My new work schedule in 2018 has been kayak fishing friendly! Affording the ability to fish TKAA and then the Columbus Day Weekend Boondoggle the week after. The Boondoggle is a kayak fishing camping social event created by the founders of Yak Angler and Kayak Fishing Radio back in 2010. With two yearly scheduled events falling on Presidents Day and Columbus Day weekends. My last attendance was the VA Beach event in 2013.

This years Columbus Day weekend Boondoggle located at Kiptopeke VA is an excellent location as its somewhat local to me. When it was announced in 2017 I booked my camp site that November! I was already thinking of the excellent fishing and fun camping with my fellow anglers.

Before I knew it the date was upon me. Joe and I headed down to the eastern shore Thursday night to set up camp and prepare for early fishing Friday morning. I took my 2014 Jackson Kayak Big Rig for this trip. Equipped with the Torqeedo Ultralight 403 this is my big game fishing setup. We hit our usual spot to find a ton of small speckled trout, flounder and one small bluefish. It was good fishing although all the fish were smaller.

The next day we set out for bull reds. Its October now so catching spot and croaker for live bait can be a task. It ended up taking us 6 hours to gather 10 baits keeping them alive in a mesh sack. 

I even tried throwing the cast net. This is something I had never done before but from the deck of the Big Rig actually isnt too hard. Next time in going out armed with a sibiki rig!

Finally we started live rig fishing for the bulls but only ended up with a bunch of brown sharks. Ironically the 10 baits we caught lasted a total of maybe 4 hours. Loosing four baits in the first 10 minutes.

The sharks were fun to catch although were not the target.That evening we went and hung out with the rest of the boondogglers and enjoyed swapping stories around the camp fire. Unfortunately we were starving after our 12 hour fishing day and made food at camp. The boondoggle pot luck looked amazing but was too full to sample.

The next morning we tried for the bulls again. Fishing was very slow besides pods of dolphins swimming by. Unfortunatlly had to cut it short as I had to leave to be back in Delaware to the next journey at Ohiopyle PA. Delaware Paddlesports team trip. One adventure to another. I missed the low country boil and fishing Monday but it was worth it to be on another trip of a lifetime!

Jamiaica Bay holds a place in the hearts of many kayak anglers of the north east. A stormy reunion at Jamaica Bay wasnt the plan but became a good time after all.  Joh Shein started the Jamaica Bay Kayak Fishing Classic somewhere about 15 years ago. This year however the tournament wasnt carried over so a small group of anglers decided to camp and fish the same date as the tournament was always held. The tournament would draw 350+ anglers every year and was the Hobie Qualifier. Chris of The Kayak Fishing Store set aside a small number of campsites for a few via word of mouth. It was set to be the first of the Jon Shein Memorial Jamboree.

Jamaica Bay Camping & Fishing

Typical Jamaica Bay weather was slated for the date unfortunately a nor’easter had it targeted to rain for 4 days accompanied with high winds.  Some participants decided to stay home. I was in no matter what. Over the years of fishing I have learned not to put a lot of trust into a weather forecast. Just go to the water and see how it is. My trek to Brooklyn New York begun. What used to be a 45 minute drive is now 4 hours from my home.

Upon arrival it was blowing 15-25 mph East. It continued throughout the day. So we rearranged and built a canopy shelter with tarps and the campers to block the wind. Also set it up for the forecasted rain. We were able to block most of the wind and with a patio heater keep it pretty warm within our camp. There were 7 of us camping in the spot. Charlie LaBar hooked me up with a pad in his camper since the crew i was bunking down with bailed. I cooked every one some skillet chicken thighs Friday evening which I over salted. Oops. It still earned me the Camp Chef title Replacing ‘Bob Mullet’ Miller whom didn’t make it to the event.

Waiting out the weather

The Maryland crew and Wolfpack were also camping J-Bay regulars. It was great to see all of them. Saturday most of the day was heavy East winds that really chopped the bay up with 2 – 3 foot waves. The rain had begun early in the morning and poured throughout the day. A few of the Maryland crew braved these conditions as they were leaving that afternoon. We kept pretty dry at camp and just relaxed with some good old stories and busting each others balls. I remember the days waiting on the weather before smart phones and wondered how we used to make it through!

A group of Kite surfers gathered to take advantage of the stiff winds. I was able to get some killer shots of them harnessing the wind cruising on plane and catching air. Some of the surfers were able to do multiple flips while in the air. One had a board with a hydro foil. It was pretty cool to see him plaining 4-5 feet above the water’s surface.

The rain and wind finally let up Saturday evening. We were able to get out and fish for a few hours. Chris landed a nice bluefish and Gene got a nice striper for dinner. I came up with a skunk unfortunately. Only one blue hit the Da Tube. We all gathered back at camp Gene brought the striper and filleted it. I cooked it along with some sautéed shrimps onion and mushrooms.

It was excellent.

