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

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

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

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

an extra hand

The river was high and swift last night and Steve took off a lot of net and ordered a run around. As we hauled the net in I marveled at how the net just whipped past us on the point. Had we kept all of it on we would have had the net in Trenton. At one point we had to just wait for it to drift into the eddy off the point and out of the current because we couldn't pull any more.

Our efforts bore minimal results; just a couple of catfish, some big suckers, a bass and a beautiful brown trout that seemed quite out of place amid the smaller fish. Ted released it, but held it gently, reverendly, in the water before letting it glide away.
There was a poor man who had been calling Steve since last week for catfish. He showed up last night when we didn't go out and today he was waiting with a big pot. Evidently he drove up each day from Trenton. Too bad he missed last week when we caught so many catfish.

At the end of the day I asked Steve how I'm doing. He said that I'm doing great and remarked that it's always good to have an extra, steady hand coming down to the island.

John Baker "friended" me on Facebook. He commented on some of my pictures from the Shad hauling.
I don't think he's washed that shirt yet...

cheers,
greg

you can never step into the same river twice

I have always been drawn to the Delaware. Its gentle, shallow currents were pastoral and the idyllic setting of its course was nirvana for this city boy. Crossing over the rickety Dingman's Ferry bridge going to Scout camp, the river was the barrier between New Jersey and the rest of the world. At first chance I began to canoe it. There was a 5 day trek from Hancock, NY to Port Jervis with the scouts. During that particular trip I met two sisters vacationing on the river with their parents and I did a lot of sleeping under the canoe....well.. wait...that's another blog. When I moved to Lambertville I went to a canoe rental place in Point Pleasant, PA. I bought a surplus canoe and had the fellow walk it down to the river so I could paddle it home ... alone.

Coming from Harrison, bounded on three sides by the oily Passaic River, the nurturing and healing Delaware was especially beautiful. SInce I've been helping haul shad I've now seen its bounty, its sustaining providence. But, over the past 20 years of living near it I have seen its angry side. It flooded severely twice over the past 5 years. Whole sections of Lambertville were underwater. I've seen emergency crews clamoring to the banks to fret over ice floes or debris that crashes into the bridge pylons. I've seen how the river changes daily, even hourly. The way the wind kicks up whitecaps or the way the sun hits water and the bridge and the trees, or the way a large tree flowing ominously with the currents gives everyone pause, makes me realize that you could sit and ponder this beauty without ever seeing a rerun.

We did have a thunderstorm on Saturday night, but there wasn't a lot of rain. There was barely anything in the boat that needed to be bailed out. Still, the river rose over a foot and the nets had to be moved up on the concrete slab of the point twice on Sunday and yesterday afternoon to prevent them from floating away. Perhaps they released some water from the reservoirs in upstate New York that caused this drastic rise. They had much more rain up there than we did. It is interesting that something hundreds of miles away could impact our lives.

We did not go out last night. The river was racing and filled with trees and they would have just torn up the nets. So, we spent the evening putting the nets on saw horses to straighten them out for they got all tangled up when they were moved quickly. Steve and Charlie mended whatever holes they found. I never put on waders, though I wished I had. There was a chill in the air and as usual I was wearing running shorts. There was talk about taking off some of the 250 yards, but they figured the river would drop as quickly as it rose and today we could go out with the normal amount.

Tim had taken off on Friday night and wasn't there as part of the crew. He said it was "date night" and he took his wife to the Landing. That's a restaurant just across the river from the point and you can sit at tables overlooking the river. He said he spent half the time there watching us work on the island.

thanks for reading...hopefully we'll go out today. There was a fellow who was looking for catfish and he was disappointed that we didn't go out last night. Maybe tonight.
cheers,
greg

getting the run around!

Yeah...I finally did it last night. I rowed the monster of a boat. But we did it differently this time than on previous nights. We did something called a "run around".


In a run around all 250 yards of netting are used, but we don't go out straight across the river and down, but a long curve that traps whatever stragglers there may be on our side of the river. We have been capturing a lot of catfish the past couple of nights; last night the count was over 300; and Steve felt with the higher river conditions and a small crew there was no need to bring in that many cats to catch a few Shad.


