All posts by Zach Boynton

Wild Trout Streams

Spring is Here

Ice Fishing is coming to a close once again in Northern New Jersey. A fun season with a few memorable catches and of course many fun times that we won’t forget. What can we say, we can be lazy fishermen too! Setup your lines, grab a seat, wait for a flag! Heck, that sounds pretty nice to this angler. However, the season is ending and the trout are waiting for our arrival. So ladies and gentlemen, let’s follow this bloggers lead and get out there and catch some fish please! Opening day in New Jersey isn’t for a few more weeks yet, but that doesn’t deny us the opportunity to get out there and test our lines, flies, and attempt to remember how to shoot a fly. Needless to say, the MKFF crew took to the river and has begun testing the waters for you all. A short bit about my first adventure into the rivers of Northern New Jersey for you all to enjoy and to help get pumped up for the upcoming trout season!!

IMG_1775

Still some snow left on the Earth when i went out, but that just makes me push on harder, wanting, determined to catch a beautiful trout to kick off the Spring (well, upcoming) season. As I walk through the wilderness, I come upon the perfect little nitch of Van Campens Glen. Desolate. Hidden. One of those spots you dream about finding and can only hope to one day see in real life. I set up my 6 wt. fly rod, grab a 22 Bead Head Serendipity, slowly make my way into the water and cast out just above a downed tree upstream. Cast after cast I can see 3 fish checking out my fly, but they just don’t seem to be buying the ‘tasty’ treat I present to them.This in mind, I decide to to change up my fly. On goes a 24 Black Stonefly. First cast with the changed fly really seemed to have piqued their curiosity. Hit after hit the fish can’t seem to choose whether or not this is the meal they want or not! Finally, after much hesitation and false hits, I finally have a taker on the line!! After about a minute or so of a small fight, I have the first fish to the beginning of the Spring season.  A beautiful 15 inch trout on the end of my line and I can do nothing but smile. This is going to be a great season.

Number One
Number One

So begins the new season of fly fishing. Ending Ice fishing with a bang and beginning trout season with a thud? Sounds like the ending and beginning of a kick ass season. Stay tuned for some more fun adventures and awesome fish from the MKFF crew!

Adirondacks, Ice Fishing

One Last Hoorah!!

1 Comment

New Jersey has seen better ice fishing seasons than this years most recent encounter, so a few friends and I took it upon our selves to search for some thicker ice and bigger prizes for our efforts. Brant Lake, New York seemed the perfect destination since the season up North has shown some record crappies and a few notable 25+ inch trout. Gear loaded, extra wood piled high in the truck, a nice stash of our favorite beer and the only obstacle holding us back is the 4 hour drive to icy heaven. New York, here we come.

The roads awaiting our arrival
The roads awaiting our arrival

Arrive to the cabin around 7:30 am and we waste no time to set-up camp and head straight for the ice. Not a soul in sight as a light snow starts to trickle over the mountains heading our way. We promptly shovel out an area on the lake about 25 foot by 20 foot to help some light seep into the dark depths of the deep lake. Out comes my brand new auger and within 20 seconds we have our first hole. Everyone thought I was mad that I said the ice was about 14 inches thick but cut through it so fast, so like always, I attempted to prove them wrong!

PROVEN WRONG!
PROVEN WRONG!

5 holes dug out, Augers baited and set, fire pit ablaze with 4 chairs surrounding it, and the sound of the first beer is heard being cracked open in the background. Icy bliss has finally been obtained for 3 young fishermen.

Our Icy Heaven
Our Icy Heaven

Hours pass by and a buzz starts to set in and to our surprise we still haven’t had a bite. Not even a false alarm to get our hopes up and our blood pumping, but never the less our spirits stay high. Throw the burgers on the grill, grab the extra case and toss a few extra logs onto the pit. Fire pit cookin, bellies are filled with some good grub and a few old frosty friends and we are thinking about calling it a night just as a tip-up shoots into the air. Beers into the air as we take off towards the line as it’s tearing out at a hundred miles an hour. Hours of torment and nothing to show for it are finally over as we slowly fight this fish and let it play to us. Around the lip of the hole now and I am wondering whether or not the hole is big enough to fit this behemoth out! Luckily it fit just out perfectly as our jaws dropped. Out comes a 28 inch beauty of a trout!

