Steve just called me and the weather is supposed to be awful tomorrow. So, he is postponing the yearly end of the shad season picnic he and his wife throw. He quipped that because he's postponing it, he is sure the weather will be perfect. But, so far the forecast is for yet more rain. The river is already high and this has been one very wet month so far. He promised they would reschedule later during the summer.
I have to admit I am disappointed. Hauling shad was fun and the people I had met were nice and I would like to keep in touch with them. We're all close or live in Lambertville. It should be easy.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
moving on....
My son...the computer genius... tells me I shouldn't stop blogs. Instead I should just continue them and change the subject matter within. But, I feel each blog stands alone and right now the Shad season is over. The only thing left is an end of season picnic that is supposed to happen this weekend. Burgers and hot dogs will be on the menu I trust, but hopefully not the aforementioned Shad. I will report on the picnic if it happens and will enter information about Shad hauling if I come across any over time. And, if Steve still thinks I can be a help, and I have the time, I'll be there next year.
So, I'm moving on to the next blog. You can read it at: www.home-vacations.blogspot.com
Of course, with the economy bad I'm not planning anything but day trips at best this summer. I'm sure a lazy day or two will be spent on Lewis Island...just to make sure the netting doesn't get washed away.
cheers,
greg
So, I'm moving on to the next blog. You can read it at: www.home-vacations.blogspot.com
Of course, with the economy bad I'm not planning anything but day trips at best this summer. I'm sure a lazy day or two will be spent on Lewis Island...just to make sure the netting doesn't get washed away.
cheers,
greg
Monday, June 1, 2009
"...did you hear the one about the old guy and the Cadillac?"
Hello Shad Fans! How's it going? Ready for another exciting entry into the world of Shad hauling on the Delaware? Hope you're all having a great time enjoying the weather we've been having the past few days here in New Jersey. Well... if you're not in New Jersey, then you'd better move here...if only to enjoy the beautiful weather.
Had the past weekend off from fishing and Saturday Janet and I made our yearly trek to the Crawfish Festival in Augusta, NJ. Last year at the festival we made the acquaintance of the head chef of Prejean's in Lafayette, LA. Then, last summer we traveled through cajun country and ate a lot of meals at Prejean's. We used Lafayette as a base and took side trips from there. Prejean's proved to be one of our favorite restaurants in Louisiana.
For those of you who didn't get a chance to read that blog here is the address: http://cajuncountrytravels.blogspot.com/.
Well, at the Crawfish Fest this year we ate boil of course, gumbo, oysters and jambalaya, but we didn't come away from the festival making pigs of ourselves. That's because we danced! We waltzed and two-stepped to the Pine Leaf Boys and jiggled (a lot) to Terrence Simiens and the Zydeco Experience. Every once in awhile Mr. Simiens would hold aloft the Grammy he had just won and after his show he offered to pose with all who wanted to get a picture of it! It was a great time.
Back to the hauling today. Steve called me this afternoon and asked if I was coming down to the river. I knew he would be shy a few crew members. Tim's on vacation...at Lake Hopatcong of all places... and the Bakers are in New York to hear their son sing at Carnegie Hall. So, when Steve called to see if I was going to come down I knew it would be a skeleton crew. We ended up going out with 200 yards of net and only four men on the crew. I rowed, but because this was not a run-around it wasn't fast and furious. I still worked up a sweat though because it was a constant row. We hurtled into the river and then strained against the net's length as we pulled it tight with our paddling. Steve stood in the back of the boat and called people to come down to help haul in the nets. Now, the past couple of hauls we had this woman come down with spirited people interested in Shad. She's a science professor at Brookdale Community in Lincroft and she has this idea about getting Shad to spawn in the Raritan Bay. Today she arrived, but with only two of her students and those three rounded out our crew. We only caught one gizzard shad, which disappointed the professor, but a chinese woman bought it and a number of suckers. She also wanted carp, but the monsters we hauled in were far too big for her so we freed them. Of course, we had to throw back the stripers and bass.