Dan was happy when Steve announced his plan for the fishing tonight. He and his wife, Charlie, were preparing a dinner for people on the island and the haul was much quicker than had we gone up the normal quarter mile distance on the island. But, it was a more difficult row. It was more like a sprint than a marathon.


We pushed off and hurtled out into the river with such speed and strength that there was no time to admire the beauty of the scene. Though I could feel the coolness of the water and the pleasant breezes I had to fight the urge to ponder it all. I could feel the sun flecking the water and I wanted to stop if only for a moment to look at it all, but we were out here to work. That was very obvious for immediately Dan started a furious pace with his oaring. I had to follow his lead or else we'd bump oars. He used a short, swift stroke and I had to shorten the deep, full strokes Ithought we'd pull. We only bumped a couple of times, but he was very patient and eventually I noticed him slightly delaying his stroke to allow me to get in time with him. I worked up a good sweat and was breathing hard half way through the row. Steve had warned me that we could not stop to rest with the run around. With the longer haul there's a breather in the middle of it when the boat drifts a bit with the current before we turn into shore. With the run around it was furious and tiring and exhilerating!


There's no rest at all until the haul is complete. Steve helped the final yards to shore by poling the boat. I felt the oars scraping rocks near the end. As soon as we landed we had to scramble out of the boat and grab our brail and drag it to the point and begin hauling in the net. There was no time to rest at all.

As promised there weren't a lot of catfish in the net, but we caught more of them than any other. There was a Bass in there and I continually marvel at this beautiful fish. Of course we had to throw them all back. We didn't catch Shad, but at least I got to row.

Janet had come down to watch our escapades tonight and she took some pictures. It was a lot of fun to have her there. She helped haul in the nets. There was actually a small crowd gathered on the island to watch our haul. It is good that people come out to see this tradition continue.

Afterwards, John, Janet and I then met at Triumph Brewery in New Hope for some beer and food. We had to wade through a lesbian gathering at the place, and the testoterone levels in the place were sky high. Still, the three of us were happy with the day and it was an extremely enjoying ending to a spectacular day.

thanks for reading.
greg

i'm a keeper!

I know it may sound childish, but being accepted by your peers is a good thing. Earlier this evening, while pulling the lower leads on the net it was announced that I was a keeper. Charlie said it and Tim agreed with her and said I was all right.... Of course with my smart ass mouth I remarked, "how could I be all right, if I have a left side?" They didn't get the joke. Regardless, it was a wonderful moment and just then the rain didn't seem to feel as wet, and my Elliemae's barking didn't seem so annoying and the ache in my shoulder ebbed. I smiled warmly and pulled all the harder. I guess when you show up to haul nets while it's raining and you bring your dog too, you're part of the crew.

Yes I brought Elliemae down to the island. I was the first of the crew and I let her run around. She was very happy to be out of the house and sniffed everywhere. I work such long hours (when I do work) that she struggles with boredom and craves attention. When Dan and Charlie arrived and opened the shed, she had to scramble up the steep wooden stairs to sniff out every corner. Later she got caught in the nets and was a general nuisance, so I tied her up on a bench near the shed. She barked the entire time she was up there and only quieted whenever I made eye contact with her.

It rained tonight. There was a threat of thunderstorms, but we were lucky and there was only rain. The were some strong gusts of wind and the trees on the island bent and swayed, but without a thunderstorm we went out. I was told if there was one lightning bolt in the sky we immediately would stop the hauling for the day. It held off until we started pulling in the nets. Charlie's clipboard to keep the count of the catch and the type of fish got soaked. I wore a water resistant slicker and I was soaked by the end of it.

Despite the rotten conditions, it was an incredible catch this evening. We pulled in somewhere around 300 catfish, several fiesty stripers, bass, suckers, walleyes, several ominimously large carp and one vivid orange koi. There was a Pennsylvania Fish and Wildlife representative there tonight and said we should kill the koi, but the beast slipped out of our hands and got away. He said they were pests and did not belong in the river. We caught one shad but it was too small and so we
tossed it back.

