The first event for the New Jersey Chapter of Heroes on the Water was held on May 10th 2014 at Picatinny Arsenal Army Base in Rockaway New Jersey.  There was 79 total attendees registered and others that made an appearance.

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The morning started out foggy as volunteers arrived and begun setting up unloading gear kayaks rods and setting up breakfast. By 9:00 AM all of the attendees were present. There was a brief introduction and tank you to the base and Civic Duty Partners for providing and cooking lunch for all.  Rod & reel combos were raffled off and given away to a few participating vets.

Everyone then met up at the boat launch area and the group photo was taken then systematically everyone was divided into 2 groups. They were matched up with guides. Launching the vets and guides went smoothly. Before you knew it the entire lake was speckled with 40 or more bright colored plastic boats.

Fishing was phenomenal. I saw one lady veteran catch 3 pickerel in the matter of 10 minutes! It probably couldn’t get any better than that!OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

It seemed all of the veterans their family’s and the volunteers had a great day!. I don’t think anyone left without catching fish.

Around 12:30 the wind kicked up. everyone headed off the lake for lunch. The motor boat came and helped a few boats in. Lunch was excellent!  By this time i had to pack up and leave to attend a family obligation. It was a good time to go as the sky was clouding up due to incoming thunder storms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

919398_10153335140655188_1786838474_oOur last outing of the year went on without a hitch. The weather turned out to be like the last summer day of the year. It definitely reached the 80’s. This outing had the most veteran participation out of all.

The second outing at Picatinny Arsenal was a bit different due to the over all weed growth in the lake. It was a different style of fishing unlike in the spring. Hobies didn’t work well and I learned my new transducer mount really grabbed on the weeds. It was such heavy cover that my depth finder wouldn’t shoot through.

Looking forward to taking the vets kayak fishing here in the spring again!

Thanks again to Civic Duty Partners for providing lunch. The sausage sandwiches really hit the spot!