Today was the last day of hauling for Shad, unless, Steve warned, something crazy happens. But I think that's it. It's rare that they go out in June, so this was unique. All told we caught somewhere around 108 American Shad for the season. I asked Steve how many in one season did he ever catch and he rattled off an astonishing number in the thousands! I asked if this was cyclical and if the numbers would ever come back to that level. Both he and Ted agreed that the numbers have been steadily dwindling since the 80's. There are bumps in the numbers in some years, but the trend has been a lessening in the amount of Shad caught. Charlie, who came down afterwards with her daughter Adelaide, told Steve about Shad hauling records from the 1890's that were recently found squirrled away in someone's house and asked Steve if he wanted them! His eyes arched and he got very animated. "Of course!" was the reply. He said there were vast sections of non existant records from that era so this was treasure trove.
After Charlie, Dan and their two daughters left I noticed Ted was lingering. He usually takes off soon after we are finished, but he sat down in the shed and started trading stories with Steve about fishing and other antics from the past. I was going to leave, but I sat to listen. Steve and Ted talked about how they used to go out three times a day, hauling in the pitch black by the end of the day. At the time though they were catching a lot of Shad, so many that the state employees who were there at the time trying to tag some of the Shad ran out of tags! They used to also haul a lot of herring from the river, though this year we only caught one. Steve then told me the story of the old guy and the Cadillac. One day an old man drove up from Trenton and said he'd take all the herring they would catch that day. That's a dangerous proposition, because at the time they were hauling in hundreds of herring a night. But when they came up to his late model Cadillac with several bushels of the fish he didn't flinch. The fellow opened the trunk, laid some plastic bags down and they poured all these herrings into it. The car must have stunk to high heaven. We chuckled, then said our good-byes, the end of another season. I walked back to the mainland with Ted. We shook hands and wished each other well.
Earlier, Steve told us to pencil in June 20th for an "end of season picnic" no doubt to be held on the island. (Maybe we can go out then one more time....)
love and shad....they make the world go round!
thanks for reading.
greg
Had the past weekend off from fishing and Saturday Janet and I made our yearly trek to the Crawfish Festival in Augusta, NJ. Last year at the festival we made the acquaintance of the head chef of Prejean's in Lafayette, LA. Then, last summer we traveled through cajun country and ate a lot of meals at Prejean's. We used Lafayette as a base and took side trips from there. Prejean's proved to be one of our favorite restaurants in Louisiana.
For those of you who didn't get a chance to read that blog here is the address: http://cajuncountrytravels.blogspot.com/.
Well, at the Crawfish Fest this year we ate boil of course, gumbo, oysters and jambalaya, but we didn't come away from the festival making pigs of ourselves. That's because we danced! We waltzed and two-stepped to the Pine Leaf Boys and jiggled (a lot) to Terrence Simiens and the Zydeco Experience. Every once in awhile Mr. Simiens would hold aloft the Grammy he had just won and after his show he offered to pose with all who wanted to get a picture of it! It was a great time.
Back to the hauling today. Steve called me this afternoon and asked if I was coming down to the river. I knew he would be shy a few crew members. Tim's on vacation...at Lake Hopatcong of all places... and the Bakers are in New York to hear their son sing at Carnegie Hall. So, when Steve called to see if I was going to come down I knew it would be a skeleton crew. We ended up going out with 200 yards of net and only four men on the crew. I rowed, but because this was not a run-around it wasn't fast and furious. I still worked up a sweat though because it was a constant row. We hurtled into the river and then strained against the net's length as we pulled it tight with our paddling. Steve stood in the back of the boat and called people to come down to help haul in the nets. Now, the past couple of hauls we had this woman come down with spirited people interested in Shad. She's a science professor at Brookdale Community in Lincroft and she has this idea about getting Shad to spawn in the Raritan Bay. Today she arrived, but with only two of her students and those three rounded out our crew. We only caught one gizzard shad, which disappointed the professor, but a chinese woman bought it and a number of suckers. She also wanted carp, but the monsters we hauled in were far too big for her so we freed them. Of course, we had to throw back the stripers and bass.
