I use to be asked quite often to start a kayak fishing club in northern NJ since I had a lot to do with getting many people into the sport. Not only did I not want to put in the work but I always liked the concept of the informal club/group. There were more than enough means of communicating and I didn’t think meetings, treasurers and a structured organization was necessary. What I would have liked to see come about is exactly what did and it’s called the Wolfpack. I had nothing to do with it's creation. Frank, Charlie and Artie are the proud founding fathers of this humble little group. They wanted to get kayaking anglers together to share information on areas to fish and how to fish them. According to the description I’m a member since I’ve participated in several of their forays. It’s a great group comprised mostly of baby boomers that enjoy going fishing together and having a good time while doing so. Members are primarily from the tri state area.

I thought it would be nice to do an interview with them. So I emailed Artie, one of the original members. Artie asked the others and they elected him to answer my questions.

1)  When did the Wolfpack first come together and how?

I joined the forums at KFS, and during the winter of 2006, made friends with Frank (Flyguide), Charlie (SeaFlea), and John Maddox (YakITiyak). I knew Frank and had a similar background fishing Croton Bay in the early spring and we fished together a few more times. John joined us too. That May, we went to Jamaica Bay Tournament III, (my second), and we finally met up with Charlie. Needless to say, we had a lot of commonality in our fishing pasts, and made plans to fish Sandy Hook right after the tournament. We got together a few times, fishing from Lot C, and on one particular group trip, on July 15, 2006, Frank arrived late. As he paddled into the rising sun, the rest of us were out there already in silhouette, and he remarked that we looked like a pack of submarines, a Wolfpack. We figured that was as good a name as any for our loose group, and it stuck.

2) Who were the original members?

I think it was Frank, Charlie, Rich (herder), John Maddox, Dan (msgdan), Robbie Robinson, Steve Ruffino, Rick Plambeck (phottograper66), and others that came and went from time to time. We always say, “if you fished with us once, you’re a member of the Wolfpack”.

3) What’s the basic goal or tenet of the group?

No dues, no meetings, no formality. We just meet, fish, and share time on the water along with techniques and information with everyone.

4) How many members now?

I’d say that we roughly have a “core” group of around 24. The line blurs because we now have regular fishing trips with the JCKF group, some of us are members of NEKF, and we’re on about a half dozen forums.

5) What causes is the group involved in?

We always support Casting for Recovery, and try to help anyone and any way we can to support our fishing brothers and sisters.

We’re also currently doing a fundraiser with YakDawgs, a CT sister club. We’re helping to raise funds for one of their members. Here’s Charlie’s words verbatim ‘we are currently working with the Yakdawgs in CT (sister club of NEKF) to help raise funds for a fellow kayak-angler Juan "Psychofisher" Otero; Juan is suffering from a rare disease which will render him blind.’

6)  How many gatherings does the group do each year?

Well, officially, I guess you can say, we enter the Jamaica Bay Kayak Fishing tournament and the NEKF Shootout tournament. Some of us participate in other smaller venues, and of course, we have our own Wolfpack trips, and we try to get together as much as we can, even to tie flies, drink a few beers, or just barbecue. It’s much more than the fishing, now. It’s about getting together with people who share the same joys and concerns in life.