Our last outing of the year went on without a hitch. The weather turned out to be like the last summer day of the year. It definitely reached the 80’s. This outing had the most veteran participation out of all.

The second outing at Picatinny Arsenal was a bit different due to the over all weed growth in the lake. It was a different style of fishing unlike in the spring. Hobies didn’t work well and I learned my new transducer mount really grabbed on the weeds. It was such heavy cover that my depth finder wouldn’t shoot through.

Looking forward to taking the vets kayak fishing here in the spring again!

Thanks again to Civic Duty Partners for providing lunch. The sausage sandwiches really hit the spot!

The Lowrance Elite 5 HDI was released on Friday September 20th 2013. I was able to get my order in right away! I have long awaited a Fish Finder that was a Dual DSI and Sonar with the capability of overlaying the two. This is what HDI means Hybrid Double Imaging. I am able to see the structure with the overlayed sonar echos of fish!. The chart plotting feature of this device is also a great addition as previously i had a device for sonar and a separate handheld GPS unit. The addon SD card slot also lets you have the options of using 3rd party Charts.

I opted for the Navionics as they have a good name and very detailed charts! I hope this was the right choice. Now to figure out where to mount the large transducer. It will not mount in the scupper like my current setup. I am thinking of using the RAM Mount flexible transducer arm kit until i figure out a permanent mount. As this is a DSI unit also it the transducer needs to be in the water. A shoot through hull approach with the transom transducer will not display a clear picture.

Also Purchased the RAM Mounts compatible mount for the head. I really like how it clips right in with no hardware! Easy to mount and remove the head when loading and unloading.

The install will follow soon!

Once again another successful outing for Heroes on the Water New Jersey Chapter! This one was a more relaxing trip as it was a river float. This means not much paddling required. Just go with the flow of the river. Most everyone I believe caught at least one fish. Myself ended up with 3 small mouth bass! Small mouth bass a first on the yak!. I believe we had 12 vets and a total of 38 in the group! Nice turnout! Boats were all set up and rigged by 8:30 ish. Waited on the VA again. Finally hit the water around 10:30. It wasn’t long till over the radio we heard the first fish was caught!

Texas rigs and wacky worms worked pretty well. I caught all my fish on a silver rooster tail #3!. It was nice to be in fresh water! my boat got a good wash!

I brought my pump tube water gun for fun!.  Val the NJ HOW volunteer photographer got some awesome shots of be squirting it! Thanks Val!! During the on the river group shot i squirted water up in the air and let it rain on everyone! It was refreshing as it was a pretty hot day.

The entire trip was a little over 7 miles of pure beauty. Some of us even were lucky to see a bald eagle hunting ducks on the river. An amazing site as the ducks tried to get away.

Im not sure if they did all get away as I was still easily 200 yards from them. This trip I believe is going to be a yearly one since it was incredibly successful!