Tag Archives: NYC

Hurricane Sandy deals NYC

Bravo New York! The tough will survive!

In the last week and a half you have endured many rigorous and high-stress challenges. I can only imagine what it is like to be there right now.

Like most hard-core outdoor enthusiasts, New Yorkers are just as hard-core as the rest! Considering the conditions you all have experienced in the concrete jungle recently such as no power, no transportation, loss of communications with little fresh food, water supplies low and no lights. Hopefully at least you can see the stars in the sky!

Over these last two weeks, many wonderful memories of all of you that I have fished with or worked with during our time in the Big Apple have been in mind. I wish you all warmth during these next few weeks as the weather continues to disrupt the flows!

Here are a few favorite pics from the last few years in good ‘ole NYC! And if you want to get out of there come on down to Port Aransas. We’re stocked up with redfish, trout, and yetis!

Coldest Cooler Yeti

Nothing is colder than Yeti cold!

 

Hooked’em good in Jamaica Bay, but let’em swim their way home.

Double Stripers

Jamaica Bay Demo

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good thing I took the GPS coordinates for this spot!

Topper for the day

How to really rock Jersey

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gateway National Wildlife Refuge, New York

Already miss this sonuva beach (Breezy Point NY)

 

The story behind how and on what this fish was caught will surprise you all. This fish has got nice color too!

 

 

 

 

 

1x Bass + 2x Bluefish

Hilarity ensued on this day. Great to have them onboard and inboard!

 

 

 

 

 

 

rough seas at breezy point new york

Sandy did much more

 

this is just a small problem compared to what Hurricane Sandy did to Breezy Point.

all you need for albies

Here’s a little somethin for those wondering what to tie when chasing the false albacore in NYC. Reports are in that these speedsters are working the coast good. Get out there frequently and there’s high chance that you’ll even get shots at these fish from the beaches (just beware of rampant tornadoes)!

NY Sewer Discharge

This is good news for Public Notices relating to environmental alerts in New York City and only hope to see more preventative measures taken in regards to avoiding and preventing the discharge of raw sewage. Hopefully they will also realize that pouring pure chlorine directly into a waterway following the raw sewage doesn’t “help” really and can be even more detrimental. In an uncontrolled environment such as a river, the chlorine kills good bacteria too, not just the bad.

Riverkeeper is an organization which provides a good resource for latest news.

East River Brooklyn Bridge NYC

Looking north past Brooklyn Bridge from East bank of the East River

 

 

 

BFT offshore NY

We set sail one day this week at 4:15am and pointed the bow of a beautiful 35 ft Contender Southeast. She ate up the chop taking on an Eastern swell and a sturdy Southern wind wave. Steady as she goes, we made it to our first location at 6:45am to setup on the troll for Bluefin Tuna offshore New York City. With only two boats within sight on the horizon we put out an 8 rod spread. A good mix of lures in the water initially helped us fine tune spread as small bluefin tuna (avg 30-40lbs) began to show us their preferences. As the day wore on we shuffled the rig over to another location just 10-15 miles further ESE and into deeper water and sure enough the fish got a little bigger weighing in around 60-lbs. All in all, we went 7 for 10, releasing 6 fish to swim again.

NY BFT

a hefty 60# BFT

 

Guerilla Bluefish-ing in NY Bight

WOW! New York bight fishing was filled with screaming drags & aerial acrobatics!

stay tuned to Kenjo Fly Fishing in New York City

MORE TO COME!!!

My guest today was vacationing in NYC from Europe and really showed his world-wide angling skills! We really put a hurtin on some monster, I mean, MONSTER Bluefish! Right out of the gate, FISH ON, and once we got this 15-lb bluefish to the boat we spotted another fish, which resembled a giant 30-lb bass, which was chasing down the big bluefish already on the hook and under siege!!! Sure wish we could have gotten a closer look at whatever fish that was!!!!

