It begun with a 4 hour drive from my home to the destination of Camp Wright on Kent Island Maryland. Once past the beaten paths of NJ and onto Delaware after Route 299 (I will never go that way again) and onto Rt 301. Rt 301 was a desolate highway while driving within a group of 3 vehicles the entire way until hitting Rt 50 which is more heavy on traffic.

A first for me to be present at the Chesapeake Bay Kayak Angers tournament. I became aware of the event in the spring while at the Susky Jamboree while chatting at with NJ native John Foley one of the organizers. This year was the fourth annual. 

Camp Wright is a children’s summer camp that was gracious to host the CBKA on their grounds. The camps property is waterfront on the Chesapeake Bay and overlooks the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Upon my arrival I met up with Mullet Miller whom is sort of local to the area. We have known each other from other past tournaments and mutual friends. After talking with a few people that I have met in the past fishing the Susquehanna River Flats it was time to get registered. The captains bags were really heavy! They were stocked with some great stuff such as nice swim baits flukes and a ton of sponsors literature. The t shirts were nice I really like the safety orange color!

After rummaging through the captains bag i stepped out inside the back screened in patio area and there was 3 tables of food for the potluck. Some really good stuff. Im so glad i didn’t make chili because there was 3 other homemade chilies there!  The tables were fully stocked with cold salads Jalapeno poppers chicken wings chicken nuggets. Lots of food. To top it off there was 2 bushels of blue claw crabs for pickin. They were still hot too!! I love blue claw crabs with that Chesapeake Bay Seasoning and this was the first time this year I was able to enjoy them with a choice beverage.

Eight crabs later and a few hours of hanging out it was time to call it a night. My truck was the shelter of choice for the night. I did pack my tent but opted against pitching it as it was supposed to rain the next day and I was only staying the night.

The front bench seat of a Ford F150 isn’t the most comfortable but was able to manage about 3 hours of sleep between waking up uncomfortable and hot a few times. At one point during the early morning I woke up and turned on the vent.  This made it a bit more comfortable. was wide awake by 4:45 AM. Around 6:00 we were about to leave and i went to start my truck and the battery had died due to using the vent for too long. Thanks to Mullet Miller giving me a Jump it was off to the tackle store and 711 for coffee.

We arrived at the Kent Narrows boat ramp around 6:30 just before the sun rose. After rigging up yaks and heading to the boat ramp the sun was already into the overcast. The tide was incoming and we had about an hour and a half until slack tide. I was amazed on how much the tide actually ripped through the narrows being a three foot tide. I decided to start with an xrap on my Bull Bay Rod with the Lew’s SuperDuty Speed Spool casting reel.  Fishing this area is very different from what I am used to . Making use of all light tackle using small baits and plastics.

We fished the bridge for about a half hour eventually riding the tide in while fishing the bank. I ended up landing a small striper on the x rap casting underneath a small pier. It was early in the day and to have a caught a fish felt good! An hour later again caught another small bass that was the same size as the earlier catch. That was it all day. Fishing the Big Rig in this tournament  paddling a majority more than motoring. The Big Rig does paddle very well for its size. Turns on a dime and is pretty quick. A longer paddle is required.

It was a slow day but nice to get out and explore a new place. No better excuse for doing a little Yak Action!! See the video below for the full production. During this time i was also able to test out the new Sealect Designs footbraces I installed a few days proir. They worked flawless. Much better than the factory installed smart rudder footbrace track control. The gas peddal style is the way to go.

Around 1:30 showers moved in. It poured for about 15 minutes. Stuck in there for a little longer to get that last cast in. Wet chilly decided to call it a day around 2:30. Mullet Miller picked up a 14 inch needle fish just before we headed back to the boat ramp.

Back at the ramp we packed up and headed back to Camp Wright. Shower was first on my list then rinsing down my gear and the Torqeedo.

By this time it was awards raffle and dinner time. I had purchased a 5 pack of tickets but knew it wouldn’t matter since i have yet to pin a raffle at a tournament.

There had to be over 150 raffle prizes including a separate raffle for a Brand New Jackson Kayak Big Rig!! The raffle was started and winners were announced.

A 24″ striper took the largest bass along with a 13 1/4″ White perch that took the Junior and the White perch division. A 47.5″ overall leingth took the slam (White Perch Bluefish and Striped Bass) A lady angler won a yeti cooler for catching a 16″ needle fish.

I do recommend that you check out this tournament next year or in the future. It is very well run and there are many great people to meet. Overall its just a great time meeting new people with similar interests and to explore a different fishery.