I have to admit I'm still a bit nervous about grabbing at the fish, so I stand there in the water holding up the corks to prevent the fish from escaping. The catfish has this barb of sorts on it's top fin...you can tell I'm not a fisherman... that can stick you if you're not careful. The cat though is the only fish I can readily recognize. I marvel at the others picking up some huge fish and calling out their make and model like they are picking up some groceries and tossing them back into the water. I'm still not at their level yet.

Finally finished and soaked from the rain and splashing fish I got Elliemae and she immediately ran over the bridge to the car. She was soaked as well from being out in the rain. I dried her off while she said in the hatchback of the car and now she's snoring outside my office.

cheers,
greg

no crew for lewis island

I was looking forward to getting down to the river tonight. I figured I was going to grab my pain in the butt dog and bring her down to the island so she can get some fresh air. She's actually a great dog, considering she only gets into my pantry when she feels like it.... she tore into a bag of rice last week. But, I got a phone call from John while on the train home to Princeton Junction. He said Steve called off the day's haul because there would have only been 4 of us, John, Steve, Ted and myself, and it would have been too difficult to bring in the catch. With 250 yards of netting and increased numbers of fish we would have had a rough go of it. It was a struggle last night with a full crew pulling in 207 catfish as well as all the other fish, so tonight would have been tough with just four men.

I guess I'm secretly glad we are not going out. It's rough to go from work right down to the river until 8 p.m. or so and then get up at 3:30 a.m. to do it all over again! After fishing last night I went home to sleep exhausted. It was a good, honest sleep.

thanks for reading... hopefully tomorrow we'll go out.

it's good to be a guy

Tonight we caught 207 catfish, though that number doesn't include those that slipped under the net. Their writhing bodies looked like a scene from some science fiction movie. Though eerie to see so many fish in the net, it actually means the juvenile shad when they try to make their way downstream to the open sea will have a rough go of it. I was told cats will eat anything and are capable of eating whole a fish half it's length!

We also caught 3 stripers. I was told a large striper can eat whole an adult American Shad and catching 3 of those striped bass is a bad omen for the Shad as well. They are being eaten coming and going on the river.

Apart from suckers, bass, walleyes, quillbacks, sunnys and gizzard shad we did catch two American Shad, a buck and a roe. We threw the buck back in. I asked Steve's wife, Sue, why we only kept the female. She said she didn't have an order for the male and that everyone wants the Shad Roe.... Ahhh, sometimes it's good to be a guy for you get to live another day...unless a striper takes a fancy to you.

thanks for reading.... if you have any questions I can pass them on to Steve. Or, you can ask him yourself, by coming down to Lewis Island 6 p.m. during the week and 10 a.m. on the weekend.
Throw on some waders and help us out! We'd love to see you.

cheers,
greg

take it easy

Somehow I survived the deluge in Burlington. Went to a party held in a park and the rain and wind were so fierce the party tent that was set up to protect us threatened to take flight. We had dinner reservations at Sweetwaters so we had to leave, just as people were scrambling to restake the tent...

The p.i. is under control and it was a busy day at home. I finished up an article about my escapades with the Lewis Island crew and emailed it to the New Jersey section of the NY Times. Hopefully they'll consider it. Paid some bills, went for a work out at the gym and a five mile run along the towpath. All throughout the day though I was thinking about fishing. I never knew I would ever be this interested in hauling for shad. All day I wanted to get out there as the sun starts to set and gold flecks glint off the Delaware. It's truly weird, because being from Harrison, NJ, I had always wanted to move to the country. I get to the country and I don't do anything countryfied. At least now I've begun to enjoy this beautiful place. Better late than never.

Today was quick and easy. We were finished by 7:45. There were few holes to repair and we still only had 150 yards of netting, so it loaded quick. Steve said we're putting on the rest tomorrow. The nettles in some places along the path were hip high, but the path was dry and the footing was sure. John and I just towed up the boat; we did not row. He took me through the interior of the island along a path and pointed out a little garden still kept by a long time friend of the deceased family patriarch, Fred Lewis. He pointed out where a barn once stood and where some of their pets were buried. He said that at one time there was another fishing crew on the island further upstream. As we waited for the boat he pointed out a plaque commemorating Fred Lewis.

