Jersey Salt Marsh - 2019

C

chris whitney

Active member
Been a pretty good start and also humbling.

Got here last saturday and set up in the fog, mid day, and the falling tide. Set a minimal spread and was rewarded with five bufflehead. The cool part was working with the new pup, the big chief.

Scouted on sunday and spread my wings a bit. Ran up into some creeks and back bays. Found out with tides...just because there looks like water....it dont mean there is enough...lol.

Monday, we set up mid day again and set the same minimal spread (6 super mag buffleheads). Smacked a juvie drake bufflehead and then had a drake blue bill drop in. They really are an awesome bird! A little while later i had a group of three blue bills come by sounding like a group of jets! They went out and circled my little set two times....the third time, they came in cupped and feet down about three feet off the water from close to 100 yards away......smack, bluebill limit filled with another gorgeous drake! We finished the day with three buffies and the two broadbills.

Took tuesday off....im old.

Yesterday, decided to run to those back bays and set up for puddle ducks. It was a long run in the dark and I thought i had a plan...wrong. When i went to hit the creek there was zero water. Apparently, there is a channel, but it must only be marked in the summer. After getting frustrated, i ran back to familiar waters and got hid. The chief decided that he was not ready and ruined just about every bird that tolled. The last straw was when I had a Black splash in my decoys and when i clicked the safety off.....he must have thought it was a starting gun and he broke...bye bye black.

I went out yesterday afternoon by myself. It was blowing pretty good (15-20) out of the NW and it was rolling good on the bay. Motored out with zero issue. Got set up on the lee side of the meadow and set some decoys. Sat there awhile and had some shots...zero connects. Im surprised by the amount of broadbills around.

The wind kept building and building so I decided to pull out. By the time i got picked up, the wind had increased to 30-40 mph and the bay was an absolute washing machine. It was as rough as ive seen it with max size being three feet, but very confused. I want ti tell you....THIS ESTUARY IS EVERYTHING THYE HAVE CLAIMED. I took a wave over the back deck picking up and I expected a ton of water when i pulled the plug...nope, it shed off the deck like off a ducks back. I got the bow up and motored back in those seas without any pucker factor. I would not have wanted torun my 16.5 lund deep v in that action....The estuary is a tank and is giving me a high level of confidence for most weather!


If anyone familar with the brigantine area wants to meet me somewhere to look at some satelite images....ill buy the beer. Im not looking for spots....just what to look for in the ways of channels and cuts.



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Sounds like a fun few days on the salt marsh. Do you guys have to deal with oyster beds too bad up there? Down here I have always been hesitant about taking my dog out because of oysters.

I remember the days of my lab deciding he couldn't stand it anymore and he just had to go and greet the new arrivals. Frustrating but it will pass....
 
This was a great read. Congratulations on some wonderful days waterfowling. I took note of your Wednesday. Well said.
Thanks for those pictures and it was good to see a new pup doing so well.
Al
 
Good morning, Chris~


Great tale! Glad to hear your Estuary is taking good care of you. I feel the same confidence in my sneakbox RED~LEG. The right hull (decked over!) and some seamanship will get you back home in some pretty rough weather.



Regarding the "un-marked channels". Just as with our creeks and rivers up here. learning them through hard won experience is one of the joys of gunning the same spots repeatedly and under many conditions.


All the best,


SJS


 
Ahh welcome to NJ waterfowling my friend. Couple sayings to live by here:

"In NJ, you ain't been around till you been aground."
"NW stands for Northwest AND No Water"
"If you can fool Jersey black ducks, you can fool any duck"

Sounds like you had fun though. Those Estuary are amazing boats. Absolute tanks.

Here it's just best to take it slow through the creeks. Last trip I went, I witnessed two guys run aground on full plane in the mud.

Either way, welcome to NJ and thanks for sharing your story!
 
chris whitney said:
The last straw was when I had a Black splash in my decoys
Click to expand...

That is a moral victory in my book any day! More often than not a 30 yard flaring pass is the best look I get on Black ducks.

