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buz23

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  1. I play WORDLE a little different than most people. I try and pick a word which few people select,the fewer the better. Occasionally I'll be the only one to pick a word. I do try and use words with two different vowels. Then I go from there and solve, and try to get over 90 on the wordlebot skill score.
  2. Just completed my annual late fall trip to the Vineyard, fishing up island. A week later than usual this year. I also spend 2 weeks around July 4. Fishing was slow, I caught a few stripers and the first blues I've caught in a few years. Nothing very big, although the stripers were a little bigger than I usually catch in the fall, to about 26". The weather started very nasty but most of the weak was abnormally warm. I caught most of my fish on a Jumpin' Minnow, early or late during the day. Night fishing doesn't seem to work for me this time of year, perhaps because there's 12 hours of darkness compared to only 7 or so during the summer. I had one good fish on, probably a striper although I thought I saw a flash of brown or gold when it hit right in the wash at my feet. It took about 30 yards out directly against the drag, and then the hook bent and pulled out. Stupid me, I had replaced the front hook only rationalizing that stripers almost always get hooked by the front hook. This time whatever it was hit the back hook and bent it open. I did replace the back hook with something heavier (1/0, 3X) after that, but I think it affected the action. Maybe a single hook on the back or a single hook with some hair on it? Not many fisherpersons around. There were one or two occasionally on the Menemsha jetties prospecting for late season albies, but there was very little bait around that location. I didn't see another person fishing the nearby beaches. I saw some interesting things. A pretty good crowd of gulls just sort of dipping their bills in the water, I think they were after krill, which I have seen at times off the Menemsha beach. I still am amazed by the number of slipper shells around, I don't remember that even 10 years ago. THey are a foot deep in the rocks below the Menemsha Inn. I found one colony that had 15 individuals. Unfortunately, grandma had lost her grip and the whole clan was up on the shore, although the newer generations were still alive but doomed to a slow death. I threw several colonies back in the water, but once they come loose they'll probably just wash up again. I found an interesting piece of beach glass, a fragment of a 40-60 year old 6 or 6.5 oz coke bottle. It was just the Co from "Cola, but I could make out rk-reg below it, and nts 6 below that. Not often you find a piece of beach glass with some provenance. I found some fish under a group of diving ducks, I think they were eider but am not sure. They were coming up with something, and apparently the blues and stripers were after the same thing. See the picture of a drake below. Some beautiful sunrises and sunsets too. My wife was very disappointed when we got down to Menemsha Beach last Friday to see the sunset. This time of year it sets over the hills of Aquinnah, not over the ocean. I was fishing off Philbin beach one evening and there was a small crowd there to see the sunset and now I know why.
  3. No, I meant 50 yards out. I think most fly fishermen can cast 50', although I have trouble when I am standing waist deep. 50yds would be a championship cast for a fly caster, possible from a jetty but a real challenge from the beach or while wading.
  4. No, it was a fog layer.
  5. I fished up island during my annual two week vacation at the end of June and early July. The fishing was pretty good, the fish on average were bigger this year, with most over 24", a few slot fish, and two over the slot (to 35"). I fished mostly at night from the sand beaches in the Menemsha bight area. I saw few fishermen, many nights I was the only person within a half a mile, which is ideal for me, but may be a reflection on the poor fishing in the last few years. I am not one of those who wades out and makes repeated casts from the same location. I seldom get in the water except to land or revive a bigger fish, and if I am not getting bites I move some with each cast until I do. I wouldn't say I catch more fish than the static fishermen, but I get bored waiting for the fish to come to me. As is often the case, many of the bites came at the end of a long cast. And almost every time I fished there was a period of about 90 minutes when I got most of the action. Sometimes this was associated with the tide, but often the best fishing occurred starting about an hour after sundown, when it really got dark. I didn't have much luck fishing into dawn. I saw only one or two fly fishermen this year, I always think that they are missing out on the fish that are 50 yards out. My best fishing occurred around the full moon, which is unusual for me. However, the weather was weird on the Vineyard this year, with a marine layer present in the morning and afternoon, and well into the night. Thus the full moon was obscured and it was fairly dark. There were squid around, I snagged several on the lures I was using (mostly light colored bombers and a smallish yellow needle). I saw several masses of squid eggs on the beach, and wasn't sure what they were (a weird starfish or anemone?) until Google Lens identified them. A highlight of the trip was meeting a wildlife biologist on a day hike out to Dogfish Bar with my wife. I had seen a pair of oystercatchers often, and two fledged youngsters hanging around with them. The piping plovers were still on their nests, most years the young are up and running around at that time. The biologist said that the colony of least terns which nest out there had a horrible season, with an unusually high tide and then an "army of skunks" wiping out the nests. There seemed to be a lot more bait around this year compared to the last few. There were huge schools of sand eels around the Menemsha beach and jetties, and a big school of medium bunker too, which was periodically harassed by fish and birds. Another highlight was seeing a large ray (4-5' across) gliding along both legs of the Menemsha jetty at high tide around noon one day. I was disappointed that the ospreys that nest near the parking area at Lobsterville were not nesting this year, I have been going for 20 years this time of year and prior to now they were always there. Its possible they had fledged already, but the nest looked to be abandoned. We walked down to the Brickyard several times and noted an osprey nest up on the chimney. There were several ospreys around there, occasionally landing near the nest but it too was unoccupied. I did see a number of loons, always amazed to see them in salt water this time of year. I always see tons of turkeys where we stay near the Menemsha Inn, who come through the yard to check out the feeders several times a day. This year I saw a hen with 6 softball sized poults, that is unusual for me. She must have been a late nester. It was a good year. Going back in late October.
