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!

Fishing Journal 2017 04-21:

Well if your from Delaware or PA or NJ, and you haven’t heard the big Bluefish are thick at Cape Henlopen South Side then you must live under a rock! The daily posting has been crazy on Facebook. Planning the Delaware Paddlesports Crew and a few others decided to hit the bay on Friday April 21st Bluefishing Cape Henlopen. This would be my first time launching in the park and out on this body of water atop my Big Rig.

A good evening:

It was a cool calm evening meeting up with the DPS crew. We all launched around 5:00 PM from the beach by the pier. Some guys were still on the water from earlier. As the DPS guys were all grouped up and taking photos with their cell phones I broke out my DLSR. And took a few pictures of them posing on their Hobies. We fished for a while trolling. No fish for about an hour and a half. Then suddenly the clicker on my Abu Garcia Screaming Fish On! The SP Minnow was on! An excellent fight producing a bluefish just over 28″ in length. Bernie the River Stick guy landed 2 nice ones on a top water hard bait. Joe Hosler had a real nice one in the 42″ range on an SP minnow also. Kevin caught a 16.75″ founder on a large rattle trap. Although the fishing was slow it was a very nice night out.

I’m looking forward to Bluefishing Cape Henlopen and also fishing with the DPS crew again in the near future!

Wrap Up: 6th Annual Cape May Kayak Fishing Jamboree

Its hard to believe 5 years present at this gathering! Missing the first occasion in 2010 due to the weather. Great times and this year topped the rest with good weather and excellent tog fishing. The 2015 or 6th Annual Cape May Kayak Fishing Jamboree is run by Jersey Cape Kayak Fishing and The Kayak Fishing Store benefiting Heroes on The Water New Jersey Chapter.

Thursday:

My adventure began Thursday night as the plan was to meet Ricky at Chips Folly Campground. The camp is about 2/3 of the way to Cape May NJ. After my work and dentist visit I headed straight south arriving at the camp just at dark making great time as Ricky had also arrived about 10 mins prior. Ricky began to get things together for fishing the next day and then we were off to the shooting range. Unfortunately we didn’t know the range hours were till 8 PM so there was about a half hour enough time for me to take the safety course that the range requires then left back for camp and dinner. Becky being awesome once again had prepared dinner that Ricky brought to camp. It was excellent she made mac salad and Buffalo Chicken sandwiches! MMMM so good! We hung out for a bit more then crashed out early anticipating a long day.

Friday:

Arising at 8 am had some coffee. Ricky had to finish loading up. We wanted to be in Cape May by 11:30 to catch the slack low tide. I tried to help out loading up as much as I could splitting firewood and loading that into my truck. Finally around 10:00 AM we left camp to hit the Bait Shop in North Wildwood then to the Kayak Fishing Store where we planned on fishing for the day.

The bait shop had plenty of green crabs for us to purchase as Blackfish (Tautog) candy. Also decided to pick up a pint of shucked clam since we were to be fishing in the ocean the next day. Also picked up a few tog rigs and some pink soft baits.

Off to the Kayak fishing Store. We were to launch asap but as it goes you have to say hi to everyone.! Not that that’s a bad thing. IT was great to see Chris, Bob, Lunchbox, and Seaflea part of the crew that volunteers to run the Jamboree. Among others whom haven’t seen in a while. I begun to gear up my yak and prepare for fishing. I had a lot to do as i didn’t rig any rods or anything prior.

Finally out fishing. By this time it was a bit rough and the tide was screaming in. It was warm and sunny though with no clouds in the sky. I motored out against the tide with the Torqeedo on the Jackson Big Rig. The area of North Wildwood and Cape May due to the strong currents having a electric motor or a hands free propelled kayak can be clutch! I’m not saying paddling is impossible but for keeping stationary over rocky areas that it is easy to be snagged its either anchor up or suspend your kayak.

Togging the Rock Wall at Hereford Inlet NWW

Anchoring can be acquired by using a 3lb anchor tied off to the nose and line zip tied to the top. Along with minimal  100 feet of anchor line this will be used to anchor the stern of the kayak away from the rock wall or jetty. A disposable weight such as a 20 oz soda bottle with the top cut off and filled with concrete and a looped coat hanger or an actual jetty anchor made of light gauge rebar with the ability bend out straight to allow unhooking.

Togging the Pre-Fish

My attempt to anchor up failed due to not having enough rope and plus the heavy wavy conditions the anchor probably would have pulled anyway. There for trying to suspend with ton of current and a lot of waves was impossible. The effort yielded no fish but a few nibbles. I decided to haul back to the creek Ricky was fishing for bass. He was about to give up anyway and my buddy Brian had arrived.

Back at the ramp I decided to give it another hour and fish the bridge with Brian for Blackfish (Tog). The entire hour went by with only 2 hookups that unfortunately resulted in snags. Blackfish once hooked will dive hard into the structure that they typically hang around. The only way to avoid this is set the hook and reel as fast as you possibly can to hold them away from the structure. If not the fish will get you snagged up. They are masters at de-hooking themselves also. Best thing to do is let the line slack wait them out Sometimes they will swim away from the structure or others they will drop the hook allowing you to un-snag your rig. Then sometimes your just completely snagged. Best thing to do is cut retie re bait and add new weight.

