Not yet the last snow

Freeze last night "down the shore", as well as tonight.

Had sleet on the ground this morning, snow inland.

Please.

Please.

Please.

The Moon

The average calendrical month, which is ¹⁄₁₂ of a year, is about 30.44 days, while the Moon's phase (synodic) cycle repeats on average every 29.53 days. Therefore the timing of the Moon's phases shifts by an average of almost one day for each successive month.

Next "big" moon for fishing is on tax day, April 15th.

Not only will their be a lunar eclipse, but almost guaranteed the herring will have moved up the rivers, with stripers following.

Pickerel

Went looking around for trout or panfish after work yesterday (ok, left a little early!).

Stopped at a new spot in Medford Village, looking at a trip to the Rancocas Creek, locally called
Haynesport Creek. Next to a ballfied, it looks like it's damned up somewhere downstream and I didn't see any NJ F&W trout stocking signs....not good :(

So, stayed and watched some high school ball for a couple of batters and then left for Batsto.

I'm not big on fishing stillwater, except as a last resort near home, where we are littered with ponds.

But Batsto has the Mullica river running down into a "lake" within the park itself, with a spillway/fish ladder
and a good "portage" for kayak/canoes around the spillway. I like to fish this stretch in the spring looking for herring (a good sign that striped bass are "in") and panfish.

Today, I found neither but did run into some toothy critters:




I worked a mickey finn for a while, with no success... now I know why:
these big guys were hanging around in the shallows.

switched to an olive and chartreuse woolly bugger with a weed guard (not really needed, but actually helped
"cull" some smaller pickerel ) and started getting whacked right away.

got a smaller pickerel first... was happy enough, and was getting hits and misses (re: weedguard)
then ran into this one.

Actually was a nice battle on the 3wt, had a 7' tapered leader, believe it was 4x! so, being
careful I brought the pic to the reel and kept working him to the shallows when he'd get life
and zing out the drag. First fw fish I've fought on the reel in a long time.

Mussels Fra Diavolo

Yum... it's morning and now I'm hungry :)

Mussels Fra Diavolo

Ingredients:

■ 1 (28 ounce) can plum tomatoes in juice

■ 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

■ 4 garlic cloves, smashed

■ 1 small onion, chopped

■ 2-6 whole dried red chili peppers or 1/4 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, according to taste

■ 1 branch fresh basil

■ Salt and freshly ground black pepper

■ 1/3 cup dry white wine (or 1/2 cup water plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice)

■ 2 pounds mussels

■ 4 slices whole-wheat Italian bread, toasted or grilled

DIrections:

In bowl, squeeze tomatoes, one at a time, to crush them coarsely. Add 1/4 cup water to can, swirl to rinse and add to tomatoes. Set aside. In deep skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook until golden, 2 minutes on each side. Remove and reserve garlic.
Add onion and cook until soft, 5 minutes, stirring often. Add to pan tomatoes, garlic, hot peppers or pepper flakes and basil. Simmer sauce for 10 minutes, or until sauce is thickened enough to have body but is not thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper. There will be about 3 cups sauce. Remove garlic, peppers and basil, if desired. Meanwhile, place wine and mussels in large, deep saucepan, cover, and set over medium-high heat. Cook just until mussels open, 5-7 minutes. Using big slotted spoon or wire spyder, transfer mussels to skillet with sauce, discarding any that did not open. Cook until mussels are opaque but still tender, about 3 minutes. Immediately divide mussels among 4 wide, shallow bowls and serve with bread to sop up sauce.

Makes: 4 servings. Nutritional information per serving: 221 calories, 6 g total fat, (1 g saturated fat), 24 g carbohydrate, 15 g protein, 3 g dietary fiber, 304 mg sodium.