  6. I think they were. There was a flock of about a dozen similar birds which were half again bigger and more brownish. Don't know what they were. None are in the picture.
  7. My annual fall expedition was 10/15 to 10/22 this year. I fished mostly the up island north side beaches. The surf was rough and dirty at Squibnocket and Philbin, with an unfavorable wind most days. On every day but one I was the only fisher on the beach. Maybe everyone else was "Derbied" out The fishing was about as I expect for this time of year. A few most days, mostly small fish, all bass, a couple somewhat over 2'. There were still bones around the Menemsha jetties, but there were also a handful of guys on each one slinging epoxies, so that didn't appeal to me. My last day the weather was absolutely gorgeous with a flat calm sea, and I saw a school of albies surface twice off the Menemsha Beach - way too far out to reach. Night fishing doesn't work very well for me this time of year. The fish seemed to be active right around dusk or daybreak, and I did catch several in the first hour or so of "slap" dark. Most evenings I was done by 7:30-8:00. I caught about half my fish on surface lures while it was still possible to see the lure (jumpin minnow or spook type lure) and half on bombers (as the light disappeared). I noticed some action right at the surf line several evenings and mornings, but they were mostly dinks. I made one discovery that I need to remember. The last morning I was fishing the surface lures below a cliff and did not get a single splash until the sun came up over the cliff and illuminated my lure. Then for a few minutes it was lots of fun. There are still tons and tons of slipper shells on the beaches. This year I noticed a number of small scallop shells too, about 1.5" in diameter. I don't remember seeing them before. In terms of bird life, I saw a number of oystercatchers, small peeps and some larger ones (I am not good at identifying them, prolly because I don't take my binoculars when I fish). I think it wouldn't be too hard for a bird to catch an oyster, but am amazed that they could figure out how to open one. Seems like if you fish the same stretch of beach every day you see the same birds. They are creatures of habit too, I guess. There were some loons around, a handful of diving ducks (scoters?) but the big rafts of sea ducks hadn't arrived yet. I only saw one seal this year. A first for me on MV, I noted a raven circling around over the cottage we stay in. The terns, ospreys, and catbirds are all gone for the year. Took a couple nice walks through the Menemsha Hills. There's a fairly new path down to the Brickyard, I recommend it. The remains of the water wheel and a long transmission type spindle to drive machinery with belts are still there, amazing since its been inactive for about 120 years. When I got home I noted that the line roller bearing on my old Stradic had frozen up once more. I ordered some replacement stainless steel sealed bearings from amazon (Shimano was out of stock) and guess I'll just replace them periodically. The normal "Stainless" bearings are 440 martensitic steel, which isn't very corrosion resistant. You can find 316 stainless bearings but they are rarer and lots more expensive. Some day I might try 316 bearings with rubber seals. I would appreciate any feedback on what others do to maintain line roller bearings, maybe I just need to slobber them up with more grease. That's it for me until next year. Waiting for ice now.
  8. Just got back from my annual 2 week trip to MV. I stay in Menemsha and fish the nearby beaches. This year was very different for me due to four hip surgeries in the past 6 months and a slow recovery from Covid. Walking with a cane still, stamina not too good, my sessions were 3 hrs max. So I was relegated to fishing sandy beaches, within about a half mile of my truck. And I didn't fish every night, sometimes due to rain, but more often just too tired or sore. My son found an all-terrain cane tip which made walking the beach a little better, and also allowed the cane to stand up by itself while I fished. That being said, it was a pretty good year. I ended up with 5 slot fish, the biggest 35". Most caught from 10-12pm. I averaged about a half dozen stripers per outing. There was one bluefish to break the monotony. Most of the stripers were pretty small, less than 20", but every now and then a bigger one would appear on my line. The very first fish I caught this year was 29". And my son who had never gone before tried it one night and caught his first ever, 28". There weren't many fishermen around where I was, late at night I had a mile or more of beach to myself. There wasn't a whole lot of surface action. I fished into the morning one day, and there were fish breaking - about 3 casts out. Didn't see much around the Menemsha jetties, this morning a school of sand eels was making its way out against an incoming current. The weather was perfect, mid-70's most days. My wife enjoyed her days at the beach (Lucy Vincent) while I enjoyed my nights at the beach. As usual, the bird life around the place we stay was outstanding. I counted nearly 30 species, and especially enjoyed the screech owl that serenaded us one night. Lots of turkeys, a couple outstanding toms that just wouldn't give up. One morning, the champ displayed for a solid 5 hours straight, and of course the ladies had no interest whatsoever in what he was selling. Turkey sex must be awfully good for the Toms the way they keep trying all the way to October. And speaking of October, I'll be back for a week just after the derby. Walking much better by then.