Today was the last day of hauling for Shad, unless, Steve warned, something crazy happens. But I think that's it. It's rare that they go out in June, so this was unique. All told we caught somewhere around 108 American Shad for the season. I asked Steve how many in one season did he ever catch and he rattled off an astonishing number in the thousands! I asked if this was cyclical and if the numbers would ever come back to that level. Both he and Ted agreed that the numbers have been steadily dwindling since the 80's. There are bumps in the numbers in some years, but the trend has been a lessening in the amount of Shad caught. Charlie, who came down afterwards with her daughter Adelaide, told Steve about Shad hauling records from the 1890's that were recently found squirrled away in someone's house and asked Steve if he wanted them! His eyes arched and he got very animated. "Of course!" was the reply. He said there were vast sections of non existant records from that era so this was treasure trove.
After Charlie, Dan and their two daughters left I noticed Ted was lingering. He usually takes off soon after we are finished, but he sat down in the shed and started trading stories with Steve about fishing and other antics from the past. I was going to leave, but I sat to listen. Steve and Ted talked about how they used to go out three times a day, hauling in the pitch black by the end of the day. At the time though they were catching a lot of Shad, so many that the state employees who were there at the time trying to tag some of the Shad ran out of tags! They used to also haul a lot of herring from the river, though this year we only caught one. Steve then told me the story of the old guy and the Cadillac. One day an old man drove up from Trenton and said he'd take all the herring they would catch that day. That's a dangerous proposition, because at the time they were hauling in hundreds of herring a night. But when they came up to his late model Cadillac with several bushels of the fish he didn't flinch. The fellow opened the trunk, laid some plastic bags down and they poured all these herrings into it. The car must have stunk to high heaven. We chuckled, then said our good-byes, the end of another season. I walked back to the mainland with Ted. We shook hands and wished each other well.
Earlier, Steve told us to pencil in June 20th for an "end of season picnic" no doubt to be held on the island. (Maybe we can go out then one more time....)
love and shad....they make the world go round!
thanks for reading.
greg
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
live long and prosper...
Tuesday night when we went out Steve said this could very well be the last haul for the season. I have to admit that I was sad. Not only have I connected with a tradition in my town, I have made friends with people I otherwise might never have met. The timeless Delaware feeds my soul. Until I had entered this world I had no idea how soothing this experience could be, or that life would somehow fall into place. Struggles no longer seem unsurmountable, because I know now that the incessant river will be there for me.
That being said, we hauled in some miserable weather Tuesday. It rained all day, but Steve checked the satellite and we had a window before any heavy rain would come again. It drizzled. The wind kicked up, but we were spared any significant rainfall. We went out with 250 yards of net and we only caught one gizzard shad, but a lot of catfish, carp and suckers. There were several bass, a perch, a walleye and 3 or 4 sunnies....
I met the boat when it came back to the bank and then dragged the brail to the point. That was my first time doing that and it was hard, for I had to keep the brail as close to the bank as possible. I was slipping on the rocks a bit, but I didn't fall in!
Afterwards we gathered in the shed and had a beer. Steve said he'd call me if we haul again, but it won't be until Friday evening. If Tuesday was the last haul for the season, at least I can dream about next March when the season begins anew.
Thanks for reading!
btw...you may be wondering why the silly title of today's blog...that is if I've kept your interest this long. Since I had the day off from fishing yesterday I stopped on the way home to take in that new Star Trek film. It was very good.
g
That being said, we hauled in some miserable weather Tuesday. It rained all day, but Steve checked the satellite and we had a window before any heavy rain would come again. It drizzled. The wind kicked up, but we were spared any significant rainfall. We went out with 250 yards of net and we only caught one gizzard shad, but a lot of catfish, carp and suckers. There were several bass, a perch, a walleye and 3 or 4 sunnies....
I met the boat when it came back to the bank and then dragged the brail to the point. That was my first time doing that and it was hard, for I had to keep the brail as close to the bank as possible. I was slipping on the rocks a bit, but I didn't fall in!