Stupid Old Phone Cost Us a Great Picture
Damn Friend’s Old Phone

Busted phone, broken laptop, but one hell of a fish caught = One perfect weekend for a lifelong angler!

The ice fishing season may be over for Ice Fishing, but the MKFF crew is concentrating on a few trips this season that you all can look forward to. From New Jersey to Utah, Colorado to the Bahamas, you can count on us sharing each story as they arive. Fish on folks, and always remember to start “Rippin’ lips from Stream to Stream!”

Ice Fishing

The Surreal Nature of Ice Fishing

I am back to the blogging world after a bit of a break to help venture out into the world and bring about some serene pictures backed by fascinating tales!
As we all know, this has been a rather unpredictably troubling winter, but finally, the ice in Northern New Jersey is safe enough to venture out on without the constant fear of a rather chilly bath. This past weekend has brought about some good laughs, good friends, and of course a few good stories that I shall share with you all.

Ready To Go
Ready To Go

Saturday morning started around 6 am for me as I arose to the tantalizing scent of a fresh pot of coffee being brewed. I’ve never been a morning person, but the rewards of waking up early help me deal with the pain of waking up and motivate me to catch that early morning bass or that sneaky rainbow trout. So there I sit sipping down my coffee, ‘Colder Weather by Zac Brown Band’ playing in the background as, contemplating what adventures lay in front of me for the day. Fighting with the chilly temperature of 7 degrees, I load up my gear and the dog and set out for my first destination, Lake AeroFlex in Kittatinny Valley State Park.

Morning Flight
Morning Flight

Beautiful sights and great trout fishing always brings me to this spot at least 5 times a year, but this was my first time ever fishing it in the winter. Unfortunately, I was approached by the State Park Rangers and was asked to disperse before I could even get my gear set up! No, I was not being disruptive or doing anything illegal!! Apparently, they were practicing, with the local fire department, saving people from falling through the ice. So destination two has now become my main score.

A local airport in Warren County holds key to a beautiful little fishing hole that many people are not aware of. It’s a sweet little gem that doesn’t get much attention from fishermen, so it’s become the perfect little cast away spot for the MKFF crew. Here at MKFF we like to end days on a good note so if we are having a bad day of fishing, this place always helps lift our spirits by the mass amounts of fish that we catch.

IMG_1651

The geese took flight about 20 minutes after we arrived. Unfortunately we had only brought fishing gear on this day and had left our shotguns safely at home, nestled in their safes.

Now, as most of us know, ice is and always will be extremely slippery and unsafe, so when you are ever on it or near it you need to practice safety and prepare for anything. Always have a pair of ice picks in case you fall through. Never go on the ice alone and make sure that someone knows that you are on the ice. And one big item that you need, that our one fisherman Mark learned is that cleats do help quite a bit to help you stay on your feet, and not on your backside.

Taking a Tumble
Taking a Tumble

Now back to the fishing! So this local spot didn’t let this angler down on Saturday. Producing quite a few fish helped save our moods from the high temperature of 17 and a wind chill of 4. Yeah, chilly conditions were saved by good fishing and a nice flask filled with some Johnie Walker. 2 perch were caught on this day as well as one 24 inch pickerel and about 25 bass ranging from a pound and a half to 5 pounds.

First Fish of the day
First Fish of the day

It feels great to be back writing and sharing my adventures! Stay tuned for more exciting excerpts from the life of the MKFF crew. Be sure to get out there and share some of your stories and pictures with us! And of course be safe and always remember to be courteous to mother nature.

IMG_1665