Fishing Journal 2015_09-19

With the days getting shorter and the nights getting cooler the Bass have turned on in the Manasquan river.
Its Friday Sept 18th and Chris Johnstone had reached out about fishing early Saturday morning. Early Saturday morning meaning 1:00 AM! For me the Manasquan river is an hour drive each way and was hesitant as previous trips have resulted in very windy conditions. If there is one thing disliked over everything else it is driving to a fishing spot over an hour to turn around and drive an hour back.

After studying weather reports of a SE wind at 5 and the temps were going to remain in the low 60’s it was a no brainer. Sent Johnstone a text at 5 PM I’m in. Only problem was most of the tackle shops were closed but fortunately he managed to find live eels!

Our plan was to meet up 0n the water at 1:30 AM to fish the slack and then outgoing tide. However it was not easy to find sleep for a decent power nap. I remember looking at the clock reading 10:45 and had to be up at 12 am. My alarm chimed in at 12 AM and making a bad decision decided to take another 10 minutes. Well that turned into a half hour. Getting up at 12:30 and running to pack up my cold water ice and a few other necessities. Finally out the door and stopping at a store to get some coffee and a bite to eat then proceeded to realize my truck was low on gas.

After the fuel stop and about 45 minutes had gone by and Chris is texting me that he is catching fish. Im 10 mins away. Arriving at the Glimmer Glass drop in scrambling to get my gear lashed bungeed and leashed. This time around had rigged all of my rods prior to packing up. Great choice as many times getting stuck tying rigs and lures on in the dark attempting to be speedy which doesn’t mix with tying anything in the dark! Prior rigging saved a lot of time and.

Another huge time saver is the Torqeedo Ultralight 403 which allows me to maintain a speed of 3.5 mph. Since the fishing area location was not far from the drop-in the extra usage on the battery would not matter. The tide had started outgoing so that also helped getting out of the drop in area but slowed a little getting up past the railroad bridge. The area of the Manasquan river that we Eel nights for Stripers is a very dangerous area of the river. Between boat traffic and the typical 3-4 knot tide makes this place only for experienced kayak anglers. If you plan to fish these types of areas that are traveled by boats and have bridges I would suggest taking the Coast Guard Boaters Safety Course or at least familiarize yourself with safety and on water navigation. The main safety concern is visibility. On kayaks we sit very low. Having a 360 degree bright light such as the Yak Attack visi pole is a necessity. That along with the Yak Attack Nite Stripe brings up the visibility.

Meeting up with Chris he already landed a nice 31″ Bass. He gave me the 3 eels that he picked up for me. Using a custom heavy moderate action rod and ad Abu Garcia 7000 C3 along with a eel rig that consisted of an inline 3oz egg sinker beads a swivel 40lb floro and a 5/0 Gami Octopus Hook.  To hook a live eel using a rag grab the eel from the back of his head. Its best to keep the eels on ice as it will slow them down making it more manageable. These eels weren’t really that lively so it was easy to hook one through both lips from the bottom jaw through the top. You need to immediately get them into he water as they will squirm and tie themselves into a ball with the leader and everything. This we call an eel ball. Once you have an eel ball you most likely will be retying a new rig. Getting the ell into the water asap the eel will swim and not tie knots.

About 10 seconds after the sinker hit the bottom  a bass hit and hes on! Great fight but turned out to be a small bass at 24″. After removing the hook a head boat moved in. It docks right near the bridge were fishing and of coarse spooked all of the fish. I had one more on after an hour and Chris had 1 also. Ended up catching a few snags also.

I decided to change up bait after we ran out of eels and switched to a storm shad. Kept hearing the mullet jumping by the bridge ice breakers. Threw a few casts there and bammm fish on. A pretty good fight the fish turned out to be a 25″ bluefish. After that fish fishing seemed to die out. Boat traffic was increasing as it was now 5:30 am. We decided quit fishing and not too long after reaching land the fog rolled in thick. It was perfect timing to quit!

As it gets cooler the fishing will heat up even more at this location. I am looking forward to fishing there again in the near future.

Every year is different at the Jamaica Bay Classic while other things never change.

The 13th Annual Jamaica Bay Classic now in the books as another great one. With 308 total registered it is one of the largest kayak specific fishing tournaments on the east coast.

Thursday:

The drive to J-Bay for me is usually a nice one. Sometimes I catch traffic due to an accident. Leaving in the late morning is the best time for after morning rush hour and before lunch time. Driving to Brooklyn and Queens has its positives though. I get to drive over two large bridges one being a the Outer Bridge which is a truss bridge that connects New Jersey with Staten Island crossing the Arthur Kill. The second being the Verrazano Narrows Bridge which is a suspension bridge that connects Staten Island with Brooklyn crossing the New York Harbor.