Afterwards we gathered in the shed and had a beer. Steve said he'd call me if we haul again, but it won't be until Friday evening. If Tuesday was the last haul for the season, at least I can dream about next March when the season begins anew.
Thanks for reading!
btw...you may be wondering why the silly title of today's blog...that is if I've kept your interest this long. Since I had the day off from fishing yesterday I stopped on the way home to take in that new Star Trek film. It was very good.
g
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
dogfishing
Man...never underestimate the necessity of suntan lotion! I'm still burnt from Saturday's visit to Herring Point in Cape Henlopen State Park, Lewes, Delaware. I foolishly neglected to slather myself with lotion because the sun was in and out all day. It was enough to burn this beach bum. Give me an apple and I'd look like a bbq pig. I took a bath in Aloe last night. Anyone need to heat up their coffee cup, just hold it up to my chest!!!!!! Here it is Tuesday and I am finally able to bend my arms!
Okay, well, perhaps I am exaggerating a bit. I just got back from a holiday weekend in slower lower Delaware where we visited friends who have a second home in Milford. We have visited them a few times. It is a nice area, about 20 miles north of Lewes. It was a weekend of drinking beer and strong Margaritas mixed by Janet. Saturday night I was the designated driver and we ate at a Mexican restaurant in Lewes. Sunday, Janet and I traveled down to Rehoboth Beach to visit the Dogfish Head Brew pub. After wading through the sashaying gay population we drank several wonderful "off-centered" brews. Each beer was very good and strong. She started with an Immort Ale and I drank a Palo Santo Marron....11 a.b.v. and 12 a.b.v. Both were very good, but they were the type of beer you just want one of, not several. Then we each had a 75 Minute IPA hand pump that was fabulous. We then gingerly took a sipping taste of the 120 Minute IPA that boasted an a.b.v. of 18%!!! It was good, but if you drink one of those expect to wake up on some trawler after being shanghaiied ... or worst (since you're in Rehoboth) wake up in a very uncompromising situation.....
Happily tipsy, but with our dignities still intact, we traveled back up route 1 to Milford and burgers and more Margaritas....
Today hopefully there will be fishing. Steve had asked me if I was going to be around Tuesday and I'll be there despite my burnt flesh.
Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.
g
Okay, well, perhaps I am exaggerating a bit. I just got back from a holiday weekend in slower lower Delaware where we visited friends who have a second home in Milford. We have visited them a few times. It is a nice area, about 20 miles north of Lewes. It was a weekend of drinking beer and strong Margaritas mixed by Janet. Saturday night I was the designated driver and we ate at a Mexican restaurant in Lewes. Sunday, Janet and I traveled down to Rehoboth Beach to visit the Dogfish Head Brew pub. After wading through the sashaying gay population we drank several wonderful "off-centered" brews. Each beer was very good and strong. She started with an Immort Ale and I drank a Palo Santo Marron....11 a.b.v. and 12 a.b.v. Both were very good, but they were the type of beer you just want one of, not several. Then we each had a 75 Minute IPA hand pump that was fabulous. We then gingerly took a sipping taste of the 120 Minute IPA that boasted an a.b.v. of 18%!!! It was good, but if you drink one of those expect to wake up on some trawler after being shanghaiied ... or worst (since you're in Rehoboth) wake up in a very uncompromising situation.....
Happily tipsy, but with our dignities still intact, we traveled back up route 1 to Milford and burgers and more Margaritas....
Today hopefully there will be fishing. Steve had asked me if I was going to be around Tuesday and I'll be there despite my burnt flesh.
Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.
g
Thursday, May 21, 2009
away away away
No fishing today. Steve gave us the day off. Had there been more shad being pulled from the river he would have been more anxious to get out there, but the daily catch has been dropping off steadily over the last week.
I was thankful for the day off; it's been rough going to work in NYC and then hurrying home to get to the river around 6:00 p.m. It takes anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours to complete our chores, but then, of course, I have to head off to the gym for a work out. By the time my day is done, its nearly time to get up again for the next go around. So, though it was a glorious day in Lambertville there was no fishing. I almost went down to the river anyway to sit on one of the benches and bask in the late afternoon sun, but I chose to linger on the front porch instead. Quite frankly, I am tired and I even avoided the gym tonight.
