I had to close up the family cabin for the season last week. It is always a bittersweet thing cleaning up the cabin just to pack it away for the winter. The water up there is really cold so fishing was very slow. Live at the beach and vacation in the mountains. We did get to have a little fun chasing the bear out of the cars. He managed to grab one cooler and had a fine meal. I should bring him down here to replace Dela-bear. It would be exciting — this bear knows how to get into just about any vehicle. It’s sad to watch nature rely on humans and risk their health or lives. Humans are not too good for the environment, which is odd considering we are the only species smart enough to alter the environment. Or are we?

Fishing has been slow for surf anglers and the pond hoppers are doing OK. Offshore anglers are still chasing tuna. There is a lot of striped bass around the Indian River Inlet. Anglers at the inlets are catching tog using sand fleas or green crabs.
The end of fall into winter fishing is cold and usually wet. This year it has been unseasonably warm and drought conditions. What little rain we have gotten is barely helping. I saw so many rivers in the northeast that are dangerously low. Some small streams that used to hold a variety of fish species are dried-up stream beds with muddy pools, full of dead fish. These conditions will not bode well at all for spring fishing for some species. Dried up streams tend to take a little time. Thankfully, the removal of many dams will help increase the spawning grounds which in turn should increase the fish populations. The theory is sound. We’ll see how it actually works out in reality.

Speaking of stream fishing, the trout action in the Delaware creeks has been decent. The nice thing about trout is they prefer colder water so that is good winter action. You can almost guarantee action with trout in the winter. The fly fishing only section tends to hold fish all winter. I’m going to try out the Fishbites earthworm this weekend on some trout. I will also do a little fly fishing if I can fix these leaky waders. It only bothers me in the winter when the water leaking in is very cold. But if you are catching, that tends to make you forget about the water in your boots.

Winter fishing is upon us. In salt water that doesn’t matter as much as fresh water. Fish never stop eating, they just slow down. The freshwater fish like bass will require some finesse with slower retrieves and presentations. Pickerel will still eat just about anything but are finicky in winter too.

Fish know how much energy to expel to catch a meal. If the meal will not refresh the amount of energy lost, they tend to ignore it. It’s like putting tiny fish in a tank with a large eel. The eel won’t eat the little fish, because the amount of energy they lose chasing those fish, versus the gain from feeding is not enough. They have this knowledge, so to speak, hard wired in their brains. No, they are not sitting there thinking about it or contemplating but fish are smarter than people give them credit. Angers just tend to overthink the process and that is the main problem.

The deer herd is about to come across the driveway again. This hunting thing is way too easy when you own land, surrounded by new developments miles away, but the thousands of acres around you are private too. The county owns the land across the street and it is being logged so everyone is out back.

Here they come! That one looked like a good one for the freezer. I’ll get him the next time the herd rolls through. I don’t want to scare everyone in the warehouse.

Be careful around water if you are kayaking. The temperature difference is not safe.