Heat Wave in January

For the past 4 weeks I’ve been in overdrive trying to finish my household to-do list that’s been growing for the last ten years in an effort to get my house ready to sell. During that period, I’ve been watching some of the mildest January weather NJ has ever seen go by, hoping that it would hold out long enough for me to make it out to the stream. The opportunity to get out finally came and the conditions couldn’t have been better: a dry week leading into the weekend, no wind and temps 30 to 50 deg F. I met up with Tooth Monkey and fellow NJ collector JP at 7:00 and headed out to an area where JP had done well in the past. I had never collected this stretch of stream before but with JP’s past success we began screening with great anticipation. I worked my way downstream a bit, sampling different areas hoping to find a “sweet spot”. The first nice tooth was a 1 5/8" sand tiger that came to rest behind a large tree that had fallen into the water. I continued trying different spots until a shamer of a 1 ½" mako and a killer Notorynchus both found their way into the same screen-load of gravel. The Notorynchus was by far the nicest I’ve found in NJ and while it wasn’t the 2" mako or 3" chubby I had envisioned in my screen, it was definitely a trip maker - anything more would be gravy. I showed off my find like a proud parent and went back to load the next screen. Shortly after my find, TM scored an awesome 1 ½” chubby which we all took a moment to admire. I worked the area where I found the mako and cow shark tooth for quite a while longer but nothing else noteworthy would find its way into my screen. We made a few more stops on the way out then called it a day - not 5 minutes after pulling out of the parking lot the heavens opened up and it down-poured the entire way home. It was great being able to collect on a such great day with such great company! Thanks Guys!