Sandy Hook - a couple of lessons...

[dlangan]

I went down to Sandy Hook yesterday with Joey and some friends (first time). We ventured about much of the morning looking for big blitzes (per pics poted at certain sites earlier this week), then hoping for small blitzes, then praying for any signs of game fish or bait... Being a small town boy I did see a big angler blitz. Everybody was pleasant & enjoying the day. A handful of blues were caught shortly after first light.

By early afternoon we just wanted to put in and fish. I had the much less than brilliant idea of putting in at North Beach and work towards the rip about 2 1/2 hours before high. The carry in was ~1/4 mile. I usually carry my yak on a shoulder. I learned if the cockpit spanned my back (shoulder to shoulder), the yak was very easy to carry - the weight was balanced about the spine - a trick I won't soon forget --127-3-

North Beach was a deep beach and the rip at the tip of Sandy Hook is the biggest rip I have encountered :eek: The first thing to cue me in was Joey trolling a tube and worm against the current but still going backwards :rolleyes: This rip was pulling water from North Beach and beyond at a good clip. It may have taken me back home to Albany if I let it. We didn't feel we had a safety risk but there was strong current everywhere and we found ourselves always paddling so we didn't get too far from the car. As a result we didn't fish much. Fortunately - that didn't matter. Beautiful day to be out. Next time we'll use two cars and the current to better advantage.

[kayakninja]

Thanks for the report. I want to head over there at some point in the future.

I am starting to think the big pods did a B-line after the Canal and went right to Cape May. I better stop thinking because I have been wrong about everything this fall run. LOL

[dlangan]

Well, I still don' know Sandy Hook very well. But the advice I can give is:

1: those yakkers who knew what they were doing recognized the strong currents running the shore and used them to there advantage. Flushed one direction on the ebb and returned on the incoming. As a result, they covered a lot of ground.
2: w/o a special permit, you can only access Sandy Hook from sun rise to sun set. Folks launched just south of the park and used the current (river or ocean depending on tide) to carry them in/out w/ no worries regarding hours.
3: most access points require you transport the yak 1/10 to 1/2 mile. Bring your kayak wheels. Ours were safe and sound in the garage....

[ChemFly]

The ocean-side of Sandy Hook has some WICKED currents, rip tides and under-tow, particularly the closer you get to the North Beach and False Tip areas. Depending on the moon phase the currents can be awesome. I've seen some very powerful boats get turned sideways in those rips and become "locked in irons" as an old sailor friend of mine once called it. Kayaking off of the frontbeach without local knowledge can be very dangerous... (#$119)

Weekend Nov 12-13, 2005 Report

Saturday Nov 12

I launched my fishing kayak off of the Sea Bright, NJ municipal beach this morning.

I paddled north to the Sandy Hook toll booths, taking my time and enjoying the autumn sunrise. The night before was extremely clear with a ¾ Moon shining brightly all night. As I paddled north I could see wall-to-wall surf fisherman from my put-in point all the way up to the Hook. None of them were producing fish, nor did I see any activity on the waters surface.

I slow trolled, zigzagging along the beach with a 450-grain line and a chartreuse Half & Half with no takes until 0730. I fought and landed a very nice Bluefish, 10 pounds, just south of the toll booths, 100+ yards offshore. At 0730 birds started to concentrate on schools of Peanut Bunker with Bluefish underneath them. Overall it was very spotty action until 10:00am until it completely died.

Being as I was in my kayak I had the unique vantage point of being right in the water film and I could see Bluefish finning just underneath the surface. They were not acting in their usual autumn blitz mode. Conversely, they were very finicky and leader shy and spooked immediately away from my kayak as I drifted over them. They seemed to be lying still, just under the surface, then, they would come up and gulp down a mouthful of bait just like a trout would hit a caddis fly. I could see them coming up under the gulls and hitting in short bursts. It was an odd sight to behold during a mid-November Bluefish gathering. These pods moved south, back towards my launch site so I was more then happy to follow along and observe the behavior. It was very cool to watch this behavior, but frustrating in that I had to change flies 3 times before I was able to troll up 1 more fish before the action petered out. I'm wondering if the bright moon phase, clear night, water and lack of cloud cover at sunrise was making them skittish. I saw "0"-Zero Stripers during the 3+ hours that I was on the water.