Last night Steve asked if I was going to be around this weekend. He said he wanted me to row again, but I'm off to slower lower Delaware with Janet for the holiday. We are leaving Friday afternoon, so I won't be able to fish in the evening. I'll be back at it though on Tuesday.
What's interesting about this shad hauling schedule is that for all the years I have lived in Lambertville, I never knew the season went this far. I always assumed it was just in the month of April, with the hauls stopping the same weekend of Shad Fest...which is held on that last weekend of the month.
Make sure you all have a safe Memorial Day weekend, and please remember to kiss a veteran sometime over the holiday!
cheers,
greg
I was thankful for the day off; it's been rough going to work in NYC and then hurrying home to get to the river around 6:00 p.m. It takes anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours to complete our chores, but then, of course, I have to head off to the gym for a work out. By the time my day is done, its nearly time to get up again for the next go around. So, though it was a glorious day in Lambertville there was no fishing. I almost went down to the river anyway to sit on one of the benches and bask in the late afternoon sun, but I chose to linger on the front porch instead. Quite frankly, I am tired and I even avoided the gym tonight.
Last night Steve asked if I was going to be around this weekend. He said he wanted me to row again, but I'm off to slower lower Delaware with Janet for the holiday. We are leaving Friday afternoon, so I won't be able to fish in the evening. I'll be back at it though on Tuesday.
What's interesting about this shad hauling schedule is that for all the years I have lived in Lambertville, I never knew the season went this far. I always assumed it was just in the month of April, with the hauls stopping the same weekend of Shad Fest...which is held on that last weekend of the month.
Make sure you all have a safe Memorial Day weekend, and please remember to kiss a veteran sometime over the holiday!
cheers,
greg
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
gotta hand it to ya
A large amount of the yammering tonight was about the size of the trout we netted last night. Hands extended to all lengths and somebody said it was a rainbow, another said it was a brown trout. It was a magnificent fish no matter what it was. There was also much speculation about other oddities to be pulled from the river. Sturgeon evidently hang out near the Calhoun Street bridge in Trenton. Someone landed a 17 lb. Flathead Catfish by the Lehigh River. Spawning carp were sighted last week in the deeper area near the PA side. The Koi that we landed last week, but failed to kill, cropped up in the conversation. I listened quietly to the talk. I'm not really a fisherman, but I did marvel at these tales.
It was a gloriously beautiful day today. In the eighties and there were no clouds in the sky. I wore just a tank top and was comfortable. I always like to get down to the river a bit early, before everyone else, just so I can sit and look at the river. When I first moved my family down to Lambertville in 1989 we used Lewis Island as a sort of beach during the summer. We'd eat our lunch on the benches and splash about in the water. At the time we had a Golden Retriever who loved to go far out into the river with us as we swam. In the summer the Delaware is often very shallow and we were able to wade nearly three quarters of the way across before it got too deep for the kids.
Enough nostalgia...Back to the fishing. We hardly caught anything at all today. A bunch of gizzard shad, a bass, and a few suckers. That's okay there's always another opportunity tomorrow.
Remember to put on sun screen folks!
greg
It was a gloriously beautiful day today. In the eighties and there were no clouds in the sky. I wore just a tank top and was comfortable. I always like to get down to the river a bit early, before everyone else, just so I can sit and look at the river. When I first moved my family down to Lambertville in 1989 we used Lewis Island as a sort of beach during the summer. We'd eat our lunch on the benches and splash about in the water. At the time we had a Golden Retriever who loved to go far out into the river with us as we swam. In the summer the Delaware is often very shallow and we were able to wade nearly three quarters of the way across before it got too deep for the kids.
Enough nostalgia...Back to the fishing. We hardly caught anything at all today. A bunch of gizzard shad, a bass, and a few suckers. That's okay there's always another opportunity tomorrow.
Remember to put on sun screen folks!
greg
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