When I grabbed the tail of this bluefish, it spit out the whole bunker, all in one piece! Upon closer inspection this ancient bluefish had literally no teeth!

no teeth

International Angler Zyed battles monster bluefish in NY Bight

After witnessing this event unfold before my very eyes today, it certainly supports the idea that these two species of fish will swim side-by-side and compete head to head for food flushing out of Jamaica Bay! The silver-sides and bay anchovies are getting hammered as well. Find the birds and you will find the cocktail bluefish… Remember to have fun and keep switching up lures or flies until you find the fish that eats! It is also a good idea to remove any front end trebles on plugs, swimmers and other casting lures. Single hooks simply make for safer landing and de-hooking so you can get that plug back in the water! Plus, it tears up the fish so much less that there is no reason not to reduce the total number of hook points on your lures. WinWin for the angler, and the fish!

Pre-shaped haywire twists were a good finisher to the day after using up all the 50-lb mono on the boat! I prefer large test mono instead of wire because it is easier on the hands when landing fish and it doesn’t kink after a few fish. Nonetheless, it is a good idea to wear a fish glove when handling the bluefish too! It allows for better leader control which aids in better protection for your hands from line cuts to the fingers or palms. For convenience I only use one glove on my non-dominant hand, which handles the leader until the fish is under control and while handling the fish for quick pics and the release.

Freebird

SO! Like a bird, get out there with your light-weight tins, heavy metals (yeah!), and small 2-inch to 5-inch cream colored flies with a silver stripe down each side and even throw in some live bait if you can keep it alive. It is a good thing the bunker are still in town. Until next time, keep your hooks & your wits sharp! Change is good and so is the challenge in cracking the code of finding huge fish that are no where near the birds!

 

Keeping the hooks sharp,
Captain Ken Jones
Kenjo Fly Fishing
Licensed by USCG (OUPV)
361-500-2552

 

Flies beat artificials on NYC striped bass

Loads of life have poured into Jamaica Bay NY recently. Bunker schools are growing thicker and tons of heavy sonar marks indicating big striped bass are appearing in just all the usual places. Trust your sonar and work the area thoroughly then move onto another area until you find the fish that are feeding. If they are not feeding in one spot at one moment, they will be a little later when the tide is a bit different. Keep moving and working different areas and you’ll run into them.

JBay Striper

WIDE LOADS

Surprisingly, the biggest flies and the smallest flies were not as effective, but anything medium bodied really got smacked by these fat striped bass. It is a good idea to not horse these bass, as you can see the result from the picture, even if they don’t feel big and especially at boat-side! These bass are full of energy and ready to rock because of the prime water temperatures. Normally for this time of year, the water temperatures are colder and the bass are more sluggish. But that does not hold true this season. It was impressive to feel the brute force that the broad shoulders and heavy heads of these bass could put out and even forced another Sage xi3 to bite the dust… Would be prudent to say that 10-weights are better rod of choice considering the strength of these fish…

So get in on the action one way or another and get out there! These fish have tails, and are not shy when presented with the right size offering! And remember when it comes to fly fishing for striped bass in NYC, you cannot catch a fish if the fly is dry!!!

Keep your hooks sharp,
Capt Ken Jones
361-500-2552
ken@kenjofly.com

Salmonella wastes over 600,000 pounds of Yellowfin Tuna

This is all the more reason to eat locally sourced and seasonally appropriate fish! Commercial catching and processing of fish is a major breeding ground for dangerous food-borne illnesses. Catch what you eat, eat what you catch!

Fall Bluefin Tuna less than 1 hour from the dock

Salmonella FREE!!!