I arrived Thursday afternoon. The crew had already set up camp the day before and was just finishing up pre-fishing from the morning. Reports were as I had thought they would be with a lot of bluefish and a few bass. I decided due to the 15-20 mph winds to hang out and pre-fish the morning and then get back for the start of the tournament which was to kick off at 12 noon on Friday.  I used the remaining time to hang out with people i haven’t seen in a while unload  and prepare for fishing in the morning and enjoy the time. This year I agreed to the anti tub and worm guys i fish with and did not dip a single tube in the water this year.  Completely strategic fishing.  Jigging worked real well but only on blues I was hoping for a firs j-bay bass on a jig.

Friday:

4:30 AM came fast. Typically the first night is hard to sleep but not this time. Was able to get the longer bunk. Being 6’1″ tall this was awesome this time! The coffee was brewed and we all were ready for a day of fishing! The sun was rising over the horizon it was to be a warm day!. Launching around 6:00 am fishing seemed to be slow early. I saw a few small striped bass picked up and around this time quit trolling to begin jigging. Using a 1-3/4 oz Kalins jig and a translucent pink Zman 6″ curly tail grub. It seemed pink was again the color this year.  About 30 mins later felt a fish hit. Lifted the rod and set the hook! It was on! Landing a 28-1/2″  20# lb bluefish. Of course it is the Pre-Fish so the fish did not count in the tournament. I snapped a photo anyway for kayak wars and returned the fish back to the water.

It was now 11:00 AM and was time to head back for the captains meeting. A few of us decided to eat lunch and go back out around 1:00 PM.

Fishing seemed to be the same. I managed another bluefish at 27.5″ for the tournament on the same Jig. 5:00PM came around which closed out the first half day of the tournament. I entered my fish in and was in first place of the electric division.

Saturday:

The other guys made the decision to fish cross bay by JFK Airport for the morning. I agreed as I had done well here in the past. Plus its just fun to fish with your friends. A short drive in the AM after the tournament officially opened for the day.  The morning begun warm but stayed cloudy. Showers were in the forecast.

Launching from the beach of the cross bay causeway around 6 am I heard Mike already had landed a 43″ bass. I decided to start trolling. And trolled for a good hour and a half out to the radar pier. Finding schools of bunker and not a hit trolling I rigged up for live lining. Quite a few casts I was able to snag a few bunker. Hooking one up for live lining while drifting and jigging with another rod.  I just couldn’t seem to find the fish. Not marking anything on the fish finder making the decision to troll back to the train bridge where there was fish earlier. On the troll back it begun to rain and did so pouring at time over an hour and a half of time. Now cold wet and no fish and ready to pack it in. I chucked the bunker around the bridge and nothing. This was the first time skunked fishing this area.

It was now 11:45 AM and packing up to head back to the main tournament launch for lunch and to listen to the NY Rangers playoff game. After the game was over Rangers winning! I went back out fishing. It was going to be a short  after noon of fishing. I ran the Torqeedo wide open out to the spot where my friends were still fishing. Other anglers watched me speed by at 5.5 MPH! Finding my friends they were on a pod of bluefish.

It was dead calm waters so taking the advantage of the Big Rig I was able to stand and sight fish. First cast of a white 6″ bomber fish on! Another big blue! About 5 minutes of the fish taking drag reeling it back up and taking grad the hook pulled about 10 feet from the yak. Still an epic fight! The birds were now working on some bait nearby that the blues were pushing up. I perused them in the standing paddling position. A few more hookups and losing fish at the kayak. Remember to sharpen the hooks nest time out! At this time hunger has set in and captain Jim’s ribs were on the menu!

Prior to crashing out i set up my fluke rod for buck tail jigging. A thunder storm came through and everyone crashed out. I wasn’t tired yet and saw the glimmer of a camp fire inthe distance. I walked over there and met Dennis Dottie and Gabb hanging out! Good times as the fire and the company was very inviting and meeting new people was great! A few drinks and time to crash to get up early and do it allover again.

Sunday:

Arising after the sun rose stepping outside its really foggy. I took my time figuring id wait for it to burn off. It was dangerous out there with all of the power boats cruising around and 300 kayak anglers drifting in the fog. Safety is always a #1 concern.

