A first for me in the fall season a surf launch into 50 degree waters. As I don’t typically surf a lunch anyway due to the local Raritan Bay being such a productive and vast fishing location this was a bit out of the ordinary. Every fall the Striped Bass migrates south like many other species. The migration can last a month or a few days.

I have fished the mouth of the bay near the tip of Sandy Hook in the fall and been successful there. Unfortunately while the fish were migrating through that area the weather did not hold and or I was at work. So unfortunately I missed the northern Jersey Bass migration but last chance headed out with “The Coordinator”  Matt Williams on Sunday.  After an hour and a half of driving and stopping at two bait and tackle shops for bait/lures we arrived at the beach. An area we have never fished before. After loading up and dressing up in dry gear onto the sand we wheeled our yaks to the breakers.  When you drop in the same way all the time and go to a surf style launch you need to do things different. This includes stowing gear. What to take with and what not to take. 

The entry is the easy part its all about timing. The waves were small at this point in time and entry was very easy. Once i was off the beach I unpacked my rods and placed them in my rod holders tubes behind me realizing I had forgot my rod leashes. I figured i would be stowing them in the rod stagers and have never dropped a rod overboard so it would be fine. I didn’t have to paddle far to the birds maybe a 1/4 mile. There were thousands of birds and hundreds of boats. Dead calm too even though there were so many boats you could only breath in diesel exhaust and burnt 2 cycle oil. It sounded like a constant oil tanker was going by. Incredible. Fish swirling everywhere. My fish finder was marking big fish on the bottom so i started jigging. About 20 minutes of jigging i went to set up my other rod with a live eel.  Low and behold it was gone. I didnt tighten down my rod holder and it work its way horizontal and my rod slid out. First time in the salt and no leashes. Nice.. If you love it leash it.  So that was a big dilemma. I had planned to fish two rods one drifting live eels and the other casting plugs and jigging. Now i was typing every lure on since i couldn’t find anything that would work although i somehow snagged a window pain (sun dial) with the 3.5 oz Spro buck tail jig! So I at least wasn’t completely skunked.   Finally 2 hours later switching to live eels and drifting around where birds were working. Not even a shake down on the eel. Another hour went by and this is around the time o took the photos. It got cloudy again and then a dense fog rolled in. I couldn’t see 30 feet in front of me. 10 minutes went by and i noticed a ground swell starting.

groundswell [ˈgraʊndˌswɛl]

Upppp and Dowwwnnnn. Still calm and no wind at this time but chances of surf landing successfully was quickly diminishing.

Now to find the beach. This was one of these gearing up decisions that I made. Bring the GPS or Not to bring the GPS. Well im glad i brought it. I was paddling as i thought towards the beach i look at my GPS and I was moving parallel.  I changed course and a few minutes later i could see the tops of the breakers but that was it couldn’t see the beach. I could see the waves were now huge. So i stowed my rod tackle and gear. I tried to time it out but the waves were much faster than  anticipated. Cleared the first two now about 20 feet from the beach the third one caught me odd turned the boat then rolled me. Into the water i plunged boat flipping . As I came to the surface due to my PFD floating me I flipped my boat over seeing that i had forgot to buckle my center hatch. So a few lures brand new sinkers went streight to the bottom. I righted my boat gathered some of the floating stuff and swam to shore holding the rope i attached to the front handle of the yak. Matt helped me with the boat as i went back in the surf to gather my fish finder which i had detached and stowed which was floating in the water (surprised) a water bottle 2 bags of storm shads and a pair of gloves. Loss was the new spoon i bought that day & 3 sinkers along with a Spro hard swim-bait and a Spro buck tail. All i had to do was latch the webbing straps that keep the center hatch latched closed.

I was happy that I wasn’t injured in the surf. Anything could happen including getting tangled up in the boat rigging to the boat hitting you in the body or the head as its being carried by a wave.

Lessons learned. Everything lost could and should have been avoided. Rods should always be leashed. Stow gear and tackle before landing and don’t forget to secure the hatch their stowed in. Two piece dry gear will not keep you dry at all. It just gives you time to get out of the water. The gear also wasn’t completely tucked together right as i had to open it to relieve myself out on the water. It wouldn’t hurt to bring spare clothes and a towel with you to keep in your vehicle Especially if its cold out.

