Kayak trips & fishing reports 2010

[DarkSkies]

Awesome action, Lenny, glad ya go into em!
The action is intense, and ya couldn't have picked a better tune for background. WTG!

Did ya fish with Danny V?








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Kayaking report NJ 10-11
My report pales in comparison to your M report Lenny, they have some insane action there right now.

I fished RB to see if any fish were on the edges this morning, as opposed to the few strategic places that they have been holed up in. Hit one place before I launched, waiting for the tide to rise. Managed 3 small blues on metal.

Then I launched the yak. Bit of a tough time, trolled slack tide and 1 1/2 hours of the ebb past prime structure with the T&W, nothing. I decided to give it a rest for awhile and hit the channels, jigging bucktails and rubber. Covered a lot of ground to find productive areas. Nothing in the channels for me.

Finally made it back to shore and gave the T&W a shot again, this time using a whole worm on each tube, as opposed to the 2" pieces I was using while fishing the LI Sound. So, in a way, it's cheaper for me to fish LI .

I also have to rant about the NJ sandworms. Nothing comes close to Big John's monster sandworms at Jack's B&T City Island. I'm spoiled by the size and the great prices of $4.50/dozen there.

I think the clearer water up there makes it easier for the bass to center on the worm, whereas in our NJ bays the water is a little dirtier. Once I had that figured out I started catching bass. I also had to make sure I bumped bottom or I got no action.
I managed 5 bass to 24" in an hour once I found a piece of structure they seemed to be thicker on.

All on the Finchaser tubes with circle hooks, which make C&R pretty simple.











Overall, it was tough finding that. I trolled past many areas of shore that were perfect points, or cove openings, and not a tap.

After awhile you get a sense of where the bass should attack the T&W if you're trolling it right. Much dead water, little productive water. Yet, the bay water is perfect, close to 60, prime bass temps.

Total:
3 small bluefish
5 bass to 24"

On the way back I checked out the bait situation. A lot of the mullet have left, save for a few key areas. What's left are peanuts, in most areas scattered except for a few places, as mentioned, where they're thick.

Everything is primed for a good surf run, but if the large bodies of bass stay offshore in NJ, a lot of guys will be disappointed. Hey that's fishin.

[hookset]

Lenny that was a way cool report. It must be amazing to fish out there. How was the swell in the surf, was it rough?
Dark, great report as usual, it seems like those tube and worms are a bass homing device. Keep em coming guys!

[bababooey]

Good job guys.

[wish4fish]

kick some *** dudes i wanna get a yak so bad!

[jigfreak]

Way to catch em up. men.
Lenny, great report wish I was there.

[c4charlie]

Took a trip to Montauk this weekend.
Arrived saturday 5am, we launched at Camp hero by daylight, right away bird action, my first cast a 31-32" bass, the next 15 minutes i already had 3 bass, all keepers. The blitzes stayed on till 8-9 am, the boats pushed them too far away, then went to the room, took a shower, and nap. Afternoon we started at 3pm and we had instant insane blitzes all over all evening, we left them blitzing at 7pm. All together i had 20 bass and 5 bluefish. :banana:
This morning we started a bit earlier, around 6am, again, instant blitzes all over, not as packed like last night but good action, died out by 8-9 again, today i had 6 bass and 1 blue. out of 26 bass maybe 2-3 were under sized, all between 28-32".
As Danny said before, "there is nothing like MTK" !!!!!

Excellent Report Lenny!!! Hope to be in a kayak by next year!

[DarkSkies]

Only had an hour to fish before dark. Wanted to try a new place with the yak, the water was cold and relatively clear for NJ. Fished a few rocks, but the wind made it tough to present. No fish, just an exercise in paddling against 30mph NW wind.

Wunderground had the wind minimizing to a steady 20mph by 4pm. Not bad, I've been out in that before. Only today the "King of the googans" forgot his Mirage drive, so I had to paddle. This forced me to be more safety conscious, and I only worked an area within 1/2 mi of the put-in. I wanted to fish today because on the weekends the boat traffic puts the bass down, and I think the T&W fishin would suck.

Try as I might, I couldn't present the T&W right. Best results are trolling around 1mph and bumping bottom. With the wind pushing me along at 3+mph, there was no way I could keep it in the strike zone.