From the CDC website:

…State and local public health and regulatory officials are working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct a traceback of tuna. FDA has selected 4 of the clusters, which are located in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Texas, and Wisconsin, as the focus of the initial investigation. Information to date indicates that all 4 received the same imported frozen raw Nakaochi Scrape tuna product from a single tuna processing facility in India. Most common cause is ingestion of ground tuna meat, commonly used in

This investigation is ongoing. CDC and state and local public health partners are continuing surveillance to identify new cases. Further investigation is ongoing to identify possible sources of contamination and whether any other tuna products are linked with illness. CDC will update the public on the progress of this investigation as information becomes available…

 

 

Grunts heard around Jamaica Bay

Blasting 20-knot+ winds and hammering tides coming off a full moon had the bass inside Jamaica Bay pulling their Houdini hats down over their noggins yesterday.

Jamaica Bay Striper

Just look at the size of that TAIL! Is that a sign of BIG BASS potential?

The bait is there in some places, mostly 10-14inches in size and not in the denser concentrations we would all like to see. The striped bass inside the bay are being a little elusive and can sometimes make it necessary to get back on the hunt to check for fish in multiple spots… Outside in and around NY Bight is rumored to be another story…

Nonetheless, we managed to pickup a couple of striped bass, both had a good amount of energy when they swam away, tails kicking fast and furious! It was interesting also to see a schoolie bass come up that had survived, or should I say, narrowly escaped, what appeared to be 4 separate attacks from diving birds of some sort, most likely a gannet… For the bass’ sake, he was lucky to have escaped the clutching razor sharp beaks of those birds with only scratches and quite a few missing scales… and for the gannet, i hope he was more successful in subsequent attempts to find dinner!

On another note, it is good to see the kind officers of the DEC out on patrol, stopping on their way past, just to see how the fishing was going! Always good to know these men are out there on the water and brave enough to take on the elements to provide us marine security and enforcement of our fishing regulations.

As of late a few Osprey’s have been sighted as well, and are such magnificent animals to bear witness when they are able to pick up a 14-inch bunker and fly away with it!

Until next time, pray the wind lay low…

Keeping the hooks sharp,
Captain Ken Jones
Kenjo Fly Fishing
Licensed by USCG (OUPV)
361-500-2552
ken@kenjofly.com

Jamaica Bay Bass Action

The bass action in Jamaica Bay is officially ON (THE FLY)!!!

Jamaica Bay Striped Bass

early season striped bass j-bay

…after a brief scouting mission and initial sea trial, lady luck was on our side and the striped bass are eating flies already this spring and that means good stuff!!!

Nothing like getting the backing salty during the second to last day of March!!!

If you are looking for striped bass they are definitely here with quality sized fish in the mix… There will be some bruisers here in no-time. Hope to hear from you soon.

Feel free to call anytime!
Keeping the hooks sharp,
Captain Ken Jones
Kenjo Fly Fishing
Licensed by USCG (OUPV)
361-500-2552

Invaluable Valuables

There were notable days, and single notable catches. Each were spectacular in their own way due to the uniqueness of how the catch was made. What I find most intriguing about these mentionable catches is that it was what the FISH did that made it most exciting. Other times a particular catch stood out among the rest because of how much effort which can require not only a high physical level of endurance but also a mental endurance of epic proportions… Thus why the catch took the “blue ribbon”. The striped bass shown below blessed my father by giving him the privilege to battle this glorious specimen and it brings me pride knowing that my Pops had a chance to catch, battle, admire and release such a marvelous creature…

2011 record striper

The striped bass pictured above was caught and released on live menhaden during late June in the NY Bight vicinity. Because this fish bottomed-out a 30lb Boga, we only took her measurements (length & girth) and after using several different online calculators the estimated weight for all the calculators (including the online, IGFA calculator) came in at over 40lbs. I am so happy to know that this fish was released very lively, because returning the freedom of life that it had earned by surviving the ocean long enough to grow this big shows how life is resilient. This valiant effort that took place between fish and man can teach us all important lessons and the lesson is that any fish that is killed just so it can be “certified” as a record is a true waste! Letting a fish like this live so it can continue to contribute to the resource is most invaluable! I am certain that our future generations of children and their children would agree!

 
Keeping the hooks sharp
Captain Ken Jones
ken@kenjofly.com
361-500-2552