A friend e-mailed to say he was painting the bottom of his boat and expected to have it in the water in plenty of time for opening day.
That would be the first hours of fluke fishing, not the recent opener of trout season.
Anticipation is a lot of the allure of yet another whiz-bang adventure in the great outdoors.
I have a trip to a mountaintop shack in the Catskills and fishing some favorite pools and runs on the fabled Beaverkill this weekend. I started packing last Monday.
So it goes with sportsmen, whether it’s the annual drive to deer camp, a long-awaited elk hunt out West or a simple trek upstate to the Flatbrook.
‘Getting ready’ is part of the fun and that includes packing the grub for a drive-to trip.
I told my old Jarhead pal I was to pick up en route to Roscoe, N.Y., that I’d bring venison burgers, hot dogs, sausages, beer and other major food groups to the cabin, which is sans electricity and running water. Roughing it goes down better with adult beverages.
I was thinking about the choice of vittles while recalling last month’s trip down in Florida. The guide suggested we take a break from catching fish and have some lunch. It was one of those all-too-rare days when the only way to not catch fish was to stop casting.
We each broke out our sandwiches and fished bottles of water from the cooler – sometimes ice cold water is a better and more refreshing drink than anything else.
‘There’s nothing like a ham and cheese sandwich,’ my guide said, savoring his first bite. I had packed the identical fare, but mine was on seeded rye rather than his white bread.
I told him about our traditional, if not superstitious, lunch ritual for New Jersey fluke fishing.
That would be a liverwurst and onion sandwich, lettuce, mayo and mustard on Levy’s Real Jewish Rye Bread. He winced at the very notion of it.
But it’s as important to us on our runs out of Sea Bright as fresh squid and a bucket of killies.
Fluke season opens May 5 and runs to Sept. 28 this year with the new regs. The size limit is a more liberal, barely, 17.5 inches, but there is a reduced catch limit of five fish.
My friend and I vow to try new fluke fishing methods this year, such as bouncing jigs and other artificials and scoping out new spots and structure.
I give it about an hour and a half until we go back to lazily drifting along with the killie/squid combo. Fluke fishing doesn’t have to be an intense workout, one reason so many enjoy the outings on a summer day with just enough breeze and favoring current to push the boat along.
However, if the chance of snagging a little wampum while fishing might be tempting consider the 18th annual Jersey Coast Anglers Association Fluke Tournament set for June 9, 2012.
The awards ceremony will be held June 15 at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City with a grand prize between $5,000 and $10,000 in cash and the first place port prize of $1,200.
There is also a new optional striped bass category this year with a 60 percent payout of entry fees. Early entry for the tournament (by June 2) is $120 and $150 thereafter.
You can register online. Go to www.JCAA.org of call (732) 506-6565 for info.
SPRING BANQUET Do you feel lucky, or just like a gathering of fellow anglers in a good-time setting?
Tickets are still available for the 15th annual IGFA New Jersey representatives fund raising banquet and auction at 7 p.m. Friday, April 20 at Doolan’s in Spring Lake.
The event benefits IGFA’s Junior Angler and Conservation programs and more than $200,000 has been raised toward that effort in the past 14 years.
The dinner will be followed by the Fishing Bonanza auction where upwards of $20,000 in tackle and fishing related items will be up for grabs. Reservations are limited and can be made by sending a check for $75 to IGFA Banquet, c/o Jeff Merrill, 918 Houston St., South Plainfield, NJ 07080. For more info, call Jeff at (908) 451-1100 or e-mail him at jeffmerrill2@verizon.net.
BASS PROGRAM Chris Smith, principal fisheries biologist with NJ Fish & Wildlife, will be the featured speaker at a bass fishing seminar 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, April 23 at the Sportsmen’s Center on Route 130 in Bordentown. Lou Consoli, president of SkippyFish Bait Co., will also share his tips as a competition bass angler. For more info call (609) 298-5300.
– Contact me at rikwrite@aol.com.