Hey, I gave it a try, and got pushed around like a piece of paper in a windy schoolyard for my efforts. As I was paddling back, a guy called out from the shore and asked if I needed help. I must have looked funny as I was paddling against the wind, and probably appeared to be standing still. At that point I ramped it up and paddled like a demon to get back. Probably burned 2000 calories in the process.
Trolled a 3 oz spoon on the way back to the put-in, nothing.

I'll be back when the wind tunnel shuts down. Good water and big bass are starting to filter into there.

[LennyD]

At least you tried it Rich!
Im planning to go out front (MB) tomorrow am, wind permitted.
Can you PM me your phone # , my phone got damaged, i lost all my numbers!
Thanx

[DarkSkies]

I'm thinking you should go S, Lenny, let me know how ya did.

[hookset]

You can't win em all, Dark, right?
I took my kayak out yesterday and launched at an ocean county beach. I did find pods of adult bunker and tried jigging a47s underneath them. Managed one 15lb blue.

[BillDude]

Was out in the Yak on tuesday @ Seaside and got into some Gator blues. Man, It was so much fun watching those fish beat the snot out of a popper.
A couple of days earlier was at Monmouth Beach and got some Taylor blues and an Albie.. still not seeing a lot of bass caught. Water was clear and calm, great for anybody who is a little nervous about launching out front.

[VSdreams]

That's great news Billdude, I thought the albies were gone for good. Maybe us surf guys will still have a chance at them. Thanks for the report.

[DarkSkies]

^ WTG Bill, I'm living my albie dreams this year vicariously through you, Farrell, Danny V and the others who got out there and got some. I regret not having the time to get out there when I should have, and am glad some of ya's are still into em.




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Kayak T&W trip 10-23




Hit a bay yesterday in the yak, try as I might I couldn't get out till the last of the ebb.
It started out with some humor. As I launched, some guys came up to where I was, and said: "Hey are you Thaistick?"

They said they were from Noreast, and although they didn't know him, he was a semi-legend from his reports on there.

If Thaistick were rich and famous, and instead 2 lingerie models came up and asked me the same question, my answer would have been: "Sure, why not come up to my mansion after I'm done fishing and we can hang for awhile..."

Unfortunately, Thai is just a poor mook like me, trying to work hard and make ends meet. So I had to answer honestly, and say: "No, sorry I'm not the famous Thaistick!"




The wind was intense, caused me to fish unfamiliar areas to find a lee. It presented some difficult challenges. Fished the last 3 hours till slack, managed 9 bass to 26" on T&W,
and 2 porgies to 13".






The wind really kicked my azz a bit. However, anytime I'm forced to fish something new or differently, that can't be all bad. Doing that sharpens your skills as a fisherman, and keeps you ready for those times when you're stumped as to your next move.

[DarkSkies]

Thu 10-28
Took the kayak to a place I hadn't yak fished before. The weather reports were way off for yesterday. Fought 25mph steady winds for hours. Tough to position and present as I ran into bunker with some quality fish under them. None for me.

I did find the pod as mentioned. They were getting blasted by big fish. The wind died down to about 10-15 for a few minutes. As I pedaled over to them a bunker netter saw them also, and made a beeline for them. By the time I got over there, the wind had kicked up again, and because of the way he had to position himself, he got nothing in his net. So we both lost out, him on more revenue, and me on a 30# bass or mid-teen bluefish that have been following those schools.

I have no qualms about a guy's right to make a living, but some of the netters are so greedy it baffles the mind. Later in the afternoon, I watched one netter scratch his head as there were only a few pods of bunker left. They had been netting them hard all day. And he wondered why he couldn't find any more????

Get a clue dude, you guys are part of the problem. And I believe it won't stop until you (collectively) are held to strict interpretation of the statutes. More on this after I make some DEP calls and find out if there's anything that can be done.

[lostatsea]

I guess you're not afraid of the wind out there ds. Sorry to hear about the bunker netters, they can be very greedy sometimes. Nice report, I hope I can be in a kayak doing that kind of fishing someday.

