Element of surprise - APP Article on Shorelady and kayak fishing

[DarkSkies]

Shorelady told me this would be published today in the Hook Line and Sinker. Fantastic read, courtesy of Judy and the Asbury Park Press. It stresses kayak safety and good common sense, one of the things that may not be glamorous, but can save your life.

WTG, Judy and Dave! :clapping: :thumbsup:

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Element of Surprise
In a kayak, you've got stealth on your side

6:41 PM, May. 19, 2011 |
Comments (http://www.app.com/comments/article/20110520/NJSPORTS06/305200013/Element-Surprise)

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Judy Seger, Allenhurst, great granddaughter of John Seger, who owned Seger's Sporting Goods in Asbury Park in the early 1900s, with a 26-inch fluke caught in Raritan Bay on a kayak. / Courtesy of Judy Seger







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DAN RADEL | STAFF WRITER (dradel@njpressmedia.com)



http://cmsimg.app.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=B3&Date=20110520&Category=NJSPORTS06&ArtNo=305200013&Ref=V1&MaxW=300&Border=0 Dave McCallumm stalked this striper on his kayak at night under the Route 37 Bridge in Barnegat Bay / Photo courtesy of Bob MacMasters



If you're looking for a fishing adventure, you might want to think about getting a kayak.
That was the message from Dave McCallum to the group of 40 that came to hear him speak last Saturday night at Fishermen's Supply in Point Beach.

"When we start the fishing seminars in the spring people always ask when the kayak guy is coming. He's our best draw,'' Brian Stensland of Fishermen's Supply said.
McCallum was there Saturday night. All six-foot plus of him and the kayak he's been using for the past decade to hunt down stripers where people seldom look; which is sometimes right under their noses.

"There's nothing better than catching fish underneath someone's Bertram when they're docked,'' McCallum said drawing a laugh from the group.

While it's true a kayak isn't going to get you to the canyons or even to the reefs out front-unless you are incredibly daring-McCallum teaches that there is no need to go that far to catch big fish. It's a philosophy he picked up from his early role models when he was still just a grommet learning to fish.

One such role model was surf fisherman Joe Barca who taught McCallum way back in the 1970s that stripers-and big ones-can be caught in waist- high water in the surf.
"Joe never brought bait to the beach. He had me dig for crabs or clams in the sand instead. I'd be out there in the water doubled over getting bait and all of the sudden I'd hear a splash by my side. It was Joe casting to where I was standing. But that's where he caught his stripers, in shallow water,'' McCallum said.

McCallum's early schooling in fishing remained embedded in him and put him on the path that would lead to discovering kayak fishing. His first kayak was a Hobie.
"It was a sit on top not a sit in. I looked at it every night before I bought it. When I finally got it and took my first ride I flipped over. I got back on and flipped over again. I couldn't keep my big body on top of it,'' McCallum explained.

That was about 10 years ago when kayak fishing in New Jersey was just starting to catch on. It is because of people like McCallum that more and more anglers are fishing in kayaks. And from the looks of the group Saturday night-parents, kids, grandparents and avid fishermen-they're coming from all walks of life.

[DarkSkies]

(Page 2 of 4)



Kayaks are simple watercraft. The ones used by Native Americans, such as Aleut, Inuit or Eskimos, are made of a light wooden frame covered over with skins except for an opening for the body. They are propelled by a double-bladed paddle.

After McCallum's trial and errors with the sit on top he purchased a Drifter, an Ocean Kayak model that is a sit in. It's made of linear, medium-density polyethylene, or plastic. It weighs about 50 pounds and is just over 12 feet long and 32 inches wide.
In the decade he's been using it he has outfitted it with fishing rod holders, GPS, Fish finder, VHF Radio and an anchor pulley system.

One question on a lot of people's minds, including myself, was just how do you sit inside a kayak, balance yourself, and fish at the same time. I've fished in canoes before and found it, at times, to be a difficult balancing act. And in a kayak you are even closer to the water.

One person in the group proposed an interesting scenario, "What do you do when you have a bluefish on your lap in that thing?''

For that, McCallum had a simple answer, "I'm not bringing bluefish in the kayak.''

In his second choice of a kayak, McCallum chose stability over speed. To the group he emphasized practice and safety first before embarking on any wild adventures.