  9. Just got back from my annual late October trip to the Vineyard. I fished up island from Stonewall Beach, Philbin Beach, Zack's Cliffs, Dogfish Bar, Lobsterville, Menemsha. Fishing was about typical for this time of year. I caught a number of small bass, no slots or above. I had my best luck on surface lures, but that's what I fished mostly, I love seeing them hit. I had little success at night, but admit I gave up pretty early the few times I tried. Seems like most days the evening and morning expeditions were at low tide. I only gave a half-hearted try for false albacore. Judging from the lack of people on the Menemsha jetties, I don't think there were many if any around. The bait I saw was medium sized bunker, including a couple pods large enough to screw up the water (but I couldn't smell them). The weather was fairly warm for this time of year, but windy, especially the during the nor'easter. I don't like to fish into a strong wind, so usually planned my expeditions to find a leeward location. I was without power for 23 hours. It was too nasty to fish, and its really boring when you don't have TV or internet and its dark early in the evening. I was on the island for Hurricane Edouard back in the 1990's and it seemed far worse then with higher sustained winds. And even though that was around Labor day it was colder. As I drove around after the storm I noted a number of trees down, but the trees don't get very big on the island which probably limited the damage. The storm deposited about a foot of rockweed on the northeast facing beaches. The little bladders formed a separate berm further up the beach from the weed itself. The beach to the right of the Menemsha swimming area lost about 1-2' of sand with the waves sweeping parallel to shore. The parking lot there was covered in a few inches of sand but I believe it blew in. I had a lot of fun watching the turkeys. I stay in a small cottage near the Beach Plum and Menemsha Inns, and there are several large flocks of turkeys. There was a group of 14 mature hens who were often accompanied by a group of 4 mature toms, still displaying in an effort to drum up some "busyness". One day a group of 8 large toms came charging into the yard and a big fight broke out between the two gangs. No hens around that time. I only saw two single hens with one poult each , one of which was about 1/3 adult size and the other was the size of a mourning dove. They were shunned by the larger flocks of turkeys. The midget poult disappeared after a few days. The medium sized one was chased all over the yard by the flock of adults. Its mother was hiding under a shrub and called to it and eventually they reconnected and left the yard. Below is a picture of the midget poult and a picture of the some of the gang of eight trying to impress the ladies. I never expect to have fantastic fishing this time of year, and do much better during the my late June early July trip. The change of seasons and lack of tourists make the late fall special, however. Plus you can park at some places which are out of bounds during the summer. I'll be back next year.
  10. There's a episode in Bob Post's "Reading the Water" which he calls "The Troublesome Tuna" about a similar episode in 1977 where a disoriented tuna was caught by hand in the MV surf. In that case, the tuna was a giant (630#, gutted, no head or tail) and the fellows that caught it sold it (Ralph Case and Paul Schultz) and got in some trouble which was eventually sorted out after several years.
  11. There's a bounty on brown trout in the Grand Canyon ($33 if you just turn in the guts). Rainbows are OK, but the browns get big enough to start eating the native fish, like the flannelmouth sucker. When I was down there this spring, there were a huge number of those suckers in the mouth of the Havasu Creek, because it was warm water and they prefer it. The trout are only there because of the cold water coming down from Glen Canyon Dam (48F). So in my mind, its the dam that has screwed up the suckers, not the trout.
  12. I had a lot of right shoulder trouble one year but it was related to poor casting mechanics. I was pushing too hard with my right hand instead of pulling with my left. And part of the problem was a rod that didn't have enough backbone. I was straining too much to get those few extra yards. Better rods and better mechanics have solved my shoulder problems (but I can't throw a ball worth a damn). That said, after 3-4 hours casting something generally hurts and its time to pack it in (I just turned 74).
  13. You probably don't need to feed live bait. They would probably get used to floating or sinking pellets, which are a lot less expensive. You can also make your own food by grinding a mix of beef heart and cheap frozen filets (tilapia or whatever you see). I do this for my indoor fish and they do just fine.
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