Richard Ehrenkaufer

So, it’s been a tough summer, hot-hot-hot, then rain-rain-rain along with the hot-hot-hot. FYI, I’ve had measurable rain in my rain gauge now for nine days straight adding up to

Happy Labor Day to all out there, and with the passing of Labor Day, we look to a drop in water temperatures, a change of season and a change of fish and fishing.

Included in this report is a chart of the frequency of the first mullet blow (MB) by date. This is my data since the 1999 season. The earliest I have seen MB No. 1 has been on Aug., 24 and the latest has been Sept. 6. The chart’s X-axis (horizontal axis) contains the dates of the first mullet blow, and the Y-axis (vertical axis) is the number of mullet blows on that day since 1999. Interestingly, the data is heavily skewed to the last week of August. I’m sure many would have thought the first events were probably well into September. Also, the average surf temperature at that time averaged 81 degrees, and the sound averaged about 80 degrees. (Dr. Bogus photo)

This week, I will first explore what we know about fish sight compared to us humans, and later get to the conundrum of color.

This week, I’ll share some of the color vision data, from the work of some of Dr. Andrij Horodysky and coworkers, which has been carried out at the Virginia Institute of Marine Studies to “see” what these fish actually “see”.

I thought I was finished with my brief discussion of fishy vision, but I got this note from Ken Dean after reading my articles in the New Times.

Remember that big, round, red-and-white bobber that used to be a staple in your tackle box as a kid?

We are in the “offseason” so to speak, as water temperatures drop and since most (but not all) fish are cold blooded, they can become sluggish as water temperatures drop into the 50s and into the 40s along our coast since their body temps also drop accordingly.

I was leaning over the railing at Bogue Pier a few says ago … why?

As kids in Connecticut, we would fish the rocks and jetties along Long Island Sound for blackfish, a.k.a. tautog, or just plain ‘tog for short.