The ocean is a dangerous place. Plan what you will be bringing what you need for safety. Always wear your PFD.

Another great annual event is over. What a great time! A total of 98 were registered anglers. Arrived on Friday afternoon after picking up a Big Tuna Demo from Jersey Paddler. I ended up going straight to TKFS to see who was fishing and how they were making out also to possibly fish. It seems as i arrived there and said hello to everyone at the store they guys were coming in. The typical crew of Capt. Jim Gary Brian and Chris. They were all togging at the bridge there. They amazingly all limited out within 2 hours. As they came in the winds were blowing a steady 20 with gusts to 30. So I decided to join the crew for fresh fried tog.
Tautog is incredibly tasty fish. One of my favorites in fact. Hung out with the guys for a little while them met up for the captains meeting. Collected my captains bag. A lot of cool swag again this year! These guys know how to put together a bag o swag! Had the opening toast then got ready to go fishing for the 9 PM start.

Wawa Turkey Dinner Bowls are back!!!!! Grabbed me one of those for dinner! Arrived at the drop in location and ate my dinner. By the time i was all loaded and dry geared up the 5 guys i was going fishing with ere nowhere to be found and I was unable to get radio contact for some reason. There was no game plan I was aware of so i trolled out the inlet with no hits. Finally got a text and paddled to the location of the other guys.  They were already into the bass. I guess it was pretty much too late by the time i arrived i saw some of the guys boat small bass but i had none all night. Decided to bail at 2:00 am.

The plan was to sleep for 2 hours if possible then return to the same fishing spot for sunrise. Eh yeah that didn’t happen. After awaking around 6:30 and getting to the drop in around 7:30 it was togging day!. Cape May has an incredible togging fishery. Togging from a kayak is ideal as typically you are going to be fishing around structure such as bridges rock piles wrecks and jetty’s.

Picked me up 2 dozen green crabs from the bait shop. Each crab = 2 baits. Using meat shears you will simply cut the crab in half front to back and also cut the claws and legs off.  My rig was a high low tog rig with the sinker at the top. You can also use a single hook rig which most use in the area. Tog are tough fish to catch because as you hook them they swim quickly into the structure below. Snagging your rig up and fraying the leader. You have to hook the fish and begin reeling asap to keep the fish out of the structure. I pretty much stuck with baiting with 1 hook as 2 dozen green crabs can be all used up within a couple of hours. The fishing was great. Easily landed well over 15 fish. None over the legal limit to keep though.

Before the day was over I decided to join the guys along the rock wall out the inlet. The wind was fierce blowing at a steady 20 gusting id say to 30 mph.

Tried to fish the area but with the incoming tide ripping and that stiff wind it was just close to impossible. Snagged my rig up cut it and left to go back to the campground and setup the HOW video on the projector for the dinner.

The dinner was excellent as it has been in the past. I wish we played the video before the awards and after dinner so everyone would have been able to hear the audio.

We ran off the raffle and that was the night. The wind continued to blow all night. Next morning packed up and that’s another jamboree in the books.

Looking forward to it again this year. The Kayak Fishing Store doods do a great job putting this event together. This will be my 3rd in attendance but the 4th annual. Always a good time. Planning on fishing nights mostly on this one for a change. Never had much luck as I rarely fish this area due to the distance away from my home base. It has become an annual thing along with the Jamboree.

What is a Jamboree? The word means a gathering. It is used in boyscouts for theyr national and world get together’s. For us its just a bunch for Kayak Anglers getting together hanging out camping eating fishing and having fun!

I am planning on arriving by noon time as i have to stop by Jersey Paddler to pick up a demo Jackson Big Tuna for a couple of veterans with service dogs to test out. The NE Florida HOW Chapter loves the Jackson Big Tuna for this reason. Being a Jackson Fishing Team member I hope the Big Tuna works for our veterans.

Anyway hope to see you all there and even meet new people as that always happens. Stop by the RV’s at the Camp Ground. Should be there. If not see you out on the water.