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 for 2014_08-30

Rolled out of bed to an unseasonable chill. Fifty four degrees Fahrenheit actually. For a moment I thought it was October and was getting up to go striper fishing. Typically if it falls below 65 degrees time of year that is cool. So 54 is border line chilly. The cool temps didn’t stop me though. Ready for some Big Rig Fluke Fishing was out the door 10 min to 5 am and off to the bait and tackle shop.  The familiar early morning peaceful drive. Arriving and picking out a box of squid and a pack of spearing the man working the counter gave me good tip that big Croakers were being boated by the ammo pier.  I have been in search of the these excellent tasting fish for the past few weeks and with this report I decided to Change our venue to 3 miles south.

The full length of beaches in the area of Belford and Port Monmouth were undergoing beach replenishment as apart of the plans to protect the bay towns from another storm such as Superstorm Sandy.  The project started in late June so at this point I wasn’t sure there was any beach access. The hint of huge Croakers made me chance it.  I called Sean the Redneck and let him know of the change of plans asking if he was cool with it. Upon arrival at the bayshore waterfront park it looked closed. Took a drive south to the other lot. It was open!!

Prior to unloading I took out the cannon camera to get some awesome sunrise photos. On any given day I tend to skip the photography just to get out fishing but this day was special. It was one of the clearest views I had seen since the early spring and the water was like glass. So I snapped a few pictures and it was now time to go fishing.

It was Big Rig day no matter what after I decided to leave the Cuda at home. Rigged up and headed for the beach. Thank goodness for the mullet miller cart as the beach after the replenishment was easily now a 125 yard walk. They did build a gravel Stone path that was about half the distance of the beach which actually was a big help. Down to the shore line and paddling out to the second line of buoys then finally fishing.

It wasn’t long first fish on. Short Fluke. Couple more hits and I decided to move to deeper waters. Out to 18 foot depth. Dropped down catching more fluke from 12″ up to 15″. The fish are regulated by the state and must be 18″ min to  keep. Loving flounder for dinner catching lots of small fish can be quite frustrating but is still a lot of fun.

I stuck with the same rig all day which was a white 1.5oz Spro bucktail with a dropper loop and a white teaser tipped with green 4″ gulp swimming mullets and added a spearing and strip of squid per hook. Another rod was ready for Croaker fishing with 1/0 Gammi Bait Holder hooks for clam. I did fish the rod for about 20 mins catching a 15″ fluke on it. I also landed a 27″ dogfish on the buck tail. That was the fun fight of the day.

At times it was slow fishing I was able to play with some new toys such as my new RAM Mounts Tele-Mount. It attaches to any broom handle or telescoping pole. In this case I was using a boat hook that extends to 7 and a half feet in length. Its really cool to have new camera angles with the GoPro! Also had my new stereo system in full effect! Purchased an ECORox waterproof bluetooth speaker to pair with my new Samsung Galaxy S5. I can now listen to pandora or tunes downloaded to the phone to conserve on data usage. Will be doing reviews in the future on both of these items!

So around 12:30 it begun to get cloudy and a 10-15 kt wind rolled in. It churned up the bay with 1-2 foot waves which was the end to the picture perfect day.  Just before the clouds rolled in I was able to snap a really nice photo of the NYC skyline with my little Olympus Stylus Tough camera. It came out excellent.

Weather predictions are rarely correct in the marine environment. From my experience they are typically close or way off. This past Saturday was the well off experience. Weather predictions for the area were winds light and variable seas 1-3 inches. I knew something wasn’t right prior to leaving the house around 5:00 am. It was already breezy. A quick text to Capt. Jim and the typical Capt Jim response “It’ll lay down”.

Met Jim at the drop in and well it was really windy but hell we went out anyway. About 100 yards from shore begun to understand how rough it was. Paddled past a boat with two old times aboard. They just looked and i could tell they were thinking to themselves we were crazy. I asked one of them if they had seen any bunker around. The guy just nodded that he did not.

The waves were immense at 3-4 foot but manageable as paddling into them was better than going sideways. Two miles later reaching the area of the Raritan Reach channel planned to fish. Attempted to fish but it was just to rough too fast of a drift and really felt unsafe. The options arose. Beach on Staten Island and wait a little while to see if the wind was going to lay down. Or high tale it back to the launch to go fish the bay side of Sandy Hook. It took about 5 minutes and we were turned around bow to land. Back to  the drop in. The ride in with the large waves and following sea was uneasy but an easy paddle back.

Once loaded up it was about a 40 min drive roughly 30 miles driving distance to the tip of Sandy Hook. The location is Fort Hancock which was an army fort built to defend the waterways and ports to New York City active from 1859 then decommissioned in 1974. It is now a national park and is part of the Gateway National Park System. There are many other things to do in the park that involve the outdoors.

So it was much calmer since the land blocks the wind and waves that were full force at the previous location. We dropped in and begun to fish. There were a few other kayak anglers there of whom I knew one of them. They stated the fishing wasn’t really good and the incoming tide was against the wind there.

It seemed to be a slow pick but there are big fish in the area. I ended up loosing one because it wouldn’t fit in my net. A few more short fish for the day the largest landed by myself being a 15.5 incher. Jim had a decent one over 19″. The drift was fast and i couldn’t hold bottom with a 3 oz Spro. Jim was using what looked like minimal a 4 oz huge buck tail. It wasn’t long after that 3:30 Pm rolled around and called it a day.

Once on shore and walking your yaks through a wedding setup a park ranger came by and checked our catch and asked us a few questions. She was actually pleasant to communicate with.

This concluded the fishing trip. It was a nice ride home although I was exhausted. Im looking forward to getting out on the water again asap.

Check back for more fishing journal entries in the future!