Fluke Opener 2014

Summer flounder, fluke, flatties, flounder, whatever you call them, welcome to the 2014 season!

I hit a local back bay hotspot today at first light with fellow Googan "Bobby Drama". Bob's original nickname is "scrapes" but he will now be know as Bobby Drama. Bob is a dramatic fellow and give him a new Daiwa Triforce Shorty Rod and the drama will certainly unfold and hilarity will ensue! 

We headed out at dawn even with the foggy conditions. The taste of fresh fluke fillets teased my taste buds. We headed right to one of our most productive spots last season and soon the fish were on. I was rigged up with a 1 1/2oz S&S Rattletail in the chartreuse and white flavor tipped with a Nuclear Chicken 6" Grub. Bob hooked up first and put a fat 24" fluke in the boat released her unharmed. 

Bobby Drama hooked up with a nice flattie - 24" to be exact.

A few minutes later my rod doubled over and I followed with a 24 incher of my own. Mine went on the stringer headed for the dinner table. We made several more drifts with a few bumps and taps and moved to another nice hole. We picked away a few more fish here and there but the bite was slow. I lost two keeper sized fish at the size of the boat and caught a few shorts as well. After a while with nothing we headed back to the original spot, close to the launch.  I managed another flattie measuring out at 21 1/2" and more fillets for the freezer. 

I had to head to work early but Bob stayed a little later and he managed 17 fish total with some keeper size. All in all it was a pretty good day with great conditions and good company and even some fish cooperated!

Moral of the story
"Never leave fish to find fish"

A Whole New World

Last week I headed to "a whole new world" to do something things that really haven't been on a kayak yet in a place unfamiliar to me. That world was Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn, NY and my goal was to trolling bunker spoons from a kayak and catch striped bass. Many said can't be done, but I think I proved them wrong and many fellow yakkers are now adding a bunker spoon to their arsenal.

THE TRIP:
Chris "foot" Fuller and I loaded up the trailer and gear around 9am and after a few mishaps (including the trailer falling off the truck on the GSP, swapping trailers, forgetting my mirage drive and cart, the list goes on), we arrived at Floyd Bennett Field around 1pm. The trip should have taken around 2 hours but turned into 4 hours. We laughed, cried, and learned a few new tricks along the way. Bob "scrapes" Stempek and Dennis "Homer" Reinknecht were already setup at  the campsite, right on the famous tarmac where Amelia Earhart and Howard Hughes made their famous takeoffs from. JBay is a huge wildlife refuge that is part of Gateway National Recreation Area and I would recommend taking a visit there to fish, bird watch, or just to check out the plane museum in the park. We unpacked, rigged up, and headed for the water wasting no
time.

Our camp all set up

Headed to the launch

I've never been to Jamaica Bay or JBay as many call it. It was a brand new area to me, but I went in with confidence and used the same tactics as back in Jersey. We trolled around some channel edges near the launch and fished a bridge close by with little to show. As we got closer to dinner time I finally put the first bass in the kayak near the bridge.

We trolled a little more trying to find some good cuts. Most of the areas we were fishing were around 5-7' or water and the fluke were arresive hitting our plugs. I managed to tag and release two flatties before we found deeper water. 

I was in only a few feet of water when Scrapes yells "there is deeper water over here". I peddled over and let some line out when I saw the drop and BAM, fish on and put a fat 30"er in the yak that hit a Rapala Xrap in the glass ghost color.

Scrapes and I worked the spot and called the rest of the guys in. We picked away at more fish into the dark on the plugs. Right was we were headed in I had another hit and thankfully it was a solid bluefish that gave the trifecta I was looking for. 

Homer on the troll

Scrapes hooked up

Foot with a nice fattie

Over the next day and a half we fished several more spots and did well at all of them. We all caught fish and slimed up our boats and had a great time doing it with some good people. In total we fished over 20+ hours and traveled over 30+ miles each. We had a  great time and eat and drank well each night. All fish were released to swim off and hopefully make more stripers.

As for my goal of trolling bunker spoons on a kayak, that will require it's own post, but I'll leave a pic...

Can't beat good fishing with some good friends!