"Do flip overs on purpose to see how much time it takes you to right yourself. Relax if you go in the water, that's why you wear a life jacket at all times. Mine never comes off my body. To get back in push down and lift up-like you would a surfboard,'' he said.

Another tip he stressed was to dress for the water temperatures not the air temperatures. In the spring, for example, the air warms up before the water and can be deceiving. A wet suit should be worn.

"If you go in and you're going to lose your fishing rod-lose the rod-never lose hold of the kayak,'' McCallum advised.
As far as entry and re-entry from the surf McCallum said no one has written a book on that yet. If you're going to go out in the ocean though, go out, don't go half-way and change your mind or you risk being side swiped by a wave. Keep the nose of the kayak pointed forward and don't try to enter where the waves are breaking.

[DarkSkies]

"Launch in the holes, not the sandbars where the waves break,'' McCallum advised.
On the re-entry, it's not necessary to ride the kayak to the sand. "You can jump out and walk it in from the surf zone,'' he said.

Once you get the hang of the kayak it's off to explore the fishing grounds. The advantages of fishing by kayak are the silent approach-or element of surprise-and the ability to get into the real skinny water. In the bays and rivers that means fishing closer to the sedge banks, docks, piers and bridges.

McCallum does a lot of his fishing at night in Barnegat Bay working the lights off the docks with lures.

"With the kayak, wherever the fish goes, you're going with it. A 25-pound bass is big on a kayak. A 45 pounder and you're going for some ride,'' he said.

One of his favorite Barnegat Bay fishing spots is the Route 37 Bridge where he's caught bass up to 35 pounds. He takes a scientific approach to the bridge always fishing with the structure from east to west rather than north to the south.

He's also convinced the bass feed differently on either side of the bridge. "If I'm on the north side of the bridge I use a 5•-inch Mambo Minnow in the chicken-scratch yellow color, while on the south side I fish exclusively with a school-bus colored Mambo Minnow.''

Out in the ocean McCallum is not big into fishing in the bunker schools, which might go back to his days with Barca on the beach. He stays close to the jetties which he can fish better from a kayak than by foot. He rarely fishes further out than the other side of the sandbars.

"How far can you cast from the beach?'' he stopped for a minute and asked the group.
Someone offered a hundred yards at the most as a response.

"If you can catch them in close then, why go out more than you have to. The advantage of the kayak is it can get you just on the other side of the sandbar where you can drop in on the fish,'' he answered.

Looking at the kayak, the question came back to landing fish. I even posed a question this time, ''What's the biggest fish you've brought into a kayak?''

[DarkSkies]

(Page 4 of 4)



"Forty pounds. But you have to make sure the fish is completely played out. When it gives you that one eyed look then you can bring it in. To keep my balance I use the ""kick-over move'' where I put my leg in the water, rest the belly of the fish on it and kick it over in one move,'' he explained.

"A kayak can change your fishing dramatically. It's a blast and anyone can do it,'' McCallum said as he wrapped up the seminar.

Another seasoned kayaker who offered her experiences was Judy Seger, great granddaughter of John Seger, of Seger's Sporting Goods, who was featured in the April 29 Hook, Line and Sinker story “Stripers Then and Now.” Judy was not at the seminar but shared much of the same enthusiasm for kayak fishing as McCallum when I talked with her.

When I asked her about getting towed around by fish she said "Oh yeah, we call it a sleigh ride. One bass that was 44 inches took me around a channel marker. The big gator blues are lot of fun to catch."

Judy rides a Hobie Revolution with foot pedals that she has outfitted with electronics. Like McCallum she stressed the importance of safety.

"It's a condition dependent. I spend a lot of time watching the winds and swells before I go out. There's also a group of us that practice surf landings, launches and flipping every year at the start of the summer at Spring Lake," she said.

[cowherder]

Nice going shorelady! It was good that you talked about watching the winds and swells. I don't have a kayak but have always wondered how you people get out there when the surf is big. The fear of capsizing the kayak would probably stop me from taking a lot of trips. I would only go out in the ocean on days when it was very calm.

[baitstealer]

Thats interesting to me that one color would work better on one side of a bridge and another color works better on the other side. Really enjoyed that.