We hauled in a lot of cat fish, a few large mouth bass, suckers and a walleye or two, but no Shad. Steve said we would have to put on my netting to get out further into the water to catch them tomorrow.

got the itch

I am out of town this weekend. I have traveled up to Burlington, Vermont until Sunday. Janet's daughter is graduating from college and well, it's as good an excuse as any to go on a weekend jaunt. We left yesterday morning and it took 7 1/2 hours to get here. First thing we did was to stop at the Magic Hat Brewery to drink a lot of free samples of their beer....some of it's weird, (like putting beet sugar in the concoction to make it red) but hey, it's free. John and his wife are watching my dog this weekend while I am up here, so I bought them a variety 12 pack of the stuff. I'll also buy them some maple syrup....

Anyway, while I enjoy fishing with the crew, I've sadly come to realize that wearing gym shorts and rubber boots perhaps are not a good combination. I've gotten some poison ivy on my legs, probably from pulling the waders on and off. Also, invariably a guy is gonna scratch himself, and well, you get the picture...Thing is I am prepared for this. Every spring I get poison ivy and I enter the new season ready to spray whatever crops up, so don't fear my fair readers. Once Monday comes along, I'll be back in L'ville pulling nets but I won't be clawing at my itches.

Have you ever been to Burlington? The town has a spectacular view of Lake Champlain and last evening after we met Janet's daughter for a light dinner and drinks along the pedestrian walkway of Church Street, we drove down to the lake to gaze out into the lavender evening, the distant mountains across the water in New York state red rimmed by the dying sun.
This morning I went for a 7 mile run along the bike path that skirts the lake. I've been here before and was looking forward to getting out there again.

Remember to wash your hands before and after you scratch yourself!

cheers,
greg

long long days

While watching Steve and Charlie mend the nets this evening, there was talk about how the crews would go and haul for Shad twice in one day, but that was when Steve's grandfather, Fred Lewis, was alive. He would spend all day mending the nets and they could easily go out twice. Tonight we didn't start towing the boat up until 7:50. There was a lot of rain today and the river was racing. So, we had to take off 100 yards of netting to make it easier to haul in. More than that and the current would have whipped the nets down river too far and it would have been difficult to haul in. Then, there were a lot of holes that needed to be mended and that took a lot of time. Thankfully the rain was gone and while Steve and Charlie worked the rest of the crew chatted about drinking soirees when we were young. As the sun started to set light bathed the free bridge in Lambertville, giving it a warm glow.

Tonight Ted, who mans the brail from on shore and trails the boat as it lets out the net, said as he neared the point on Lewis Island that there was a great amount of commotion in the water. We had caught something big! We pulled with greater urgency, curious to see what it was and the "bag", the point in the net where the fish realize they're caught and struggle against the constricting mesh, roiled. I was the lower lead side of the net tonight, not the cork side, and I pulled harder than I had before. My shoulders ached. We had already removed 100 yards of netting because the current in the Delaware was so strong. Had we left it on the net would have plowed into the free bridge in town. It turned out to be 3 large carp, each a good 2 1/2 feet long. We caught 4 American Shad that we kept. We tossed a number of smaller ones back as well as catfish, suckers, small mouth bass and gizzard shad.

It has been a long day. I got up at 3 a.m. for work in NYC and went right down to the river. Thankfully I did not row today as promised. Andrew Baker showed up, Steve's nephew and John's son. He and John rowed. I was happy to see the father and son tandem go off.

cheers,
g

a career move

Tonight Steve, the owner of the last remaining commerical fishery for Shad on the Delaware River patted me on the back and told me I could row tomorrow. It's an honor. I've been hauling Shad with them for about a week now and they've had a couple of good hauls with me on the crew. Tonight we caught over 80 fish, including 10 American Shad. Last night we dragged in 17 Shad and one Hickory Shad, a fish that Steve says he has never seen, even though he's been fishing the river for decades. As for the rest of the fish, they take a count and throw most of them back, except for a catfish or two.
Truthfully it is an honor to be asked to row; I had felt like a stranger in the town I had lived in for the past 20 years. To be accepted like this for such an integral part of the crew is a great thing and I am pleased. But, I am bushed too, I need to get to sleep...
love to all,
greg