Thanks Bob, Dennis, & Chris

"Weak" in Review

I fished five times over the past week or so with not much to show. Trying to get out in between the hard east wind and rain was difficult, but I managed a few fish and a some surprises. My usual spots have been more crowded than usual due to the weather, late start of bass in the ocean and blues in the bay, and word of mouth. I feel mugged to say the least...

I've been picking up schoolie bass here and there on bubblegum Zoom's Super Flukes and white ice Paddletail Zoom's. Most have been 17-20" but the trend seems to be they are getting smaller as the season progresses. The outgoing seems to be producing better but I've caught fish at all tide stages so far this year.

My smallest schoolie of 2014 - 13" caught on May 2nd

 One eyed bass tagged and released, hopefully I get a return on this guy

Night fishing has been prodcuing some fish as well and finding the right lights have been paying off. My buddy Captain Jim finally slimed his new Slayer, the other night.

Some other supirses over the past week were to return of some decent sized weakfish to Barnegat Bay. Guys have been picking them up near the Sod Banks by the Inlet on pink Fin-S. We have been regularly getting into them each trip with the biggest so far close to 26". Should be picking up as the water warms up.

Freshwater Fishing 3/30/14

Today I had a few hours to kill while the wife and kids were at a birthday party. Instead of heading to the salt, I hit the lake a block from my house because it was a bit windy and rainy. This lake is not very big and not deep, it used to be an old cranberry bog. The depth is around 3-4' and once it warms up it's full of weeds. I also don't fish to much freshwater as this lake usually holds small pickerel, largemouth, sunnies, and crappies.

I trolled a Rapala F11 in silver to the corner of the lake I wanted to fish. Right away I hooked a small bass I didn't even bother to measure. He barely fought but it was probably due to the colder water.

After an uneventful half hour I moved closer to the corner and the line came tight. At first I thought I had a big pickerel and it was pulling some drag pretty good. I got it closer and saw the bigger body and realized it was a nice large mouth. I was able to flip her in the yak and grab her with my fish grips. She was pushing just over 19 1/2" and was my biggest bass yet. Also the biggest I have seen or heard out of this lake. Snapped some pics and released her back in the cold water. As she swam off she covered me in a cool shower of water but it felt good to get a bass this big. Especially from a small Jersey lake.

I managed two small pickerel on the way back to the truck.

Pretty good rainy day if you ask me!

Heroes on the Water at Paddlesports Show

Friday, March 28th, I had the pleasure of meeting up with fellow fisherman Bob "Scrapes" to setup up and man the HOWNJ booth at the Paddlesports 2014 show. Setting up was a breeze and even got some new monitors from Matt "Yakchum" to loop his 2013 recap video. Show was great and lot of kayaks, SUPs, outfitters, and everything in between. Spent a lot of time at the Hobie Booth and me and Chris "foot" even helped sell a kayak or two for them! We signed up lots of Heroes(vets) and volunteers and spoke to some new people and hopefully we can fish together this season. Thanks to Jersey Paddler for donation the booth space for HOWNJ.

DIY Evolve/Torqeedo Test

Finally got around to testing the homemade motor. Conditions were great, no wind and a shallow lake.




I did two tests. One with the battery in the front hatch and the other with the battery in the crate in the rear well behind me. With the battery upfront it pushed more water and had a lower speed. Behind me I went faster and rode almost like without it.

Here are the top speeds

Battery in front hatch: Low 1.75-2.25 MPH / High 3-3.25 MPH
Battery in crate : Low 2.25-2.5 MPH / High 3.5-4 MPH

Old But New Trailer

I had a contractor buddy who was doing work in Lavallette, NJ and a customer had a waverunner and trailer she wanted gone. Both had submerged in Hurricane Sandy and needed lots of work. The waverunner did not work and I didn't want it so I put an ad on craigslist for a free waverunner and an hour later it was gone.

The trailer has a lot of rust and most of the bolts and nuts were seized on. I had to use some brute force and a sawzall for most of them. A few cans of Instant Galvanize later the frame was looking good. Some new LED lights, tongue jack, tires, and coupler and it is as good as new. Right now I have my Outback on it but plan on making it a tandem to trailer a PA14 and Outback together and also have supports in the middle for when I trailer my Outback alone. I will update when I get down that road.