The 5th annual Kayak Fishing Jamboree was a special one for me as Friday October 24th was my birthday! I departed late morning for the 2 hour drive down to North Wildwood. Upon my arrival in picking up bait was on the top priority list. After purchasing 2 packs of clam 2 packs of frozen mullet and 2 doz green crabs running into friends of mine whom had just met up to go back out fishing. The decision to join them was an easy one. I slid the Big Rig off of my truck loaded it up with a heavy rod for Tog fishing and took along a half a dozen green crabs.

Tautog feed along structure. Their diet consists of crabs mussels barnacles and other critters with hard shells. To rig up a green crab you will need a Tautog or Blackfish rig. You can tie your own. I typically buy them since they are pretty cheap. The rig can be a single or hi low rig with a loop or a snap swivel at the bottom for the sinker.  Each green crab can be cut in half to make 2 baits or even the larger ones can be quartered. To get them on the hook you will typically cut the legs and claws off and feed the hook through one of the leg sockets then turn the hook around and bury the tip within the bait. This seems to be most effective and the bait stays on the hook better.  Fishing around structure such as rock piles jetty’s and bridge pilings poses a challenge. These fish are experts of stealing bait snagging you up in the structure and de-hooking themselves! The best way to keep them from diving between rocks and crevices is set the hook and reel in slack as fast as you possibly can! These fish fight hard so a heavy rod with a reel with a fast retrieve is best!

After about an hour and a half catching a half dozen fish at the bridge the tide begun to slack up. I rode the tide out the the inlet break wall. The break wall is a great location for catching Tog. At slack tide we are able to boat keeper fish for every boat. This time of year the New Jersey fishing regulations only permit one fish per man at 15″ min.

Fishing the Cape May area is always a challenge. In the fall typically the lunar tides are more current and higher rise and low fall. This year the event fell right on a New Moon. Just before the tide went slack riding the outgoing to the southern rock wall of the Hereford Inlet. Ended up fishing the area with 5 fish under 15″ for about an hour.  Once the tide swung and the incoming started it was around 4PM by now. It was time to load up to attend the captains meeting at the campground for 6PM.

After signing in purchasing calcuttas and receiving a captains bag Charlie ‘Lunchbox’ LaBar explained the rules and answered questions. That wrapped up around 7:30 and I joined friends Val and Shawn for dinner at a local diner. The decision arose to fish or not to fish at night. After all it was my birthday so the decision was made to hang out with friends and go fishing early in the morning.

Saturday

Arriving at 5:00 AM for the drop in at cape may inlet with Lunchbox. The tide was incoming. Launching and the 2 of us having minor motor problems we headed out into the inlet trolling Tube n Worms. The tide was ripping in and i had the throttle at 75% just to hit 1 kt. Lunchbox had his maxed out. It took us an hour to get to the  beginning of the rocks. At this point lunchbox was having problems with his electric motor and told me to continue out to the ocean if i wanted to. So an hour later i made it out the inlet where i found wind and 2-3 foot waves. Not marking any fish and drifting way too fast after an hour it was un-fishable without anchoring. Also I was worried about the tide switching to the outgoing while being outside and not being able to make it back in. With that in mind heading back in the inlet and back to the bridge at the drop in within 20 minutes. Drifted some clam on the way back in and as the tide slacked up and it was time to fish for Tog at the bridge.

The Tog bite begin slow for me. The slack tide lasted about 20 minutes and it was time to hold on again. one leg up on the bridge piling. After landing 3 tog all 13-14 inches and loosing a few i hooked up with a keeper! 15.25″ dinner! By this time the tide was ripping hard and the it was time to call it a day.

Loaded up and headed up to where a majority of the attendees were fishing. Reports of some striped bass a good amount of Tog were said to be caught. Heard a story of a few yakkers being sucked out the inlet and one getting run over by a boat. Most of the better fishing ended up to be in the back in small creeks and on the flats.

Back at camp Captain Jim was frying up some Tog that we caught! It is one of the most excellent table fare that comes out of the north east salt. After cleaning up  Val and I went to hang out with Capt Jim and a wait the dinner.  At 6:00 we went up to the “rack”s which is a large storage building and makeshift hall type of shelter for a seafood pasta and roast beef dinner. Both are excellent and many look forward to the meal. It has been the same food since 5 years ago when the Jamboree was started by Jersey Cape Kayak Fishing and its crew. This year there were a total of 106 registered anglers!

After the dinner the raffle began. All proceeds from the raffle including the real tree Ellie kayak benefited the NJ Heroes On The Water Chapter.  This event completely funds the chapters gear. Including kayaks.

Needless to say I never win the raffles. I ended up winning 2 times on this one!  Won two nice bomber lures and a nice bomber hat also a T shirt that I gave to Shawn. After the raffle we went back to the cabin and walked over to where a few of our friends were staying in the cabin I stayed in last year. Hung out with them for a bit. A bunch of people came over a shot of cake vodka and a few beers to celebrate what would be the end of most kayak anglers season.

