The Jamaica Bay Kayak Classic was held May 12th to 15th in Brooklyn, New York. Over 300 dedicated kayak anglers descended on Floyd Bennett Field for the tournament hosted by Captain Kayak of Sayville NY.
The tournament has become the Woodstock of Northeast kayak fishing with hundreds camping out on the tarmac creating a small village that fishes day and night. The campers create a temporary community where barbeque and fishing tips are shared among competitors.
The tournament is a charity event, raising money for three great charities: Heroes on the water, Sport Fishing Alliance, and Send a Kid Fishing. Tournament Host Jerry Collins, owner of Captain Kayak, has long supported these organizations and raised tens of thousands of dollars for them.
Long a supporter of catch and release, Collins’ tournament is a catch, photo, and release event and only released fish were allowed to be entered into the tournament.
Jamaica Bay covers about 40 square miles, and the kayak crew spread out in search of three targeted species: bass, bluefish, and weakfish. The bass and bluefish were plentiful, but at times were very hard to get to eat while the weakfish were very elusive. The bay has many different types of structure from marshes to deep channels, and anglers used just about every tactic possible, from artificials to live bait, the fish saw everything in the tackle box. In the end hundreds of stripers and blues were landed but only 2 weakfish were measured.
This year the tournament is a qualifying event for the Hobie Fishing World Championship’s. The winner of the Slam Division will be on the US team for the event to be held in Lafourche Parrish, Louisiana with a scholarship to pay for expenses from Captain Kayak.
Elias Vaisberg and Nate took big fish honors, with both posting 41” bass; they effectively targeted the big bass with live bunker and both landed a few whoppers!
Nine year old Jolene Read won the Junior divison with a 34.5” bluefish, she outfished many of the adults
Bob Marvin took the fly division with a 32.5” blue, quite a battle on the long wand!
Eric Harrison took the slam division anchored by a 30.5” weakfish and a total length of 84”. All his slam fish were caught on soft plastics, with a 7” Hogy producing the big weakie.
Harrison was excited to have the opportunity to go to the Hobie Fishing World Championships. He has been a fixture at the Jamaica Bay Kayak Fishing Classic and the New England Striper Shootout with a handful of first place wins to his credit. This will be his first trip fishing in LA and targeting fish of redfish, trout, and flounder with plastics fits perfectly with his fishing style.
