The Waves Will Wash It All Away

Woke up early today before my flight to get one last quick surf in and to try and shake this nasty hangover out of my head. Dogfish Heads  "Midas Touch"  did me dirty last night. Compiled with an onslaught of other various depressing thoughts bouncing around in my head I hoped the saltwater would wash away everything. 
It could be worse, way worse so Im grateful for where I'm at.

A clear and cool 65° ocean awaited me with off shore winds spraying these perfect 3 to 4 foot peaks. No one out or even on the beach. Then this guy rode his bike up next to me checking the surf, "hey I just bought a water housing for my camera would it be ok to take some photos?" Well sure, hell yeah. After the session he stopped by my beach house and gave a cd with the photos. Super stoked on the photos, it really shows how beautiful the water, waves and beaches are out here. 

All water photos taken by Erik Blaum. Good luck on your travels the next few months in Hawaii and Costa Rica. 

striper bites

B l a c k e n e d    S t r i p e d    B a s s    S a n d w i c h 

local caught wild Atlantic Striped Bass sauteed in a garlic lemon extra virgin olive oil—on top of a whole wheat bun layered with a bed of fresh spinach, thinly sliced cucumber with caramelized shallots and avocado

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hand-to-mouth (hand 'tə-mouth')  | Idiom
(adj.) having or providing only the bare essentials: a hand-to-mouth existence.
(verb) to satisfy one’s basic needs ..................................................................................................................................................................................

 

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G r i l l e d   S t r i p e d   B a s s   F i s h   T a c o s

marinated striped bass fillets overnight in lemon olive oil and white wine. grilled striper fillets on high heat. served on grilled corn tortillas over spinach and sauteed onions with a lime zest   

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Biannual Migration : : Spring Edition

This is my 7th Season coming back east since I started teaching and had the summers off. There are certain moments in life which are hard to duplicate as you grow older. That feeling of pure freedom when your in 3rd or 4th grade and the last school bell rings at 2:45pm and you know you are off for the summer, that's a hard one to recreate. Well get a teaching job and check the box on your paycheck for a 12 month salary and you are there come June. Your not going to be rich by any means but you will have time. Time to travel, explore and experiment as if you were 9 years old all over again.

I migrate east for two reasons, one to spend time with my family and friends and second to catch the biannually striped bass migration. I got the fall run this Thanksgiving when they were headed south for the winter months and was hoping to catch the bass moving north again this spring. With huge pods of bunker moving up the North Eastern Seaboard you need to find the right bunker pod with bass under them. Usually you have to hopscotch from one bait ball to the next but as we came into casting distance of the first pod we saw the bunker getting real nervous which is a great sign. We end up getting into fish right away. The bunker were moving fast being chased by bass so we ended up following this particular pod for awhile. From the first cast to the last we had steady action. Super fun. All bass were in the 30+ pound class.
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