Prior to going out on any event/tournament its a good idea to check the weather forecast prior to packing. This allows you to pack what you will important for the weather instead of packing everything. This time of year it is typically cold nights and cool days so preparing to dress in layers is the best way to go. It appears that this weekend is not going to be very cold but will be a bit windy. Therefor dressing for the wind will be important.

So now that know the type of gear and clothing I will need to bring the next step will be creating a list so forgetting to pack key items is a good idea. Being only 2 nights and a full day and a half of fishing its easy to pack light. All of my fishing tackle and rods are already packed due to previous fishing trips so that cuts out about half of things needed. It is fall so i will need to pack warmer clothing and my semi dry gear. Rule of thumb is water + Air temperature must reach a minimum of 120 degrees or falling into the water could be deadly without the protective dry gear.

I am also looking forward to using my Torqeedo as this is a special place with a 4-5 knot tide at fall new moon. Its going to be ripping and windy. challenge accepted! I will be targeting Striped Bass Blue Fish Speckled Trout and Tautog.

The Jamboree is held in Cape May NJ which is a two hour drive from my home. It is ground zero for some of the best Tautog fishing on the East Coast.

A nice drive south on the Garden State Parkway through the Pine Barens. Looking forward to meeting up with a lot of familiar faces and meeting new anglers! Im also looking forward to doing a little celebrating as today is my birthday!!

Hope to see you all there at the captains meeting tonight!

If not I will be on campsite 729.
For more information see http://jckf-forum.forumotion.net/

Kayak Fishing Report for Raritan Bay New Jersey 5-24-14

Kayak fishing Raritan Bay New Jersey for Striped Bass Bluefish and Fluke (Summer Founder)

Arrived at the drop in at 5 am. Did not stop for any bait as best bets there would be bunker plenty available. Water temps 60 degrees outgoing tide had just started. Water was muddy as there were heavy thunder storms the night before. There was actually an entire tree trunk floating.

Started Trolling with Diawa SP Minnow. No luck no bunker. Trolled for 2.5 hours. Decided to switch for Fluke.

First drift had a few hits. Maybe Sea Robins or Fluke that were just mouthing bait.

Made around 15 drifts with no hook ups. Wind was against tide and strong. A bit chilly intil around 9am. Finally spotted bunker. Small schools boats kept crashing the schools. I was able to snag one.

Rigged the bunker for live line set up. Drifted across reach channel . Had a hit on the bunker then no more. Reeled up only the head was left.

Dropped back down and hooked up a bluefish that eventually sawed my hook off the leader. By now the sun was out strong and the wind was pretty straight out of the north. Spotting bunker was almost impossible.  Decided to troll and ended up landing a nice bluefish 30”. Lost my SP minnow and a few other lures.

Called it a day at 2:00 PM just after slack low tide.

Striped Bass in thinking are mostly up the river spawning. Few reports of them on the radio. A little early for fluke in the back of the bay. Maybe by this weekend.