Wrap Up: 2016 Jamaica Bay Kayak Fishing Classic

Every year the tournament season opens with the Jamaica Bay Kayak Fishing Classic. This year the tournament brought together 330+ anglers to fish one of the best locations for the chance of catching large stripers, weakfish, and bluefish. The fluke season had not opened yet so being illegal to even target the species it was omitted from the tournament. The absence in abundance of weakfish over the years has made the tournament more challenging. If you catch a weakfish the chances of completing a slam or grand slam and placing in the competition become very high.

This year was to be a kind of special year as a majority of the crew I used to fish with were planning on fishing the tournament. It had been 2 years since Lunchbox last fished it and longer than that for some others. It was set to be a good ole time with practical jokes, camping, and excellent food along with a few brews.

Arriving on the Floyd Bennett Field tarmac around 11:00 PM on Thursday May 12th. The moon in its third quarter onto waxing gibbous was on its way setting in the west against the orange glow of the night urban sky.  The city that never sleeps rustling and bustling. The camp was pretty quiet besides a few loud conversations here and there. Everyone else had gone to sleep early in anticipation of early morning fishing. Captain Jim, Gary and Kevin were still fishing Mill Basin. They informed me that fishing was slow so instead of gearing up I went to take some night photographs. Night settings on a DSLR camera are one of the most enjoyable times of photography for me. Long exposures create the ability to capture low ambient light. After a few photos of around the tarmac i drove down to Mill Basin to get a few photos of the bridge at the basin and my friends as they cane in.

The next morning out of the camper by 7 AM we all had decided to sleep in. It was to be the best day weather wise so instead of waiting for the guys to go to the tackle shop and come back I went out fishing. Trolling SP Minnows for hours looking for bait and fish marks. Also learning and modifying settings on the new Lowrance Elite 5 TI. About 2 hours of fishing finally hooked into a fish. It ended up being a big bluefish at 28″ which I took a photo of and released. Before i knew it I was surrounded by Hobbies which is incredibly annoying but they actually didn’t stick around this time. The winds were increasing and the clouds building and building. The front was about to hit within an hour so I was going in.

Many were still going out. I advised some newer guys that were paddling they may want to stay in and wait out the front. It was good advice that one fellow thanked me for.

About 30 min later the front was upon the area. Heavy rain and winds I hung with the guys of The Kayak Fishing Store. They were all setup for the rain. Brews and a heater blasting from the trailer door! It felt like camping! Good times hanging out with the crew.

A few hours later the rain had passed. A good fishing buddy of mine Brian was on his way to the camp. Once he arrived we were set to go night fishing. It was a cool calm and clear night.The water was like glass. We launched at the Floyd Bennett field ramp and trolled across to ruffle bar. Along the way trolling 2 rods a fish took my SP minnow and ran with it. The reel screamed. I grabbed the rod from the holder and set the hook. It fought like a bluefish and upon fighting and reeling it in. It was a big bluefish. 30″ + with acrobatics!  While attempting to boga grip the fish it was able to escape the grasp. Again after that another fish hit screaming reel. Spinning my kayak around. The fish jumping and then off.

Fishing became slow but the fish finder revealed fish everywhere. Jiging trolling casting baits. Nothing mattered. IT was now 2 am. The moon had become a yellow hue as it became larger setting in the west. The hill was getting to us. Trolling back into base Brian hooked up. Another blue to close out the early morning. Landing around 3:30 am we rinsed down our gear and passed out.

An hour later however it was time for everyone to get up that was fishing the morning. At this point sleep had ceased for me. As they left I decided to zippp out of my sleeping bag and capture a few photos of the sunrise. It wasn’t the besst sunrise due to low lying clouds of the front from the previous day but was able to take some great photos! It was a spectacular launch from the ramp with over 100 Hobie’s and Noriel with his Big Tuna commanding the launch.

After the sunrise I put the camera into my Dry Case bag and wheeled the Big Rig to the ramp. Fishing was on! I immediately got on the radio once on the water. Looking for my buddies. I should have been fishing the entire time but meeting up with them was important to me. I was trying to find Capt Jim but after texting him for his location he didn’t get back to me. To learn later he dropped his phone and Romano’s camera in the drink. Dropped Something.

Fishing wasn’t good in the area we were fishing. I saw a swirl in the shallow water but was looking for my buddies. Finally finding Charlie ‘LUNCHBOX’ Labar his son and Bob ‘Mullet’ Miller. Fishing was no good unfortunately. Gave it a few more hours and Capt Jim said he was calling it a day and going to grill up some steaks. On the way back in trolling we marked a few fish and decided to give it a shot. Capt Jim ended up with a blue and that was it for the day. I remained skunked for the daytime fishing.

An hour or 2 later the wind kicked up again and made it pretty much un-fishable for the rest of the day. A few showers blew through as most of us took a power nap to later get up and grill up some chicken. The might didn’t last long with the cold wind i was in bed by 11:30.

Sunday morning was very windy and the Tournament Director cancelled fishing for the day. A majority of anglers had already packed up and left the night before as many were leaving in the morning.  I hung out to help with anything needed at the camp then ended up leaving by 11 am.

Looking forward to next year! Jamaiaca Bay is one of those locations every kayak angler should fish one day. I hope to see you and everyone again next year!

