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Headed up to Cape May this past weekend with Pinch, Grilled, and Slap for the annual Jamboree put on by the good folks at the Kayak Fishing Store in Wildwood, NJ. This event is different from most kayak fishing tournaments in that it's really just a get together and not a tournament. There are calcuttas for those that wish to compete but you have to join them separately. It's a very low key type of event and those that attend are always very friendly and helpful for showing productive spots in the area.
Anyway, about the fishing... I picked Pinch up early Friday morning and we headed to the Kayak Fishing Store to see what was going on. When we got there the winds were worse than the forecast. After talking to Chris and Bob at the store it seemed like fishing from the store ramp was the way to go and there were some reports that a few small tog were around the bridges and some stripers were back in the cuts behind the store. We headed out in to some choppy water with strong wind gusts and played it safe by the bridge close to the store. Well Pinch proceeded to put on a tog jigging clinic and caught numerous small tog from the first piling he tried at the bridge. It took me awhile to shake the cobwebs but I finally got in the game on picked up some small tog as well. Then we decided to go exploring and headed out towards the condos. It was pretty much the same out there, Pinch put on a clinic and we caught small tog with a few keeper sized tog mixed in. One of the other guys out there said he hooked into a large striper on a green crab and it broke his tog hook. I didn't see it but he told me it was large and probably in the 30s. We thought there were striper marks around but we didn't get any when we tried jigging. By the time we got back to the ramp the fish had grown to have been in the 40s... you know how that goes!
We went back out Friday night to look for stripers but we did not have much success in the light lines unfortunately. Pinch eventually found one but by that point the temp had dropped and the wind had picked up and we called it a night.
We woke up early on Saturday and hit the Cape May South Jetty. Great place for togging!!! Reminds me of the outer wall at CHSP but way closer of a paddle. The jetty was also not very snaggy which was a great change bc the day before cleaned me out of jigheads due to all the current in the inlet and the rough winds. Pinch was the first to hook up and then we all started catching them. I think our highest was 3 of 4 hooked up at the same time and I know I went 4 for 4 at one point on crab, drop, bottom, boom fish. It was awesome fishing and the boats saw what was happening and tried to back into our spot. We boxed them out and they had to move a little further down the wall. We proceeded to continue the show and caught numerous keepers while they watched. Pinch took the lead among our group with a nice 19" male and that seemed like it was going to be the winner for the event bc most of the other tog were in the 10"-18" range.
We were all fishing jigheads and the bite on jigheads can be a little different. There is one bite in particular that is my favorite and that is when the tog simply inhales the jighead and to you it just goes weightless. Typically these are bigger tog and they eat your whole jighead and crab in one bite. I had one of these bites and it turned out to be a nice 21" tog that put me in the lead within our group. I was fishing with lighter tackle than most (St Criox Premier MH largemouth bass kinda rod, Penn Battle 3000, and 20lb braid) so it was quite a fight and the tog bulldogged me twice back down to the bottom before I could get it in the boat. When I went to get the jighead out of his throat the 40lb leader broke so I guess I was pretty lucky to get it in! I had two more bites like this but both beat me into a hole and I did not get them out.
After running out of bait we headed back into the launch and then to the dinner. I ended up winning the Tog calcutta and scored $130 plus a $25 Kayak Fishing Store gift certificate. The guys put on a great event and there were a lot of great prizes in the the raffle and a special raffle for an XSUP and a kayak trailer. Well... Pinch won the sup! It looks like it will be a great boat for him to use down on the flats in Florida!
All in all a great weekend and the fishing and weather actually cooperated for once! Here's some pictures:
outbacks.jpgleaderboard.jpgjack.jpgDSCN0208.jpgDSCN0204.jpgDSCN0201.jpgDSCN0200.jpgDSCN0197.jpgDSCN0196.jpg
Anyway, about the fishing... I picked Pinch up early Friday morning and we headed to the Kayak Fishing Store to see what was going on. When we got there the winds were worse than the forecast. After talking to Chris and Bob at the store it seemed like fishing from the store ramp was the way to go and there were some reports that a few small tog were around the bridges and some stripers were back in the cuts behind the store. We headed out in to some choppy water with strong wind gusts and played it safe by the bridge close to the store. Well Pinch proceeded to put on a tog jigging clinic and caught numerous small tog from the first piling he tried at the bridge. It took me awhile to shake the cobwebs but I finally got in the game on picked up some small tog as well. Then we decided to go exploring and headed out towards the condos. It was pretty much the same out there, Pinch put on a clinic and we caught small tog with a few keeper sized tog mixed in. One of the other guys out there said he hooked into a large striper on a green crab and it broke his tog hook. I didn't see it but he told me it was large and probably in the 30s. We thought there were striper marks around but we didn't get any when we tried jigging. By the time we got back to the ramp the fish had grown to have been in the 40s... you know how that goes!
We went back out Friday night to look for stripers but we did not have much success in the light lines unfortunately. Pinch eventually found one but by that point the temp had dropped and the wind had picked up and we called it a night.
We woke up early on Saturday and hit the Cape May South Jetty. Great place for togging!!! Reminds me of the outer wall at CHSP but way closer of a paddle. The jetty was also not very snaggy which was a great change bc the day before cleaned me out of jigheads due to all the current in the inlet and the rough winds. Pinch was the first to hook up and then we all started catching them. I think our highest was 3 of 4 hooked up at the same time and I know I went 4 for 4 at one point on crab, drop, bottom, boom fish. It was awesome fishing and the boats saw what was happening and tried to back into our spot. We boxed them out and they had to move a little further down the wall. We proceeded to continue the show and caught numerous keepers while they watched. Pinch took the lead among our group with a nice 19" male and that seemed like it was going to be the winner for the event bc most of the other tog were in the 10"-18" range.
We were all fishing jigheads and the bite on jigheads can be a little different. There is one bite in particular that is my favorite and that is when the tog simply inhales the jighead and to you it just goes weightless. Typically these are bigger tog and they eat your whole jighead and crab in one bite. I had one of these bites and it turned out to be a nice 21" tog that put me in the lead within our group. I was fishing with lighter tackle than most (St Criox Premier MH largemouth bass kinda rod, Penn Battle 3000, and 20lb braid) so it was quite a fight and the tog bulldogged me twice back down to the bottom before I could get it in the boat. When I went to get the jighead out of his throat the 40lb leader broke so I guess I was pretty lucky to get it in! I had two more bites like this but both beat me into a hole and I did not get them out.
After running out of bait we headed back into the launch and then to the dinner. I ended up winning the Tog calcutta and scored $130 plus a $25 Kayak Fishing Store gift certificate. The guys put on a great event and there were a lot of great prizes in the the raffle and a special raffle for an XSUP and a kayak trailer. Well... Pinch won the sup! It looks like it will be a great boat for him to use down on the flats in Florida!
All in all a great weekend and the fishing and weather actually cooperated for once! Here's some pictures:
outbacks.jpgleaderboard.jpgjack.jpgDSCN0208.jpgDSCN0204.jpgDSCN0201.jpgDSCN0200.jpgDSCN0197.jpgDSCN0196.jpg
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