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  • Cape May/Wildwood

    My wife is spending a week with her cousins in Cape May, NJ. I drove up separately for a long weekend. The motel where they stay has parking for only one car per room. I had to park half a mile away behind the hardware store. I did not want to leave a kayak on roof racks in an unsecured location for several days. Fortunately my Mini-X can fit inside my Honda Odyssey with the rear door closed.

    The Mini-X is a fun boat to paddle -- it can spin on a dime and takes little effort to get it started. But it does get pushed around by the wind. I use it in a bare bones mode - no Scotty rod holders or fishfinder. That meant I was fishing blind in unfamiliar waters -- I had low expectations.

    On my way in on Fri morning, I stopped by the Kayak Fishing Store in North Wildwood. Several guys on this board had recommended that I contact the store owner, Chris Parsons, to get some local information. Chris is a very nice guy. He told me several places to launch and invited me to fish with him on Sunday. I fished on Fri afternoon and on Sat morning at two different spots in Cape May. Friday was quite windy, and I faced low water when I launched at Spicers Creek. This took away some of the potential out-of-the-wind spots in marsh channels. I ended up drifting a bottom rig with Gulp swimming mullet baits on the hooks. I caught only one fish (an undersized flounder) before threatening clouds caused me to cut the trip short.

    The next morning I launched at another spot along Ocean Drive near Skunk Sound. The water looked fishy, but the fish were not biting well. I managed another short flounder and several black sea bass. At one point I had a powerful strike and the fish pulled line against the drag. The fish hit a Gulp on a 3/4-oz jighead that I was drifting along the bottom. I had a second rod in the water and tried to wind it in with one hand while keeping tension on the line with the big fish. Apparently I let the hooked fish have too much slack -- it surged and broke the line. Most likely it was a ray, but I can always dream it was a big striper, redfish, or shark.

    This morning I drove to North Wildwood and launched at the ramp next to Chris' shop. He, his wife, and another guy were fishing bridge pilings nearby. Chris' wife caught a nice tog, but the two guys were not as fortunate. I drifted around for 4 hours fishing two Gulps on a bottom rig and another Gulp on a jighead. I picked up a flounder, more black sea bass, and a few small croaker.
    John Veil
    Annapolis
    Native Watercraft Manta Ray 11, Falcon 11

    Author - "Fishing in the Comfort Zone" , "Fishing Road Trip - 2019", "My Fishing Life: Two Years to Remember", and "The Way I Like to Fish -- A Kayak Angler's Guide to Shallow Water, Light Tackle Fishing"

  • #2
    Thanks for the report on your adventures. Sorry the big one got away, but at least you caught something during each outing!
    Ryan
    Blue 2016 Hobie Outback
    Chesapeake Bay Kayak Anglers, Inc

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    • #3
      Good report; thanks.

      Regarding Chris...you ran into a true gentleman and strong ambassador of our hobby. He's a great guy and always willing to share information. As an FYI, he has put together another JCKF jamboree in Cape May for 10/25 -10/27. It's a really fun event and this will be year 3 for me there. If you go to the JCKF site, you can find information. I hesitate to post the link to another kayak fishing site since I'm not clear on the posting rules here.

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      • #4
        Post it up John! I had a blast last year catching tog and hanging around the camp! This year I may even bring a tent!
        Hobie Local Fishing Team - Backyard Boats
        Locations in Annapolis, MD and Woodbridge, VA
        https://www.backyardboats.com/

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        • #5
          Hey Michael, glad to hear that you'll be attending. Joe and I will be in site #45. All the spots along the side where we were last year were taken, but this one should be fine.

          I'll do a separate post announcing this.

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