Night Fishing the Spring Striper Run

Cant complain when the really good fishing is only a 20 minute drive from your driveway. Especially when your used to a minimum of 45 minute drive to get to the fishing spot. It was a warm day leaving work in the evening. The plan was to meet Brian Pickard at the launch around 7 pm. Upon checking the traffic I changed the time to 7:30. The timing couldn’t be more perfect leaving my house at that point. The traffic had dwindled down and taking the expected 20 minutes. Brian was at the launch when I arrived. We rigged up and launched around 7:45 just as the sun had set. The moon was just about full and was becoming brighter with every minute.

Immediately 50 yards from the launch reading good marks on the Lowrance Elite 5 Chirp. Huge arcs meaning huge fish. The water had finally warmed up a bit which tends to make the fish more active. Brian and I begun trolling SP minnows. It wasn’t long before we had a few hits. Very short hits which became the trend. After fishing about 20 minutes Brian hooked up. I continued to troll while he went on a kayak sleigh ride. He landed the fish. It was a nice one at around 38″.

Still getting short hits on the SP minnow a few other kayak anglers are now on the water. Its Jon Shein Stu and Andrew. After talking to them for a little bit commence trolling the tide is getting lower and the bite seems to have slowed down. The wind had picked up and made it a bit chilly. Brian had another fish that he lost at the boat as did I loose a fish about 10 feet away from the kayak. Unfortunate as this would be my last day to get out for the week.

The Striped Bass will continue to migrate north to the Hudson River and hopefully we will get out there with the NYC skyline in the background for some more bass fishing in the next week.

Opening Day Kayak Fishing 2016

Finally hit the water on the kayak after weeks healing from an unfortunate back injury. Learning this lesson the hard way always remember when lifting your kayak to lift it correctly. Always lift with your legs not your back. Here is the story of my opening day kayak fishing 2016!

By this time the Striped Bass bite has been on for about 2 and a half weeks. Many resident fish have been caught and migratory fish have started to become prevalent.  The water temps still cold ranging from 44 degrees up to 54 degrees in Raritan Bay have seemed to push the fish into shallower water where the bait seems to be hanging.

Arriving early just before sunrise the air was warmer that typical for this time of year. The day was a test on the new steering setup for the Torqeedo and a good day to catch the first striped bass of my season. Everyone plans to do well fishing on opening day. For me 2016 started off with a few issues. The first was my GoPro with the extended battery tether add on. Would not turn on. After probably 10 minutes of tinkering with it finally noticing the plug on the inside was not completely locked in. The second issue was my newly steering cable setup upon leaving shore the foot brace pedals folded right over there was 6″ of slack on the one side. Dumbfounded back on shore luckily using adjustable cable stops I was able to field adjust the length. Back out on the water again same thing happened on the opposite side. Putting two and two together i figured after running the new tubing and cable the day prior failing to pull the slack tubing out from inside the hull resulted in an extra 6″ on both sides. Finally after adjusting the cables its the sun is way up. The tide was still pretty much slack so trolling around looking for good marks on the fish finder was the plan. Wouldn’t you know an hour into fishing the fully charged SLA battery is DEAD! wow

It was a tough morning fishing so I took some time out and with my camera shot a few photos of the awesome ship graveyard. Over 30 ships lie there for one time scrap metal that ended up where it lay corroding and rotting into the Arthur Kill between New Jersey and Staten Island NY. From what i understand the adjacent scrap metal yard purchased the obsolete ships in hope to disassemble them for the steel and scrap metal. It is said the workers couldn’t keep up with the amounts of ships that came in and eventually was no  longer worth it economically to strip these vessels. Plus the site became a dumping ground for smaller boat owners to rid themselves of their old boats.

The graveyard of ships was much different than I had remembered it previously visiting the location six years prior. Apparently Hurricane Sandy did a job speeding up the decomposition of these scuttled ships with its 80 mph sustained wind and 16 foot storm surge that barreled up the Arthur Kill from Raritan Bay. It is an eerie place but also is fascinating due to how time seems to have stopped here. A great day to have my camera on board! I took a few snap shots of a few of the more intact ships.

Although a pretty dangerous area I would recommend every experienced kayak paddler to check it out! It is an experience that has to be witnessed in person.

The launch is on the New Jersey Side of the Kill located in Seawarren at Captain Carlsen Park to the left of the boat ramp is a beach typically used for kayak drop in. Its a pretty simple drop in and can be done alone.

After snapping a few photos and taking a few videos with my GoPro it was back to fishing. The tide was now going out and the current was strong. There was a dozen or so boats also trolling. I saw a boat pick up a bass on a 12″ soft shad. By this time my battery for the Lowrance Elite 5 Chirp had died and i was fishing blind. I tried to hold in the areas that marked fish earlier.

Giving up on trolling made the decision to fish pilings. Using a 4″ Crystal Minnow casting and retrieving. Finally a strike but the fish missed the bait leaving a large swirl in its wake. The wind was now very strong blowing out of the North which was with the tide making it a really fast drift. After drifting about a mile fishing the pilings i decided to go back to trolling one last pass. Using the Torqeedo became key. The tide was so strong paddling would have not helped at all.

Finally a hit fish on! The line screaming off grabbing the rod from the RAM Mount 2008 Rod Holder. The kayak sleigh ride is on! Fighting the fish for a good 10 minutes and landing a 28.5″ Striper first of the season on the Opening Day first trip out! Very happy to not be skunked and great to have a tight line!