While planning my next fishing day I have a few techniques for research. My first rule is to try to stay out of the weather. With weather forecasts of strong storms in the late morning to early afternoon and a stiff S-SW wind my plan was to stay close to shore and the launch with in an area the land blocked the wind. This day was to be the calm before the storms.

Arriving around 6 am in Keyport I dropped the big rig down from its truck top dry dock and loaded gear for targeting multiple species. This time of the spring there are 4 different fish typically targeted.  This means bringing more rods than typical but also need to carry a landing net. Fluke or Summer Flounder tend to spit the hook more than most fish because the way they naturally swim. Netting these fish is the safest way of landing them.

Once out on the water making the decision to fish back in the creek. Marking fish I set up for jigging whatever it was that I was marking. It looked like large bluefish with bass under them. Some fish were breaking the surface and I tried a popper for a few casts using my new Bull Bay Rod and Abu Revo Inshore. Around the 20th cast and adjusting the reel casting got backlash in the reel. It was not so bad at first but kept getting worse and worse. An hour later and about 150 yards of brand new 20 lb power pro cut and stripped it was time to go fishing again. I should have just put the rod down this was the first time  ever cutting braid on a reel due to a backlash and it was a bad decision. Never again will that happen.

The tide by now had dropped a foot or two. Paddling out more to the open bay. Using a 1/4 oz bucktail with a white teaser and 3″ white gulp on both my first drift was successful with a 21″ fluke! IT was a great fight and an excellent first fish of the season!

I kept making the same drift but the bite was slow and so was the tide. I managed loosing a fish at the boat that was borderline and missing a few hits. I decided to call it a day when the NW winds came in and the tide was at dead low. A successful day bringing home dinner. I regret not fishing the area I typically fish this time of hear due to the forecast. The storms however did settle in around 7 PM and they were pretty heavy duty. Lasting for 4 days and over 2.5 inches of rain.

Fishing Journal 05-9-2015

The same old routine at 4:30 AM on a Saturday. It was a drop in point much closer to home. The weather forecast was for a beautiful day, winds 5 mph max partly cloudy and in the high 70’s. Fishing reports stated Bluefish were all over Raritan Bay. There was no way to miss them. I was looking forward to a great day of fighting the big blues and possibly finding bass. It was to be the last fishing weekend prior to the J-Bay Tournament.

On the drive down it was raining close to the water crossing the Edison Bridge. Sean ‘Redneck’ Gavin sends over a text its pouring here close to his home. It was cloudy but I wasn’t at all worried about rain. Getting tot he launch it was breezy out of the South East. So we geared up. It was low tide and this particular drop in has been tricky in the past. We loaded our kayaks and dragged them across the worst mud ever. This drop in was always tricky during low tide but this year it was worse than it has ever been. Mullet cart struggled but made it to the waters edge.

At this point the wind had picked up to around 15 kts and the fog had rolled in so thick knocking visibility down to around 50 yards. We could see silhouettes of power boats out there and I was not willing to get run over so decided to wait it out. The good old lets smoke a cigar and see how it is when were done. Well it was exactly the same post cigar.

We decided to pack up and try another spot. Back across the stinky black mud and this time the Mullet Miller cart met its match. Stuck in the mud. If I had it strapped to the boat it would have been fine.

Arriving at another spot it was way too late by this time as I had to be home at noon on that day. The wind had subsided but the fog remained thick. It would have been nice to get out fishing but unfortunately not everyday is perfect.

Memorial Day Weekend was here and it was an even more special weekend because my new custom color Kraken was delivered at Delaware Paddlesports a week earlier! I don’t typically drive down south on holiday weekends due to the crazy traffic. This time was an exception! I also needed to help my dad get his boat ready. My buddy Dan met me at my house around 7:00 PM and we left an hour earlier. The normal 3.5 hour drive was actually smooth. We hit no traffic until off the freeway of route 1 in Delaware. We tracked around using back roads most of it but it saved us no time as we ended up behind a boat we passed on the main highway.

Arriving around 11:30 the trip took us 3.5 hours so that’s right around the same time it typically takes back roading it through jersey.

The next morning Saturday Dan and I set out to go pick up my new kayak! Arriving at Delaware Paddle Sports Allen helped me out. The lime yellow and black colors really came out nice! The guy at the Jackson Kayak shipping department called it “Bad To The Bone! He was right!! Unfortunately there was a lot of work to do for the day and we were unable to stop by the demo that everyone else was working for the day.

Unfortunately due to that amount of work and becoming ill the day after I was unable to paddle the boat.

I hope to paddle it this Friday before installing an entire Sealect Designs rudder system on it. This way i can understand the difference in my review! I have already done a Lowrance install on it and will post an article on that entire process next!!