Skunked on the pre-fish and for the first time in 2015 fishing season. With that called it a day loaded up our kayaks and gear. Back at the campground by the time my tent was pitched it was time to sign in. After the captains meeting we all hung out and ate food along with some beverages. Ricky had brought pulled pork which was awesome and the Chamberlains brought venicin that they cooked int heir camp fire which was amazing! Time flew by getting to bed a little late around 11:30, 4 am was to come way too soon.

Saturday:

The 4 AM alarm sounded. It was a cool wet morning. Some people were up and getting ready to go. I woke Brian up and he met me at WaWa for coffee and breakfast. We then made it to the drop in around 5 am. After rigging up and launching in the dark we proceeded to fish the bridge lights. The tide was ripping out to the ocean. My first cast with a paddle tail soft bait small hits revealing a shredded swim bait we knew it was small bluefish. I switched rods to one rigged with a small cast master metal lure. Casting into the bridge lights 2 cranks and fish on. Small Bluefish up to 13″. Fun to catch. Unfortunately leaving the WiFi function on the GoPro turned on the prior day the camera battery had died right after taking the photo on the left.  Morning twilight was soon to be upon us. Brian was looking for tog on the bridge as I fished the sod banks for Stripers.

As it became dawn it was time to head out to the ocean. The 4.5 knot tide was ideal as it was outgoing. Basically you get sucked out! Casting plugs and jigs on the way out the inlet but no hits unfortunately. Upon crashing through the waves into the ocean wasn’t reading many fish so switched rods for trolling. Trolling for about an hour and a half  managing 2 bluefish up to 14″ a small striper at 22″ and a dogfish. The sun had risen fully but was blocked by large clouds. Combined with the damp NW wind it was actually pretty cold out for most of the morning. Fishing was slow. By this time there were approximately 10  kayaks togging the South side of the inlet jetty. One guy already had landed a 21″ Blackfish.  Joining them within a minute I had a fish on. Another dogfish on crab. Was able to manage a good position and next fish was a nice one! 18.5″ Blackfish! Managed around 12 landed and 3 snags that couldn’t be shook loose. We even had a ton of entertainment with a boat trying to anchor to the jetty for at least 2 hours. Charlie loosing his paddle then someone finding it! Amazing!!

Had been drifting clam for over an hour in hopes to pick up a bass or a bluefish which resulted in a bunch of small dogfish.Around 12 noon looking around it seemed everyone had left.  Brian and I were the only 2 left in sight. The tide had turned to the incoming and the ocean suddenly became big. I was ready to cruise back in. Brian took a few more casts and then retreated. It was a quick getting back riding the tide in. Reaching the launch it everyone had landed and was packing up. Brian and I left with a Blackfish apiece as the limit is one per angler.

Almost the last to leave the launch we headed out and since it was my birthday after grabbing a bite to eat Brian and I proceeded to the Cape May Brewery!  Upon entering the tasting room was packed! Music was playing and people were having a good time! We took the “Self Guided Tour” while starting off with the IPA.  Then we moved on to purchasing the tasting kit which allowed 5 4 oz samples along with a souvenir glass for an extra 5 bucks. It seemed they actually may pour around 5-6 oz when you get the glass. The line to the bar was long due to the crowd there. We made a system to get our sample fill then get back to the end of the line. By the time we would get to the bar we were ready for another sample. Particularly I enjoyed their Belgian Double and the IPA on Nitros. I never had an IPA that had the smoothness like a Bodingtons Pub ale or Guinness porter.

It was now getting late as we left the brewery around 4:30 and the dinner was to begin around 6:00 back at camp. Upon our return a bit of socializing and it was time to eat and run off the dinner and raffles. The all familiar Tader Salad, Roast Beef Sammiches, and the famous Seafood Pasta was on the menu again! There was in total an estimate of around 70 people for the dinner! The Calcutta winners announced and the raffle commenced. I found out the hard way why measuring and snapping a photo of every fish caught is a good idea. A 12″ fish won the Bluefish Calcutta pot. Caught a 14″ fish that I had neglected to photo! Lessons learned.

During the Raffle Brian Swingle of Manley Rods Prostaff Raffled a nice Manley Rod off to a veteran. Frank Patla a US Veteran and Kayak Angler won the rod respectively! The raffle contained a ton of donated prizes such as rods, reels, kayak gear, tackle, and a ton of swag.

The Wolfpack put on their annual craft beer raffle again this year. To enter you need $5 and a six pack. Winner takes all of the beer home and the $5 is donated to HOW NJ! Rory won the raffle this year and donated the beer to everyone!

In all a great time. Everyone went to there respected campsites for camp fires beverages and to reflect upon the day of fishing. It was great seeing new faces at the event to add that the sport continues to grow in good fashion. New friends were made and life long fishing partners.

Hope to see you all there next year!