RapalaNation: Fishing in a hurricane (sort of)

I've come to the realization that in order to have the lake all to yourself, you need to get out when no one else will. This is, of course, aside from getting to the lake well before first light and getting first shot at lake's hot spots. A couple of times I had gotten to the lake so early, that I couldn't even see - and literally had to sit there and chain smoke until there was enough light to launch the canoe.

Ok, well Im not talking about fishing during a real hurricane, just during some of the crappy weather these large systems seems to drag along with them. I'm located in the northwest corner of the state of NJ - not exactly prone to hurrianes, but close enough to the point where you can feel their effects.

Back to back weeks of pretty miserable weeks at my "real job" usually only have one cure - getting on the lake. Getting nice enough weather to do it in - totally different story.

One week is was Hurricane Bill crusing along the eastern seaboard. Followed by Tropical Storm Danny. Now, these systems were nowhere near NJ - however their presence alone was enough to take a good looking weather weekend, into a pretty miserable one.

So I decided to take my stubbornness to a new level: I was going anyway. The forecasts pretty much called for: 90% chance of showers and thunderstorms, starting from 6am until 2pm. This was on subsequent weekends. I went fishing both times.

My wife already knows Im crazy. This just confirmed it once again.

So I packed up my gear, including a share of ziplocs to keep my phone and cigarettes dry, made sure I had my Frogg Toggs packe, and off I went.

This was definitely not any kind of weather that indicate a storm was anywhere near the area, not with this thick blanket of fog. The shoreline disappeared only after a couple of minutes.

The lake was as still as it gets, but sadly there was no topwater bite to speak of. But what was there was priceless - silence.

No other fishermen. Not a soul. My lake is dotted here and there with lakefronts, and for once, not a single whine of a leafblower or lawnmower to be heard.

Being a dad with two young small kids, and it being summertime, there is almost always something to do to have fun with them outdoors. One needs to take advantage of those nice days, before winter rears its ugly head, and its all indoors, all the time. But on days like this, when the only one who will go out is yourself, and the wife doesn't care that you're burning a crummy day to go fishing, its just win-win for everyone.

And the fishing turned out to be ok as well!

Now both days it wasn't exactly spectacular, but I did end up getting 5 fish each time I went, which is fine enough by me.

I got out of the house, had some quiet time, was on the water, stayed pretty dry, and did catch some fish. And no one called and asked when I would be home, and no one bothered me.

Except of course, the local beaver, which always deems it necessary to follow me around and slap his tail around wherever I go, until he gets bored and goes away: