Janes Island, Md: First Annual Birthday extravaganza!, By Alexi

   

     Janes Island State Park, is pretty much at the southernmost point of Md. on what's known as the the DelMarVa peninsula on the Chesapeake bay.

We've been there before, and written about it extensively already on this blog.    (AND HERE)

So really what needs to be said that hasn't been said before?  This trip was different for a number of reasons:

       I love this place so much that I really wanted to share it's beauty and tranquility (once out in the creeks) with close friends and family.  And so it evolved into a kind-of birthday weekend camping extravaganza.  My Dad, my brother in law, his two sons, Steve and Janessa, my wife and my kid and my (dumb) dog were all showing up at different campsites at different times.  I arrived as host and guide with three kayaks strapped precariously to the top of my truck on Friday morning.

Home for three nights

 I fished Friday daytime before anyone arrived.  Between 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. I caught 24 fish.  Mostly short stripers, HOWEVER, I did get a few Spec's in the mix, one being a keeper but not very big,

and THE real treat, a 17" Redfish.

most northern red I've ever caught!

 That night Steve and Janessa showed up, we caught some fish and ate them at the fire.  Then Jon Ari Elias and my Dad all showed up and the party really started!



Another difference between this and past trips: I  looked at this trip as if I was somewhat of a guide, so the next morning I took my 11 year old nephew out on a real kayak fishing adventure "a la" fishing in the dark.

Ari at the Launch

 I set him up with a small jig head and a bass assassin and told him to troll it in my Prowler Ocean Kayak.

paddle paddle paddle

 It didn't take long before he was hooked up.

Ari hooked up!

We met up with Steve who wasn't too far ahead of us and fished through the hot afternoon.

breaktime for the team

Ari unhooking a fish

We really put Ari to the test paddling against the wind and the current in the final stretch, but he powered through it!

 We ate more fish and sat by the fire and had a great big feast that night.  We had exhausted Ari so much he fell asleep in the tent before dinner!


That night I took out John and my Dad.  They were in floaty boat  (the tandem.)  My dad had just turned 78.  Jon was generous with the paddling.  They trolled and caught some shorts.  I had hooked into a keeper on topwater. Then Jon noticed some action by a bank just around sunset.  He cast to it and was hooked into a VERY decent fish for that area.

Hooked up in floaty boat

It was a nice 25" Striper.  The biggest fish Jon has caught to date.  Not until afterwards did I remember that he was using an old fresh water reel I had that only had 8lb mono on it.  Luckily he tried legging it in as I had advised, and the line didn't break until they had control the fish.

The next morning (Sunday morning) everyone left and I was planning on having  relaxing Sunday evening/ possibly Monday morning solo fishing trips.

I sat and meditated on the clouds, and the tops of the trees, and bark of the trees.  I thought about what a wonderful weekend it had been, and how I was really ready to relax, when I got a text from Janessa  "Our truck broke down...."

SOOO they arrive back at my campsite in the back of a Police Cruiser...(HA)

That night we fished, but didn't get into anything but shorts.

We headed out the next morning to a specific grass flat on some advice/ rumors.  

I caught a very decent Spec, my biggest in this area, at 19".

19" spec

That's the end of my story, but there are other stories as well:  Someone always falls off their boat, someone eats too much candy, someone loses their phone and their sunglasses, someone has a pet Ferret, someone picks up a crab, and so on and so on until next year!