) was returned to the water in great shape. I didn't realize until seeing this picture that I'd been kneeling right at the surf line. Even with the surge washing up against the pants, the water didn't reach my legs ... or at least, i didn't notice it.
24 November 2017