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Fishing the pits
A few are little more than summer mud holes. Others resemble farm ponds. Some swallow 100 or more acres. Many are stunningly deep, clear and, in a few spots, surprisingly cold. Nearly all are fishable. "A couple of the lakes have trout in them," said Rob Rold, assistant fisheries biologist for the Department of Fish and Wildlife's southeastern district. "They're deep enough and cold enough to support them." My fishing partner John Durbin and I weren't looking for trout. And even if we had it would practically have taken downriggers to reach them, and we were armed with a couple of handcrafted bamboo fly rods from Durbin's workshop -- tools not really designed for deep-water probing. If the fish weren't near the top of the water column, they would remain safe from us.
Chubs making a comeback at Strawberry
During the C.A.S.T. (Catch a Special Thrill) event held on Strawberry this past Saturday, I had the opportunity to take a look at the chub population in the Soldier Creek portion -- and the picture wasn't a pretty one. "We've been catching fish right and left," said George Sommer, current president of the TBF Bass Federation, "but all we've caught are adult chubs." It was a fact that the area Sommer and his C.A.S.T. participants were fishing showed a water column littered with adult chubs, that swarmed each bait as it fell towards the bottom. "We thought the cuts (cutthroats) would be biting," continued Sommer, "but we can't seem to get through all the chubs." The same story was repeated several times Saturday. Each time I approached a boat, my fish finder came alive with schools of chubs, which were confirmed as I moved slowly through the shallows so that the chubs became visible to the naked eye.
Fly fishermen love challenge of going after mahi-mahi
Of all the fish in the sea, for this guide, the mahi-mahi is the most thrilling to catch on the fly. Not the biggest or hardest fishing, mind you, but when I think of exciting, visual fly fishing, nothing can top the spectacular colors or leaps of the dolphin fish. This week, fly anglers from Manasquan to Cape May saw an influx of warm blue water in the 12- to 20-mile range. This is warm, crystal-clear blue water that spins off the Gulf Stream. With it, a plethora of open-sea species and life has made its way inshore, and the bulk of these fish have been 10- to 20-pound mahi-mahi, just perfect for the fly angler. When we are lucky enough to have this water quality inshore, fly anglers looking for mahi-mahi should focus their efforts around areas of visual structure.
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