[fishinmission78]

I did find the pod as mentioned. They were getting blasted by big fish. The wind died down to about 10-15 for a few minutes. As I pedaled over to them a bunker netter saw them also, and made a beeline for them. By the time I got over there, the wind had kicked up again, and because of the way he had to position himself, he got nothing in his net. So we both lost out, him on more revenue, and me on a 30# bass or mid-teen bluefish that have been following those schools.

Nice report Dark, next time I want to hear how you slayed em. Try getting out in the night, that's probably the only way to get away from the netters. If the bunker are around you should be able to find them when the wind dies down. Catch em up.

[DarkSkies]

Debated about whether I was going to make the trip today. The last time I was out on the yak was 10/28. I caught some bass and porgies on the T&W in 25mph sustained winds. It was a little hairy out there, and the water was a lot warmer, almost 60 degrees.

I decided not to go today, too much risk.

I'm dying to catch some bass on artificials before the end of the year. However, I had to temper that desire with a voice of reason inside my head. Since not many people are fishing the northeast salt waters in kayaks now, I thought I would share some of the planning and research with you people....


1. Develop the intel -
I had been hearing about a great bite of bass and other species at a backwater place outside of NJ. I know people who live in the area. Could I have called them right away, and said - "Where are the fish?" Absolutely.

To me, half the fun of a new place is learning it. I don't always catch fish when I hit a place for the first time, even in a yak. I do appreciate the learning, though. I was talking to a friend on the phone today. We were talking about scouting. I mentioned I love to be out there seeing how things are, through my own eyes. He does the same thing, and was out scouting earlier in the week for some sweetwater winter fishing locations.


2. Do your homework-
I literally spent many hours on the internet researching these waters I wanted to fish. Knowing nothing about them but the name of a river system, I obsessively looked at Google maps, and some other resources. I saved copies of the areas I thought might be productive. I researched names of electricity producers and others in the area that might be adding warm water to the area and drawing fish to the region.

Then, once I had a sense I knew what I was talking about, I set out a plan to make the trip. I sent a friend maps of places I intended to fish and asked him what his thoughts were. Since I had already done some homework, I didn't feel like such a leech when I was talking to him.

His knowledge helped me immensely, and I'm sure I'll be into fish because of it. I owe him a debt of gratitude. My point is I didn't go to him looking to be spoon fed. I did my research, and learned as much as I could to try to make myself a valid part of our conversation.

3. Look for the window-
I looked at short-range and long-range temp and wind predictions. The next few weeks should be getting progressively colder. I was waiting for some 40 degree days. When I realized that's not likely I decided to shoot for some 35 degree days. I knew I would be ok with the layers and protective clothing I wear, but the 20+ mph sustained winds concerned me. I didn't want to put myself in a position where I would be in danger or put someone else in danger by having to rescue me.


4. Plan the trip -
I did some careful planning. I knew where I was going to launch, where I wanted to fish, and where in general I would go to seek shelter in case I got in trouble out there.

I had an alternate launch site mapped out in case the water was running too strong that day, (Hint - islands and points usually have eddies and places to hide from the wind and rough water.)


5. Don't be too proud to re-assess -
With visions of catching double digits of striped bass and other fish on a cold winter day, I had to ask myself if my reason was being clouded over by my need to catch, the addiction.

Last night I was set on going. I reasoned that today and tomorrow were going to be the warmest 2 days of a long cold spell we're in for. Tomorrow is actually better,as the winds will be half as strong as today. Today was the only day that fit the time requirements for that trip.

When I got up, I checked the hourly weather forecast once more. No change in the predictions, bummer. So I reluctantly called off the trip, and here I sit writing about the trip that never materialized.




But in my mind I was out there. I visualized me driving there, launching, what gear I would use, and thought about catching and releasing double digit numbers of bass. I was stoked!

My point here, no fish is worth your life. We lose too many of our fishing brothers each year because they decide to push the envelope. There are those who judge the "stupidity" of the guys who lose their lives out there. I posted up this post to maybe give people a window into seeing why we do what we do.

And also to tell you guys and gals that safety should always be your #1 priority. If you value your friends and family at home, please think of that before making choices that can remove you from their lives permanently.

Be safe, and Merry Christmas to all!

[jonthepain]

I'll be yakking Belize next week - wish me luck!

Never fished for permit or bonefish before, but always wanted to.

Oh boy!