Even though the winter seems to pass by very slow in most instances, its amazing how fast the spring comes upon us. It was now time for the HOW NJ First Outing of 2016 at Lake Denmark on May 1st. What was once 3 months away in planning was merely felt like a week ago. A large scale event was planned with two trailers of kayaks and gear allowing 20 veterans and their familys along with 5 veterans with their own gear.  Yes HOW NJ has a few veterans whom enjoyed the outings so much they decided to purchase their own kayaks and gear.

As the event date approached my reputation for bad weather while coordinating an event was shaping up to hold true. The weather reports were calling Sunday a wash and Saturday to be beautiful. Couldn’t it have been the other way around?!! The thought of cancelling dwindled but holding strong the decision was made not to cancel the first outing of the season as many look forward to the occasion.

A few volunteers Prefished Lake Denmark on the Leap Year which turned out to be a beautiful day. They staged the trailers and gear for the following day. I fished later that night in the Aurthur Kill again to hunt down some big stripers. With no luck that night only snagging bunker while trolling had to call it early in order to be up early for the HOW event.

I awoke around 6 am and upon looking out the window seeing the ground was dry had a bit op hope that the day wouldn’t be as bad as forecasted. Being that the event was rain or shine i didn’t even look at the weather but once i closed my truck door to head out the rain begun right on que. It rained the entire time to the lake and while setting up. Despite the weather volunteers had already started arriving and loading their gear onto their kayaks. CDP was setting up breakfast and everything had begun to take form.

After a bit the second trailer arrived we immediately unloaded it. A few veterans arrived and after breakfast safety briefing and all we launched them. The rain didn’t really quit at all. My Colombia rain shell had become saturated and I had to change it out for a heavier rain coat. That and the bib (rain pants) I was wearing kept me dry and warm all day which is good since it was wet and in the low 40’s all day.

Our guests still enjoyed their time out on the water despite the cold and wet. Just goes to show that the military is a rain or shine job. A little dampness and rain doesn’t bother our Heroes! Around noon a hot lunch consisting of Chorizo Sausage, Burgers and Hot Dogs along with sides was being served. I brought with me a small pro-pain heater which I set up for anyone that was cold to warm up their hands. It was a good way for the people whom were really wet to warm up a little. It continued to rain and a a few of the veterans went back out fishing a lot with many of the fishing coach volunteers.

Pat and I were able to install a stabilizer on one of the Native Commander tandem kayaks which we had complaints were not stable enough. It seemed to do the job with our guest Father and Son fishing team! Jovani and his son had a blast. Jovani Jr. caught a few fish! I think hes now hooked on kayak fishing!

In all the event was a huge success with a higher attendance than expected with the weather as bad as it was. I for one am happy that we didn’t cancel it and we were able to get some of our Heroes out on the water! I’m hoping the HOW NJ First outing of 2016 is an opening to a great season of events!

With Saturday’s weather forecasting gale force winds out on the Atlantic Ocean Delaware Paddle Sports was forced to cancel its final tournament of the saltwater series. Unfortunately the two dates I was able to fish were both cancelled due to wind. This opened me up to stay home and volunteer at the final weekend NJ HOW event of 2015.

The venue was to be Merrill Creek a reservoir located in Washington NJ. A 45 min drive for myself it was to be a nice close one! I arrived late around 8:00 am due to vehicle problems. Just about everything was unloaded and it didn’t seem like there were a ton of people there. I figured since it was a cooler morning and the forecast was for high winds people would cancel. It was nice to see people there I haven’t seen in a few months. Always finding joy hanging with Val whom volunteers at the events taking photos for the chapter.

It was sunny and quite warm by the time we started launching the attendees and volunteers. After taking a few photos and loading my gear onto my Big Rig it was time to get out fishing. This was my first time at Merrill Creek. It is a large reservoir about half the size of Round Valley. It is probably a mile across at its widest part but a much deeper lake at over 250 feet. After launching and riding the wind out the harsh realization of the 15-20 mph wind became real. It was actually too windy to fish. I paddled over to a group of guys who were trying to fish but were pretty much paddling the entire time.

It was already 11:30 so we decided to begin the trek back to the launch for lunch. From reports over the radio unfortunately there were no fish being caught due to the conditions and the guys had a head in paddle directly into the wind. I stayed back and ran the sweep behind to make sure anyone who would need a tow could get one. These guys were fast though they paddled hard back. Once reaching the launch lunch was already out which was donated by the BMS Veteran Group whom also provided volunteers to help with the day. Lunch was jersey mikes assorted subs which were very tasty!