Sunday Nov 13

Fished with Capt. Dave Azar at 0600 on Sunday and we immediately found Striped Bass breaking under Peanut Bunker off of the Community College seawall in Coney Island. Birds worked the pods in a feverishly pitched battle against the breaking Stripers. We nailed 6 beautiful fall Stripers on my go-to chartreuse half & half fly presented on a sinking line. This behavior, in contrast to Saturdays “Zoloft” behavior of the Bluefish was far more normal for this time of year. It was a true Fall Classic, but it too only lasted for less then an hour when the rising sun and boat traffic put the fish down. From there we ran into the back of Jamaica Bay. You know the rest of the story- finicky Stripers sipping bait from underneath the surface film and shying away from any fly that was presented. The bass were acting like sissy Bluefish too scared to come up to the bright, beautiful day and show their true colors. Maybe it was the big Moon, the clear water and the buzzing, Port Authority Police attack helicopter that made them act like trout sipping caddis flies?.. --126-3-

[dlangan]

Chemfly

Thanks for the report and the advice/warning on the currents out at the tip. :rolleyes: We were safety minded and stayed the North Beach side of the false tip and close to shore at that. And no, I wouldn't put in up there next time!

There were some yakkers that floated one way on the ebb and back on the flood which made a lot of sense. But, the catch by all accounts was an incidental bluefish that day. Beautiful to be out though.

Next spring I hope to try Jamaica Bay. We'll see. We haven't been out of the water a week and Joey is already anxious to return to CT/RI.... I think we are done for this fall.

I also want to put some effort into the Hudson in the spring - particularly w/ the yaks. My personal best striper is out of the Hudson, but the best fishing is during the spring hatches on the Delaware.... decisions, decisions...

Best Regards!
d

[RJ]

I fished the hook and as far south as Monmouth Beach after launching out of Atlantic Highlands Harbor in a 19' Jones Bros. lite tackle owned by a fishing pal of mine.

28 -degrees and my first thought was we should be duck hunting this morning!

We rounded the hook and spotted zero birds so we motored south and just about the time we were opposite the twin lights in Highlands and the Sea Bright Bridge the sea lit up with stripers on eanut bunker and then clouds of birds.

Forgot the cold and started fishing. Caught a bunch on spin rods using top water Lonley Angler popping plugs and deeper fish using diamond jigs. Were into fish from 7:45am to noon. At noon I counted 164 fishing boats in a long loose group off Sea Bright and a single sailboat making its way south thru the fleet.

We went inshore to work fly rods under the lee for blues and stripers just off the Beach at Sea Bright. Saw three yakers. On fella cranking along with his pedal powered "Heritage"? SOT and two others in their Sit in's.

The bight went away by 1 PM so we went back inside to see if we could find birds working the pound nets and then back to harbor and home.

It was a good day and I kept several bluefish and a single strippah for the table.

My rods a hung by the mantle with care and It is now deer and duck gunning for me this month and thruogh December.

My hat is off to the chilly water yakers.

I spent the previouse two weeks yaking and catching red fish in Florida and learning to love the Tarpon 160i I got this spring.

Anyone want to buy a Pungo? :brow

[dlangan]

Glad you found 'em RJ. Congrats on the new yak :)

[ChemFly]

RJ,
Glad to see that you've come over to the "SOT dark side". Another conversion! --127-3-
The more I use my Tarpon 16 the more I love the thing!
Won't trade it for any other SOT-except maybe for a Heritage 17 Expo. :brow

[RJ]

Chemfly,

That Heritage a half mile off Sea Bright, NJ in 30 degree weather was just cranking alone!

It looked like the guy was riding a bike. I'll have to take a closer look at the system at the shows come Jan., Feb. & March!

How do you steer it while pedaling it at speed? --125-3

[ChemFly]

RJ,
What you may have seen was actually a Hobie Kayak and not a Heritage.
Hobie makes a line of peddle powered SOTS that feature the bicycle mechanism.

I have not used one of these peddle powered yaks, but have seen them is the Jersey Paddler showroom. The steering mechanism is a handle located on the side of the cockpit that controls the steering rudder. It looks like fun; certainly keeps your hands free'd up for fishing. It's a heavy little craft- beach wheels are a must.
JW