Fishing Journal for 2014_08-30

Rolled out of bed to an unseasonable chill. Fifty four degrees Fahrenheit actually. For a moment I thought it was October and was getting up to go striper fishing. Typically if it falls below 65 degrees time of year that is cool. So 54 is border line chilly. The cool temps didn’t stop me though. Ready for some Big Rig Fluke Fishing was out the door 10 min to 5 am and off to the bait and tackle shop.  The familiar early morning peaceful drive. Arriving and picking out a box of squid and a pack of spearing the man working the counter gave me good tip that big Croakers were being boated by the ammo pier.  I have been in search of the these excellent tasting fish for the past few weeks and with this report I decided to Change our venue to 3 miles south.

The full length of beaches in the area of Belford and Port Monmouth were undergoing beach replenishment as apart of the plans to protect the bay towns from another storm such as Superstorm Sandy.  The project started in late June so at this point I wasn’t sure there was any beach access. The hint of huge Croakers made me chance it.  I called Sean the Redneck and let him know of the change of plans asking if he was cool with it. Upon arrival at the bayshore waterfront park it looked closed. Took a drive south to the other lot. It was open!!

Prior to unloading I took out the cannon camera to get some awesome sunrise photos. On any given day I tend to skip the photography just to get out fishing but this day was special. It was one of the clearest views I had seen since the early spring and the water was like glass. So I snapped a few pictures and it was now time to go fishing.

It was Big Rig day no matter what after I decided to leave the Cuda at home. Rigged up and headed for the beach. Thank goodness for the mullet miller cart as the beach after the replenishment was easily now a 125 yard walk. They did build a gravel Stone path that was about half the distance of the beach which actually was a big help. Down to the shore line and paddling out to the second line of buoys then finally fishing.

It wasn’t long first fish on. Short Fluke. Couple more hits and I decided to move to deeper waters. Out to 18 foot depth. Dropped down catching more fluke from 12″ up to 15″. The fish are regulated by the state and must be 18″ min to  keep. Loving flounder for dinner catching lots of small fish can be quite frustrating but is still a lot of fun.

I stuck with the same rig all day which was a white 1.5oz Spro bucktail with a dropper loop and a white teaser tipped with green 4″ gulp swimming mullets and added a spearing and strip of squid per hook. Another rod was ready for Croaker fishing with 1/0 Gammi Bait Holder hooks for clam. I did fish the rod for about 20 mins catching a 15″ fluke on it. I also landed a 27″ dogfish on the buck tail. That was the fun fight of the day.

At times it was slow fishing I was able to play with some new toys such as my new RAM Mounts Tele-Mount. It attaches to any broom handle or telescoping pole. In this case I was using a boat hook that extends to 7 and a half feet in length. Its really cool to have new camera angles with the GoPro! Also had my new stereo system in full effect! Purchased an ECORox waterproof bluetooth speaker to pair with my new Samsung Galaxy S5. I can now listen to pandora or tunes downloaded to the phone to conserve on data usage. Will be doing reviews in the future on both of these items!

So around 12:30 it begun to get cloudy and a 10-15 kt wind rolled in. It churned up the bay with 1-2 foot waves which was the end to the picture perfect day.  Just before the clouds rolled in I was able to snap a really nice photo of the NYC skyline with my little Olympus Stylus Tough camera. It came out excellent.

Kayak fishing has its advantages and disadvantages. One of the disadvantages is paddling against strong winds. This also creates an advantage as kayak anglers are not limited to one port. We can find areas to fish that are sheltered from strong winds. This is precisely what we did on July 7th. Wind was predicted to be 5 – 10 out of the south west.

Our planned rendezvous was under beach replenishment construction still and did not allow us access to the water. The panned area was land within the west vicinity which would have blocked it if it was to be a windy day later on. The decision to drop in on the other side of the bay at tip of Sandy Hook yealded to 10-15 kt winds from the West/Southwest. The plan was to move back across the bay and find an alternate drop in that shielded us. While driving south along the water I noticed the water wasn’t as rough. The wind was blocked from the hills of Atlantic Highlands. It was there that we dropped in. Here the wind was manageable but the braided line still sang to me all day long.

The Map below shows the main area that I tend to fish. The bay is shaped like a large funnel. Any type of east wind makes it a real rough day. West is best!  Highlighted are the most manageable spots to fish at certain directions of strong wind.. Typically it becomes windy no matter what in the afternoon.

The day went pretty well a bunch of short Fluke in the morning. Sean Gavin whom I fished with scored 1 keeper. It was just nice to get out and explore a new area.