Anyone tired of raking leaves yet? I’m either in that mindset that this isn’t happening or the major drop has yet to happen. The weekly storms are covering the driveway and I have to mow the drive. If you live in the woods, you mow your driveway. No one is running a quarter-mile cord for a blower, not to mention then actually using it.

The pumpkin acorns have slowed down, and now the driveway is fuzzy with new trees. This unusual warm-up is great, but the next cold snap will be below average temperatures. The water is cooling off quick.

The deer are in serious rut. The horn lady is back, too. She hits and sits on her car horn as she drives, for about two miles on our road to scare off the deer. Every night. The deer don’t care — they are too busy fighting over the ladies. Never get in the middle of a rut.

The dog and I spooked some boys in rut and it was like National Geographic meets rabid Animal Planet. We walked around some bushes on the property and five bucks in mid-fight spooked and ran, fighting while they ran. Then they almost ran us over once, when the group split up. Two of them charged the dog and I, but not at us, just in our direction, spooked. It looked painful, and trying to take pictures while avoiding being stabbed was fun. The dog shrunk to my legs and was like, “What is happening dad? I’m not chasing the angry dog with horns.”

I think the most disappointed were the does, who didn’t get a winning suitor. The ladies were chasing the bucks as the bucks were fighting each other after being spooked. It was a wild two minutes.

It is nice to see my beast of a buck is still lurking in our woods. Not sure how long he will last. I just shoot them with the camera. Now I have a new hobby: stalking the rut.

Be careful driving anywhere, there are deer everywhere.

There is a new bait shop in Laurel, A Bit More Than Bait and Tackle. They just opened a few months ago, located at 10912 County Seat Hwy., right next to the Laurel Junction Gas Station.

It’s a great little shop that is working to be a full-line bait and tackle shop. Brad, the owner, is a very knowledgeable angler from the area. Check them out and support your local shops and tackle makers. They are stocking a lot of locally made gear. DS Custom Tackle has a huge display in there. A lot of our freshwater local tackle and gear makers are in there, as well.

The weather is finally calming down a bit so we can fish, with less rough seas and surf. Except there’s still that wind that could stop blowing any day now.

Aside from tautog and seabass, everyone has striped bass fever. The summer fish are about over, though there are some puffers and small red drum being caught. The big bull red action has slowed but a random one is caught here and there at Assateague.

We have moved on to fall fishing. There are a lot of short tog at the inlets and bridges, with an occasional keeper. Offshore reef, wall and wreck fishing for tog has been much better action for keepers.

The striped bass fall migration is near the northern beaches of New Jersey and farther north. Quality-sized fish are being landed on the Long Beach Island area. Lots of resident large striped bass came out of Raritan Bay and are being caught up in Jersey.

Minus the migratory bass, we are seeing the same action.

Resident striped bass in Delaware and Maryland are schooled up and the action is fun once you find a school. The inland bays have decent action in rips and around the grass lines on the outgoing tides.

The creeks are about the same action and fishing technique. Throw bucktails or swim shads toward the grass banks from a boat or along them if on land. The bass will feed on all the critters and bait fish that populate the mud and grass banks.

The bridges in Ocean City are producing great catches. There is a lot of fast-moving water near Harpoon Hannah’s that holds the schooling bass. Same technique — fish the rips and banks.

A couple two-ounce bucktails tied in tandem like a speck rig is great for the short striped bass schools. The schooling bass do have the occasional keeper, you just have to keep fishing.

You can spend hours fishing a short bass school. It’s tons of fun, especially for kids learning to cast and retrieve lures. The near constant action of a fish per cast will keep a kid’s attention. It will also spoil them for the days of the skunk.

The surf anglers are seeing the schooling bass action, too. It is slower in some areas and changes daily. Fishing near structure like the inlets is better but not necessary. The schools move constantly, hunting for food.

You can always count on the infamous white swim shad to work in the fall for short striped bass, not just the surf but around the inland bays and creeks. In the daytime, use the white swimmers or bone colors. In the evening, switch to the darker colors like black and purple also known as blurple.

There are a lot of dogfish in the surf.

White perch is favorite table fare catch right now. There is plenty of big perch around. Use bloodworms or minnows. Crappie action is picking up. Fall to winter fishing is in full swing.

Christmas gift ideas are always tough for that outdoor person in your life. Gift certificates can be purchased at all bait and tackle shops. When you don’t know what to get the angler in your life, these are perfect. Ask them which shops they frequent. A $50 gift certificate will buy a decent amount of bait. Most of your anglers don’t need gear, but bait is always needed.

Anglers, let your people know: “Hey, if you want, I’d love a GC from _____ this year for bait and what-not.” No shame in your game to tell them what you want. It’s better than that neon blue, silver orange swim shad that caught their eye —the sweater socks version of fishing tackle gifts.