Great weather before packing up

It was around 5 AM when I awoke. Charlie was up and it was the start of a beautiful morning.  Carlie and i were the first to get out on the water. We trolled around for about an hour in search of Stripers  or Blues. Again nothing on the troll. By this time some of the others were on the water and we made the decision to bounce some jigs for flattys. Picked up a nice Sea Robin close to shore then decided to go into deeper water. The tide had just turned around and was now incoming. A bluefish then hit my rig on the teaser and took the entire thing except 12 inches of leader. Not having any more teasers with me i decided to tie on a 1/2 oz spro and fish it with spearing I had. Since the gulp wasn’t producing  it was a good move to switch to bait. Next fish was an on the nose 19″ fluke. Then the next was a real nice 12.5″er! THe next was a real nice 26″er! All of these fish hit within a 30 minute time span which was excellent for the short amount of time we had.

The wind picked up and the bite turned off. We headed in to break down camp. Hopefully the permit can be obtained from the J-Bay tournament directors and the gathering will continue next year with the large attendance there was in the past!

My second year gathering in Southern Virginia for a low sodium excursion. The 9th Annual Yakattack tournament was set to be a blast! It seemed the time from registering in January and leaving on a Thursday in May time went by in a flash. My fishing partner Ricky bailed on this year so I was riding solo. My 2016 Ford F150 loaded up with the new Jackson Kilroy LT and Torqeedo, freshwater tackle, along with camping gear. It was on. The drive went pretty fast although it took about six and a half hours to cover 285 miles. Stopping by the convention center running into  John Hipsher and Luther Cifers along with his wife and a few others getting ready to set up the venue for Fridays captains meeting.

Off to the state park camp ground. Although there is a field donated for free camping I was fortunate to be invited by a friend of mine Noriel. Hs a fellow Jackson Kayak Owner with his Big Tuna. Although he purchases a new Wildy Radar with the pedal drive were still cool! Camping in the state park has its benefits. Showers and running water! The whole Central Jersey Kayak Bass Fishing  crew was there. It was great to see them all again! Set up my tent and enjoyed the campfire for a bit then crashed out.

The Jersey crew and I decided to fish Sandy River Reservoir which is about a 20 minute drive from camp. The crew went out to get breakfast and I hit up the Fas Mart for good coffee and a dirty southern fried egg biscuit sandwich. It was good! Headed to the public launch dropping down the Jackson Kayak Kilroy LT Realtree Camo from the Malone saddles. Geared up with the Torqeedo and the Yakattack Command Stand.  The day was heating up fast along with hard fishing and no fish for me.  Good thing for the MTI Neptune inflatable PFD it felt like a cooler day than most at 85 degrees.

Friday:

We pre-fished hard but no one really had any luck. For me this is a different world of fishing. As a kid it seemed easy although most of my tackle is from back then. A hundred then a thousand casts on all the things i had and not even a nibble. It was nice though just to  practice standing in the Kilroy LT and cruising around with the Torqeedo setup. We packed it in around 12:30 to get back to camp and then to hit up the captains meeting.

The national anthem was beautifully sung by Luther Cifers daughters following a speech by Ollie Hughes a wounded veteran whom benefited from HOW.  He spoke about how Heroes on the Water helped him and his family leading to being grateful as a Veteran to the charity. A short version of the tournament rules were reviewed followed by a prayer and dinner! As always the food was excellent. On the menu was Ribeye, Chicken, Seafood Chowder, Country Baked Beans, Slaw, and a really good Bow Tie cold Mac Salad! Afterbeing completely stuffed I helped clean up before heading back to camp. We enjoyed a bit of a camp fire before crashing out anticipating a long day to follow.

Saturday:

The AM came quick although it was a hot sweaty night in the tent. The Crew and I embarked on a small pond that we figured may be greener pastures from the previous day. Upon arrival a large sign stating permits were need to access the pond created confusion. I decided to fish Briary Creek as i did well the year prior and well the Kilroy is immune to standing timber. After launching it seemed to be a repeat of the day before. Although there was some small fly hatching that I honestly couldn’t see fly away but it caused small ripples in the water like it was raining. Little white tubes or casks remained. A guy with a fly rod was catching small bass left and right.  Guess I had the wrong baits.  Brian came up to me and hooked me up with some swinging hammers which I actually had a hit on but failed to set the hook on the fish. At this point I decided to paddle around and explore the lake. An afterthought I should have been taking photos on the water. Two of the guys were caught on tree stumps through theyre scupper holes. The Kilroy LT had an advantage with no scuppers no way to get hung up on the timber.

After fishing we enjoyed lunch at a local BBQ joint the Pig Fish. I had the brisket sandwich which was as expected amazing southern BBQ! We ended up back at camp and playing basshole a corn hole game with a bass on it! I invented a new backspin toss that killed it! Noone wanted to play anymore and it was time anyway to head down to the convention hall for fish entering which we didnt really have anything and hanging out till dinner and the raffle.

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It was great meeting in person many from the YakAttack team to put a live face to our facebook profiles. John got us all together for a group photo which was very orange haha.

The raffles were held along with dinner and prizes! The couple who donated the field for free caming every year cleaned up at the raffle including winning two kayaks and just abut all of the necessity’s that go with them. It was all orange tickets! I did pretty well ont he raffle too walking away with 4 prizes out of $40 in tickets.

Great Work!

In all we raised over $22,000 for Heroes on the Water and Project Healing Waters two great charity organizations for wounded US veterans. Once we cleaned up most at the conference center it was almost midnight. Still many of us headed over to the field for a good ole bon fire!.