I launched around 8:30 still foggy but manageable. About a half hour later the fog has all dissipated and i was in search of fluke. It was the last half day of the tournament. My bluefish had been run off the board by 3 30″ bluefish. I needed a nice fluke to pick up third. Three hours went by and I managed nothing Brian had a 23″ fluke. Time was up. Only thing left to do was pack up have lunch and hopefully win a raffle!

Mike won the Grand Slam with his 43″ bass. I unfortunately did not snap a photo of the leader board winners this year.

Jackson Kayak and Orion Coolers donated a nice 45 quart cooler to the raffle! The winner of it seemed excited to win it! I typically don’t win anything in the raffle but this year as different and won a nice St Croix Inshore Mojo Spinning rod!

It is great to be able to represent Jackson Kayak and get away for a weekend of fishing! Everyone looks forward to the J-Bay Classic every year! As I always say if you haven’t fished this tournament definitely do! Its a great place to fish this time of year! You wont regret it!

Fishing Journal April 26, 2015

The routine is now becoming a normal one for the Saturday or Sunday fishing trip. Although it is routine sometimes something happens that throws everything off. At 4:45 AM I am driving to the drop in point and my windshield keeps fogging up bad. I turned the AC on full blast and its not helping. Visibility was tough and a good thing I keep a full sized towel in my truck. I kept wiping the windshield to be able to see. Finally off the highway 30 min later i decide to pull over and behold its steamy like a sauna in the cab. I had noticed the sweet antifreeze smell a few weeks ago but figured it was residual that spilled on the top of the engine from a thermostat replacement. Well at this point i knew the heater core in the truck was leaking. Determined I drove to the drop in spot with the windows rolled down to let the steam out the window so a good attempt at not breathing it in anymore. Seemed to work.

Arriving at the beach driving past the flags stiff pointing in the south west direction. A 15-20 MPH constant wind coming off the water from the NE which really churns up the bay. It was rough and the bay was filled with white caps. The current wind speed on the weather apps said 4 mph NE.  I decided to wait it out and figure a way to fix my truck so not to break down on the way home. The sunrise was amazing and unfortunately I did not take photos this time. Wish I had the GoPro running! Waiting around for the auto parts store to open at 8 seemed forever.

Once the problem was temporarily fixed back at the beach the wind was less than it was an hour ago. The decision to launch was made. Slid the Big Rig off my trucks rack and loaded up. Finally by 10:30 on the water! Started trolling immediately. I was not marking any fish in the shallow water or even in 8-10 feet. I decided to head south east first of all because now calm and also against the tide to have an easy time getting back.

As I approached the Keansburg fishing pier I noticed they did not rebuild the entire pier after Superstorm Sandy. The damage still remains to 100 yards of the pier over 2 years later. It is amazing since the structure stands 20 feet above the water surface at high tide. That storm surge had to be well over 20 feet to do the damage it did. Keansburg famous for its amusement park on the bay shore. It was the first of its kind built to entertain people from Manhattan back in the early 1900’s . Keansburg and the towns on the bayshore were completely destroyed along the coast due to Superstorm Sandy. Years ago they reclaimed sand from about 1/4 mile off the beach to replenish from the a hurricane in the 1960’s.

Once I located the hole. Upon about 14 feet of water my Lowrance Elite 5 Chirp begun to Display huge boomerang arcs. Big ones. The rod with the gold SP minnow starts to tear drag. I pick up the rod and begin to fight the fish. About 20 seconds into the fight the line goes slack and the fish is gone. Fearing a bluefish bit through my line and took my lure. After reeling back in to my surprise the lure was still in tact but the front treble hook was gone. The teeth marks on the lure lead me to believe this was a huge bluefish.

Resetting my line and heading through the same area. Marking big fish again my other rod starts to peel off drag. Pick up that rod and fish on!! Excited forgetting to turn my GoPro on. It’s a good fight. Couple minutes later seeing its a bluefish reaching for my boga grip which is tethered to the T-Reign Geartrac mounted. The first bluefish of 2015 landed at 28″.  After this fish i decided to venture a little deeper coming across marks that appeared to be more like Stripers.

About 10 minutes later peeling drag again. This time a 24″ striped bass. Managed 2 more bass from 24 – 25 inches prior to calling it a day at 2:30. All on the Daiwa SP minnows. The silver produced the most bass although the gold one with one treble hook produced the largest bass for the day. It was a great day of fishing although it was a short day. Next time the fish may be spawned out and feeding on bunker in the back bay. The problem will be trying to get through all of the bluefish to catch Stripers.

Hoping the weather cooperates as these days have been some of the most perfect days fishing in a long time!