After eating some lunch a few of us got into a game of corn hole! The object of the game is two teams consisting of 2 people each the first team to reach 21 points first wins. Your team is awarded 3 points per beanbag in the hole and one per landing on the game board. The other team can then knock your bean bag off the board or score the same to cancel out points per round.  It is definitely a bar game such as horseshoes and Bocce Ball but is just as much fun! 

After the lunch break concluded quite a few vets their families and volunteers went back out on the lake. By this time the wind had subsided enough to be able to fish for a little while. It was now enjoyable to be out there on the calmer more surreal lake.

It was a great season for HOW in 2015 with over 15 events completed! The new Mid-Week events were a big addition to the chapter and thank you to all whom made those events possible by volunteering!

Prefish Day:

It all begun with a 5:30 alarm. It was to be mini tournament time at Lake Denmark at 7:00 am. Lake Denmark is located outside the wire of the Picatinny Army Base about a 45 minute drive north into the mountains. After arriving I made my donation to the tournament pot. I say this because typically I do not fish freshwater lakes. Although the times fishing them the tendency to catch fish is there.

After waiting for the guys who stayed at the cabins the night before to get back from breakfast we all launched in the lake around 8:00 am. I opted to paddle the Big Rig as it is the bass anglers dream kayak due to its stand-ability and stability for standing site fishing all day long. The guys wouldn’t let me compete with my Torqeedo although pedals were aloud which I felt was not at all an advantage. Next time I think everyone paddles.

I tied on an inline spinner bait and first cast fish on its a pickerel. It was pickerel all day long! Fun to catch those toothy critters. Inline spinners seemed to work best but i do believe if i had some top water poppers they would have been hooked and landed on those also! Around 11:30 I paddled my Big Rig back to the boat ramp and loaded it back up as it was time to catch the Rangers hockey game at the cabin! The 2 bedroom and loft cabins are really nice! Fully furnished with amenities such as Flat Screen TV with cable, Internet, a full kitchen, and hot showers!

We enjoyed assorted salami and cheeses that Larry  brought and some venison sausage Dave Mormak brought along with some killer empinadas that Sam Callalo’s wife made! After lunch and the Rangers beat the Caps in game 3 we all went back to the lake to fish for a few more hours as the tournament apparently went on until 5:00. We ended up fishing until around 6:00 and by that time I was really hungry so loaded up and went back to the cabins for some beverages dinner and just to hang out with other fellow volunteers. Ending up going to bed after the fight of a life time that was actually not a good fight.

I ended up taking a shower then going to bed late around 1:30 am and didn’t not sleep much due to strange noises in the night.  I think i got an hour and a half just before it got lite out.

Event Day:

7:00AM I’m up feeling a bit tired but pack my gear up and head to the lake where I will be running the check in electronically. The sun is shining not a cloud in the sky. It was a cool morning but the forecast was calling for mid 70’s to 80’s in the mountains.

Volunteers begin to show up and its great to see the familiar faces. Its been quite a few months since most of us have seen each other.

 The check-ins went smoothly. It seemed there was 10 people in line at the most. So everything went pretty quick. From here the need is to get rid of the paper which I am working on.

Most of the volunteers were down at the boat ramp which was about 100 yards down the road. They were unloading and setting up the kayaks for the event.

The veterans started to arrive and enjoy a light breakfast! It was now time to kick off the event. Matt Williams gave his speech and then was a nice giveaway to veteran.  There was a gift card to Ramsey Outdoors and also a nice fishing rod Sean Gavin custom made in his fishing rod shop that he donated.

It was now time to give our guests a great day on the water! After a safety briefing the participating veterans were paired up with guides and set off onto Lake Denmark. Pat Od was the ramp commander for the day and did a great job! It was a picture perfect day on the water. Sunny a few small clouds made it completely comfortable. Quite a few fish were caught while Civic Duty Partners volunteers were preparing lunch that consisted of burgers dogs and sausages with various sides. Lunch was called around 1 PM and was excellent as always.

The event was a great way to kick off the 2015 season of fishing and HOW events. Keeping up with our great weather record once again!

After lunch the event was extended to 3:00 PM by the event coordinator. We wanted to end at 2 PM due to it being Sunday but it was just too picture perfect to pack it up. A quite a few people went back out fishing after lunch and had to be rounded up at then end. A couple hours later we were all packed up trailers loaded to be transported to their home base for another day.

Thanks again to all of the volunteers who take up a beautiful weekend day to fulfill taking out veterans fishing and helping them rehabilitate back to the civilian life or just have a great day.