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!

My second year gathering in Southern Virginia for a low sodium excursion. The 9th Annual Yakattack tournament was set to be a blast! It seemed the time from registering in January and leaving on a Thursday in May time went by in a flash. My fishing partner Ricky bailed on this year so I was riding solo. My 2016 Ford F150 loaded up with the new Jackson Kilroy LT and Torqeedo, freshwater tackle, along with camping gear. It was on. The drive went pretty fast although it took about six and a half hours to cover 285 miles. Stopping by the convention center running into  John Hipsher and Luther Cifers along with his wife and a few others getting ready to set up the venue for Fridays captains meeting.

Off to the state park camp ground. Although there is a field donated for free camping I was fortunate to be invited by a friend of mine Noriel. Hs a fellow Jackson Kayak Owner with his Big Tuna. Although he purchases a new Wildy Radar with the pedal drive were still cool! Camping in the state park has its benefits. Showers and running water! The whole Central Jersey Kayak Bass Fishing  crew was there. It was great to see them all again! Set up my tent and enjoyed the campfire for a bit then crashed out.

The Jersey crew and I decided to fish Sandy River Reservoir which is about a 20 minute drive from camp. The crew went out to get breakfast and I hit up the Fas Mart for good coffee and a dirty southern fried egg biscuit sandwich. It was good! Headed to the public launch dropping down the Jackson Kayak Kilroy LT Realtree Camo from the Malone saddles. Geared up with the Torqeedo and the Yakattack Command Stand.  The day was heating up fast along with hard fishing and no fish for me.  Good thing for the MTI Neptune inflatable PFD it felt like a cooler day than most at 85 degrees.

Friday:

We pre-fished hard but no one really had any luck. For me this is a different world of fishing. As a kid it seemed easy although most of my tackle is from back then. A hundred then a thousand casts on all the things i had and not even a nibble. It was nice though just to  practice standing in the Kilroy LT and cruising around with the Torqeedo setup. We packed it in around 12:30 to get back to camp and then to hit up the captains meeting.

The national anthem was beautifully sung by Luther Cifers daughters following a speech by Ollie Hughes a wounded veteran whom benefited from HOW.  He spoke about how Heroes on the Water helped him and his family leading to being grateful as a Veteran to the charity. A short version of the tournament rules were reviewed followed by a prayer and dinner! As always the food was excellent. On the menu was Ribeye, Chicken, Seafood Chowder, Country Baked Beans, Slaw, and a really good Bow Tie cold Mac Salad! Afterbeing completely stuffed I helped clean up before heading back to camp. We enjoyed a bit of a camp fire before crashing out anticipating a long day to follow.

Saturday:

The AM came quick although it was a hot sweaty night in the tent. The Crew and I embarked on a small pond that we figured may be greener pastures from the previous day. Upon arrival a large sign stating permits were need to access the pond created confusion. I decided to fish Briary Creek as i did well the year prior and well the Kilroy is immune to standing timber. After launching it seemed to be a repeat of the day before. Although there was some small fly hatching that I honestly couldn’t see fly away but it caused small ripples in the water like it was raining. Little white tubes or casks remained. A guy with a fly rod was catching small bass left and right.  Guess I had the wrong baits.  Brian came up to me and hooked me up with some swinging hammers which I actually had a hit on but failed to set the hook on the fish. At this point I decided to paddle around and explore the lake. An afterthought I should have been taking photos on the water. Two of the guys were caught on tree stumps through theyre scupper holes. The Kilroy LT had an advantage with no scuppers no way to get hung up on the timber.

After fishing we enjoyed lunch at a local BBQ joint the Pig Fish. I had the brisket sandwich which was as expected amazing southern BBQ! We ended up back at camp and playing basshole a corn hole game with a bass on it! I invented a new backspin toss that killed it! Noone wanted to play anymore and it was time anyway to head down to the convention hall for fish entering which we didnt really have anything and hanging out till dinner and the raffle.

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It was great meeting in person many from the YakAttack team to put a live face to our facebook profiles. John got us all together for a group photo which was very orange haha.

The raffles were held along with dinner and prizes! The couple who donated the field for free caming every year cleaned up at the raffle including winning two kayaks and just abut all of the necessity’s that go with them. It was all orange tickets! I did pretty well ont he raffle too walking away with 4 prizes out of $40 in tickets.

Great Work!

In all we raised over $22,000 for Heroes on the Water and Project Healing Waters two great charity organizations for wounded US veterans. Once we cleaned up most at the conference center it was almost midnight. Still many of us headed over to the field for a good ole bon fire!.

Arriving in the dark it was a warm morning however it was tournament day and there was a lot more activity at the drop in areas that access the bridge tunnel shoreline. Tournament participants were readying their gear and launching for a shot at the big redfish. Soon after launching the sun emerged a huge red globe emanating a warm hue of light. Beginning with another calm morning but just missing the slack tide by 30 min or so. We were in for a famous 4 knot tide day. Holding place at the bridge was near impossible. Every snag to retie cost about a mile paddle back to the bridge.  Not sure if it was just the amount of kayaks anglers pressuring the fish or the fish were just not there catching was slim. The same boat was there as the prior day and only saw them hook and land 1 fish. Fishing was dead and the winds were starting to blow. I decided to call it a day and move to another launch in behind Lynn Haven inlet. The paddle back was shaky as there were easily 3 – 4 foot waves and a following sea. We went to the drop in and it was un-land able up to the wall there. So we had to paddle back west to the beach that was rapidly disappearing. A text book surf landing was in store as the waves were rolling and crashing.

Kelly and I arrived at the launch soon after to fish the backwaters of Lynn Haven. It was nice to be back here as it had been four years. Everyone i talked to said fishing wasn’t great. I threw a spoon at first then swtiche to a DOA jig with a paddle tale. It took about an hour and by now the wind was way worse. I lost Kelly due to the shallow water. Her pedal drive just wasn’t working in the area. She eventually caught up and jsut as she did i had a fish in. The only red of the trip.

a 17″ Red Drum or Redfish

Fishing unfamiliar places is always a challenge. Managed a total of 4 more reds in the 14-16 inch range then called it a day too late to even make it back for the weigh in. We loaded up and were headed back to the hotel where the event HQ was. The food was great and hanging out with the jersey guys was awesome also. The tournament raised over 15,000 for charities in 2016 which made it possible to donate 14,000 to the Tidewater Chapter of Heroes on The water and 1,000 to the Portsmouth chapter of Project Healing Waters.  Over the past 9 years of the tournaments existence has raised over 100,000 for charity which is amazing.