Living right on the Indian River bay has some advantages. After work I can now get out on the water for a little while. I took advantage of this on a Friday April 5th 2017. This day was special because I was able to catch one of southern Delawares Phenomenal Sunsets.

It was a chilly breezy evening and wanting to get out and see if I could find some stripes (Striped Bass). Dropping in out of Pot-Nets Seaside Long Neck put me closer to the Indian River Bay Inlet. I figured this would be a good area to find Striped Bass due to its proximity to the ocean. The wind was out of the south east and man was it blowing. Had to be 15 – 20 producing over 2 foot white capping waves. I headed out using the Torqeedo and went across to Burton Island where I was hoping to be shielded a bit. Well that didn’t work. So I made a few casts to the shallow water and where it dropped off. Casting a jig with a paddle take soft bait. My fish finder was clear of fish marks.

Another point was to get out on the yak while also scoping out and mark areas that id think flounder will hold in the spring time. I located a few good drop offs from sandbars and marked them in the Lowarnce Elite 5TI. Soon it will be time to jig these areas and hope for decent sized flounder! In the spring time the big flounder typically come into the back bays to spawn in the shallow grassy waters.

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By now it was getting dark and due to the overcast I didn’t think there would be a visible sunset. To my surprise in the distance on the very edge of the horizon there was an abundant orange glow. A few minutes later the sky lit up bright yellow and red. Reflecting off the water the hues filled the bay and the surrounding landscape. This was one of the best sunsets I have ever seen from my kayak seat!

Bonfire under the full super moon.

It was great having the venue being the Kayak fishing store. I arrived around the same time as many others. Scattered around were RV’s tents and car campers being set up on the grounds of an old boat grave yard which also houses the Kayak Fishing Store. There were kayak anglers from many walks of life and places. They came from as far north as Maine to as far south as Virginia. Captain Jim had arrived with the newly patched old moldy his pop up camper which we would call home for three nights.  A bonfire was set and a Dutch Oven was placed into it. A 1/4 cooked roast was offered then there was a half stick bang to start off the festivity’s and fishing.  The 7th Annual Cape May Kayak Fishing Jamboree was officially underway!

The next morning it was fishing time. Awaking prior to the sunrise the night temps must have went down to the low 30’s. As a few anglers were already out fishing with my camera in hand i awaited the fiery sunrise. The wind was stiff and cold.

As more people arrived we went out and fished the Herdon inlet Rock walls. The fishing was pretty good with our whole crew limiting out on Tautog. I had a beauty at 17.5″ Its not hard to limit out as each angler is regulated to keeping one fish over 15″ The tide starting moving again so we headed in to enjoy a fish fry along with some fresh steamed clams Dee raked from her home waters on Long Island. Fellow anglers stopped by our campsite and enjoyed some of our catch. Moving around camp there were some other excellent meals shared among the attendees present.

Saturday Morning meeting Charlie (Lunchbox) LaBar at the 2 mile launch we fished a bit in search of Stripers. While waiting for the tide to flow out hues of the sunrise glistened from the East. Marking fish was nonexistent along with no strikes on the line. Over the radio was one casualty a fellow angler went into the water trying to rescue a fishing rod. Fortunately he was ok. October presents cold air and water temperatures which for kayak anglers is a risk. The tide changed and we were sucked out the Cape May inlet. No paddling really necessary. Once at the tip of the southern jetty wall it was game on. Green crabs and sinkers at the ready drop a line. Around 15  total anglers made the trek to the ocean. Many tog were landed and it was a great time. A nice black drum was also landed had to be 25 lbs or so.

Just about the last ones out there we quit and headed back. Charlie was running his Torqeedo on 0% which amazed me because I have never ran mine past 20%. But he made it and kind of against the tide. IT was about 30 min before slack.  Loading up and headed over to charlies summer home for a much needed shower.

Back at camp traded stories of the day. There was drones flying by taking the effect.  Gary ward and Larry Newman were still fishing. I don’t think they even enjoyed a meal the entire time. They fished hard and wanted that calcutta more than anyone. The evening set in and it was time for dinner and prizes. The iconic seafood pasta and roast beef was served once again as a yearly feast. Three tables filled with prizes and a Pelican 120 kayak were up or grabs plus the Wolfpack beer raffle. This night the bonfire was amazing and photoed above. All kinds of strange graffiti appeared on a red ford. Ribs were grilling. The sole owner of everything ate everyone’s food and all was good.

Sunday morning was a pack up day for most.  Best of all the calcuttas were awarded to Gary Ward and Larry Newman respectively as they got the bass and blues regions. I never got a final list of  Calcutta awards but its a non tournament. All for fun and that’s they way it should be. If you have ever been to a boondoggle the jamboree is the same just the northern way.

Excellent job by Chris Parson The Kayak Fishing Store Prostaff team and JCKF!

Looking forward to october 2017 for the next one. Hope to see you all there.

Night Fishing the Spring Striper Run

Cant complain when the really good fishing is only a 20 minute drive from your driveway. Especially when your used to a minimum of 45 minute drive to get to the fishing spot. It was a warm day leaving work in the evening. The plan was to meet Brian Pickard at the launch around 7 pm. Upon checking the traffic I changed the time to 7:30. The timing couldn’t be more perfect leaving my house at that point. The traffic had dwindled down and taking the expected 20 minutes. Brian was at the launch when I arrived. We rigged up and launched around 7:45 just as the sun had set. The moon was just about full and was becoming brighter with every minute.

Immediately 50 yards from the launch reading good marks on the Lowrance Elite 5 Chirp. Huge arcs meaning huge fish. The water had finally warmed up a bit which tends to make the fish more active. Brian and I begun trolling SP minnows. It wasn’t long before we had a few hits. Very short hits which became the trend. After fishing about 20 minutes Brian hooked up. I continued to troll while he went on a kayak sleigh ride. He landed the fish. It was a nice one at around 38″.

Still getting short hits on the SP minnow a few other kayak anglers are now on the water. Its Jon Shein Stu and Andrew. After talking to them for a little bit commence trolling the tide is getting lower and the bite seems to have slowed down. The wind had picked up and made it a bit chilly. Brian had another fish that he lost at the boat as did I loose a fish about 10 feet away from the kayak. Unfortunate as this would be my last day to get out for the week.

The Striped Bass will continue to migrate north to the Hudson River and hopefully we will get out there with the NYC skyline in the background for some more bass fishing in the next week.