Great pics and story, thanks for sharing.

Who makes the Bufflehead and Black duck decoys in your pics?
 
Great photos and great stories!

Anyone hunting tidal waters is going to run aground or be stranded by falling tides. Its not if but when!
 
NewGuys Out there, IT sure pays many dividends to go out & search The new areas you are going to gun. plan to scout these areas on a Sunday on NW WIND blow out TIDE IF you intend to hunt south jersey, Rather then learn the hard way and get stuck on an island over night. I Know From My Early days of hunting.
 
Black ducks are all corks from mike veasey in delaware. The super mag buffleheads are from lake effect decoy company. They are the best decoy i have ever ran for divers. They have landed a lot of birds this year! Id like to find six more, but they have been out of production a few years.
 
Chris,
I really enjoyed your story. I'm also hunting an Estuary, but in the marshes of CT. I also wish I had someone to give me information on getting in and out of the marsh with the falling tides. I'm learning the hard way, but making fair progress. I've been hunting a tidal marsh that I gave up on 10 years ago because of the tides. I'm doing much better with the Estuary.
I've only been out in what I'll call moderate seas, but the Estuary runs bow up, and dry.
And for all you speed freaks[w00t] I'm satisfied with how she moves with my Yamaha 15 2 stroke, not break neck, but sure and steady.

I've also been stuck in the mud after dark until the mud went back down under the water. It was a warm early season day, and kinda knew it was going to happen, and we sat back and watched the ducks come in well after shooting time.
 
It is a good feeling to know that the boat your in can handle any waves that get up on you. Man, what a great job with the concealing on that set up.

Just don't lose it if you jump onto the shore to piss.


I remember being out halfway between here and there, and the river was rollers of 4-5 ft with chop ontop and I was quartering with them downriver.
I had 2 other guys and 2 dogs and too much shit in the boat to do the run. I knew if I'd have turned to go back, the boat would have been overtaken from the stern and we'd have sunk. We had to wait for the tide to change to get off the island. We took the boat to the lee of the island and had to take turns holding it from the shore. There was no place that the anchor would hold, and the wind blew so that it felt like we were getting sandblasted. a true character builder.

That little 16 foot alumaweld with a 40hp jet. I ws so lucky so many times I can't even count them. What a crazy wild ride it was







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Last edited:
One way I avoid or at least try to avoid getting stuck is by referencing a good tide app. I use "TideDataFree" for iPhone and when I'm on my computer, I use this handy site:

http://deepzoom.com/

It's an interactive map with rasta overlays that shows you nearest tide stations. From there I choose the station, look at the time I am going to hunt, and see where the tide will be. All the tide stations correspond from the site to the tide app so I store it as a favorite to reference when I'm out. I use two marsh sticks to anchor myself. When I get to the spot, I take a quick glance at the phone. If it's half tide, falling, in an area with a 5' tide swing: I know I maybe have 2-2.5' of water left under me. I take my marsh stick, put it till it hits bottom, and then see what I'm working with.

It's not foolproof but it helps.
 
Carl,

In a heavy W or NW I usually take 25% of total tide off of my low water. For example, if I am hunting a 6' tide area, I budget for 1.5' lower than low water. You're right though. Never ceases to surprise me. One hunt a couple weeks ago, I had a decent NW breeze...or so I thought. It ended up being more of a NNW. I got to the ramp and rather than having less water, the ramp was flooded. Go figure.

It's just the name of the game I suppose.
 
Mobile Bay and MS Sound were the same, even worse given our micro-tidal, only 1 high & 1 low per day environment (2' is a huge tide there).
A strong north or south wind could easily over power the tides and you end up with a whole lot less or way way more water then you expected.

Throw in the fact that water levels along the northern Gulf have consistently run 6-10" above predicted tides for the last 5-6 years and it makes it even harder to judge.
The last 4 years in Mobile, I hunted in 6-10" of water on low tide in areas that would have been high & dry when I first started down there 22 years ago.
 
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