First time I fished from sun rise to sunset. Although there was a short lunch break involved. It was a phenomenal day of fishing. The water was like glass again this morning. This is not at all common for Raritan Bay. Not complaining at all these days are the most beautiful! It was the day of a new moon. The tides on these days are significantly different. Higher at high tide and lower at low tide. As a kayak anglers we should take more note of this as it can be hard to land on back bay beaches during extremely low tides. 
A 6′ foot tide difference can mean a long walk back when the foot of water on the flat is gone. Shoving off the beach not a boat in sight. High tide was to be within 2 hours. The first thing i noticed was the water temp at 53 degrees was perfect for active bass.
Started out drifting clam in around 9 feet of water where the Lowrance was marking fish. Not a hit for a good 20 minutes. Figured the fish weren’t feeding on clam at the moment. Decided to switch to slow trolling a tube and worm. About an half hour later Captain Jim and his cousin Ryan spotted me from the deck of Ryan’s Boston Whaler they were on. At this point was starting to catch Stripers on the Kayak Carl’s Tube n Worm. Short bass but in the 20 – 24 inch range. IT was one after another for a good 45 minutes.
Weaving in between the anchored boats of a growing fleet. Wen i left the beach there was Right after slack tide the fishing turned on. It was one after another. I had now landed a total of 9 bass trolling. The fish now had seemed to disappear.Trolled for another 2 good hours only to find a few more fish.
Captain Jim and Ryan had gone over to another spot to see if they could find any fish. They were gone for about 30 min when again started to mark fish.
My reels locked in free spool clicker on. Trolling the Carls Tube N Worm on one rod and a Daiwa SP minnow on the other. This time drag starts to run out on the stick bait. I go to grab the rod an nothing. Minutes later the tube n worm goes off. Drag screaming out. I set the hook. The fight is on! This fish is big prob 20 lb+ class. About 5 minutes into the fight the fish runs under the stern om my kayak and before I knew it the hook pulled. Lost a nice one.
Still trolling Capt Jim and Ryan are back casting storm shads. Casting and reeling. I had some storms but darker color and couldn’t find a bite on them. They hooked me up with one and it was on after that. Landed small fish but was till fun. In all had 20 fish plus or minus up to 27 1/2″. Lost count.
It was going on 2:00 PM and the new moon tide was falling fast. I decided to call it for that time and get some lunch.
Paddling back in the water became thin on the long beach. Now mostly mud the flat had become land and my truck had become far. Thanks to the
Mullet Miller cart for saving me on this one. Still out of breath after wheeling across the mud and the sand in the lot.
Went to lunch at McDonughs Pub in Keyport NJ. Have to give them a plug since the food is always good there! While there met a few fellow kayak anglers! Nick told me they were catching keeper size fish off of Cliffwood Beach. Decided to go there and give it a shot. After contacting Justin Vail that there was fish in the area. The time seemed to fly by. I set off shore and trolled around a bit. 
No hits Justin joined me and we were blown south. The wind was blowing 10 – 15 easy. As the time went on still no fish but the wind started to let up as the sun begun to set. The next thing I hear is Justin yelling fish on!! Its great seeing a guy catch his first striped bass on a kayak! I’m glad he was able to manage that since he came down and gave it a shot.
Now heading in its 7:00 PM. Im so worn out from a great fishing day we actually land on the beach a block down and I don’t even realize it until hitting the sand path back to the road. Only excuse i have is i had never dropped in at Cliffwood before and I was not keeping track of my GPS.
After getting to bed around 10 PM the night before my previous meal that consisted of Asian buffet food made it a rough nights sleep. (As mentioned in Part 1) Unfortunately one of those nights where it was impossible to find comfort. From this experience I now recommend do not eat dinner at a buffet the night before fishing early in the morning.
Four o’clock AM the alarm woke me up. A quick shower and on the road tot he fishing spot. It was a cold morning 33F on the truck thermometer. Picked up a coffee and a breakfast sandwich on the way. Typically I enjoy a hot breakfast on the road prior to a days fishing.
For myself and my fishing buddies the NJ Kayak Fishing Season was officially underway! Was the first one to arrive at the beach at 5:30. Then came my fishing buddy’s for the day Sean and Justin within 10 minutes. We loaded our gear and hit the beach just before sunrise.
The bay was calm like a mirror. Not a cloud in the sky it was the perfect morning with a breathtaking sunrise. Not long after launching a breeze settled in.
I started trolling a tube and worm. A tube and worm is exactly what it is. A Tube and a Worm! The tube is 12″ in length. I particularly use Kayak Carl’s as his are proven to catch Stripers in the NY and NJ area. The worm part is an actual live sand worm on the hook that gives the tube more action and the scent of the worm. Use sand worms not the gulp alternative. The gulp does not work nearly as well as a live sand worm. Please check out Kayak Carl’s Tube and Worm at his website http://www.kayakcarl1.com.
Rigging the tube and worm you will need to use ball bearing swivels. This is very important as the tube is to be shaped to spin like a cork screw. That action is typically what makes the tube as deadly as it is. I will go over the tube and worm in more detail in a future article.
Trolling on the Jackson Big Rig equipped with a Torqeedo Ultralight 403 Electric motor system is a breeze! Trolling 2 rods one rigged with the Tube and Worm and the other rigged with a floating SP minnow that dives around 4 feet. Along with the stock RAM Mount rod holders angled outward spreads the lines out to prevent tangling.
As the morning went on it became windy out of the NW. Wearing dry gear it is tough to plan what clothing for the day. The daytime it was to be in the mid to upper 60’s at this point it was in the low 40’s but with a 5-10 MPH wind. Made it chilly. Gloves were a must and it would have been nice to have something more for my ears other than the Buff i was wearing. The wind eventually died out and it became warmer. Still trolling from the morning with out one strike the decision to clam was ideal.
Justin and I drifted about 500 yards off the beach hoping for fish on the flat to be looking for the warmer water. Couldn’t seem to even find any readings of fish on my Lowrance Elite 5 Chirp.
Around 9:30 Justin had to bail so we took a break. Sean and I went back out again. Trolling for hours. By now the wind had diminished. The bay was once again like glass! Sean decided to drift clams again and came over the radio stating he had a fish on. I didn’t believe him at first. About 30 min later he came over the radio stating he had another. So I went back by where he was fishing and drifted some clam also. 20 minutes went by and I had a hit. Lifted the rod too fast and pulled it from the fish. Striped bass in colder water tend to mouth the bait rather than in hail it. Another 15 minutes passed and tap tap line moving another fish! Waited 1 2 3 & set the hook. Boom!
A nice 23 inch striper and not skunked for the day! Points baby!! First on the board for kayak wars!
The fish was really healthy great color and very wet! In from the clean ocean waters. A very good sign. Bigger fish should be in very soon. The bay will be on fire within the next week or two!
Looking back to the planning of the day, next time it will include targeting winter flounder. Having yet to catch one from the yak and always wanting to give it a try. There probably were flounder on the flats. With a light rod and some cut clam it may have proved to be a successful day of catching winter flounders.
A great resource is the Asbury Park Press Zone fishing reports by John Oswald and Dan Radal. Check it out at the Asbury Park Press Fishing page!
If you have any questions about Striper Fishing in New Jersey please comment and ask!! I will be happy to answer your questions!!