Sunday was too windy to fish so we slept in till around 8:30 then packed up checked out and went to breakfast. After breakfast it was the drive home. Till next year!

This new Electronics Battery Box will accommodate a large 12v 12Ah sealed battery.  Before drilling holes in a dry box make sure your box will fit through the hatch on your kayak.

Dimensions of the battery

Length 5.94 inches

Width 3.86 inches

Height 3.74 inches

Weight 7.95 lbs

You can find these batteries new on ebay for $20 – $30. The higher amp hour is good for running fish finder chart plotter combos with color screens. These use a higher amount of amps than the black & white units the 7.5 Ah batteries just don’t perform as well for a full day of fishing.

List of Materials:

• 1 Battery as mentioned above $23.00 ebay
• 1 Dry box that will accommodate the size of the battery $23.00 ebay
• 1 Small Cable Gland $1.00
• 1  Wire with inline waterproof connector (4 wire 4 pin) Possible future lighting or other accessories $4.80 Amazon
• 2 inline heat shrink inline wire crimp connectors
• 1 3″ piece of adhesive 1/2″ heat shrink tubing

Tools:

• Drill
• Heat Gun
• Wire Crimps/Strippers
• Drill bits/ Step Drill Bit

Install: 

Using pipe insulation fit the battery to the box. This will hold the battery in place so it doesn’t bounce around. Next drill a pilot hole using a 1/8″ drill bit. This will be the location of the cable penetration. You can pick pretty much any side. I would say avoid the top the bottom and the back. In this install I opted for the front under the handle. Once the pilot hole is drilled use the step drill bit to ream out the hole until the cable gland will thread in.

Once the cable gland is installed slide the cable with the connector through from the exterior. You will now pick 2 wires from the 4 to pair.  Use the two inline heat shrink connectors Crimp and heat the one side to seal. Now slide over the 3 inch piece of adhesive heat shrink tube. Connect the inline fuse wire and the ground wire. Attach the terminal ends and your DIY waterproof electronics battery box is complete.

Waterproof Battery Box Modifications & Upgrades <— Click for updated post!!!!

Creating a semi-permanent install for multiple kayaks is a challenge. Since most of us fish on a budget two separate fish finder units is not feasible. For about 1/4 the price of a new Lowrance Elite 5 HDI unit you may purchase a new Transducer, Power cable, and the neat Lowrance kayak scupper mount kit. This application is only for sit on top kayaks like the Big Rig with round scupper holes. The mount and this particular transducer as of 2014 other Jackson Kayak Models will not work due to the oval scupper shape and being that the bottom of the supper is simply not wide enough to accept the transducer mounted flush.

In the photo to the left shown is the un-boxed scupper mount and the transducer and cable. This transducer has been a challenge to mount to other kayaks until the Big Rig with its enlarged hull scupper clearance as it is Raymarine ready.

To install simply using the bolt washers mount to the bottom of the scupper mount as you would the transom mount. Once this is completed pull the plug end of the transducer wire from the bottom of the scupper through towards the deck. Once all of the cable is pulled then insert the threaded plastic into the scupper. The transducer should face bolted end/cable to the bow. Then slide the gray fitting down the threaded shaft and tighten the thumb nut all the way down until snug. Once fit you may cut the shaft and place the Lowrance cap on top. Done!!

This is the best way to install any transducer out there. You get accurate temperature readings and a completely better signal for clarity rather than the shoot thru hull option.

I prefer to hide all of my wires and cables within the hull of the kayak. Just less mess less things to snag your hooks on and the best way to protect expensive electronics cables. Due to the 1″ diameter colors on the Lowrance HDI plugs we need to drill a 1″ hole to get these cables inside the hull. Now that’s a huge hole. It took a while to find a part to seal this with for a really clean install. I’m not the type that likes to run cables through hatches. West Marine makes a hull pass through that worked perfectly for this application. I have never seen these used on a kayak before but they are excellent. Low profile watertight and clean!

To start use a 1″ boring drill bit. The hull pass through fitting includes a rubber grommet. I used this as a template placing it exactly where the fitting would be placed. Marked the center with a punch and drilled. See drilled hole to the right. Run sonar plug through and using the thru hull cap press firmly with a screwdriver and screws will self tap. The rubber will push out and this when it is tight. Do not over tighten as the screws will strip out the plastic therefore becoming loose.

Do the same steps for the opposite side but this time with the power wire and the transducer plug through 1 hole. This one bring the sonar plug through the hole first. Then snake through from the outside the power wire. The power wire will be then run to your battery location. Mine will be in the stern. The white wire in the photo runs back to the stern for the battery box hook up. I will splice that into the power wire for the unit.

Along with the standard molded in center Gear Track on the Big Rig and paired with a Ram Mounts Electronic Mount for Lowrance this is an excellent system! There are now multiple places to position the unit. The option to slide forward or back or mount to the side Gear tracks however is most comfortable.

If you have any questions about this install or anything else please leave me a comment.

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