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I stumbled upon Paddle-Fishing.com in late 2004 when I was looking for a kayak and kayak fishing information. This place scared me to death. Hardly any women & then this guy DaveR.
One day I was fishing by myself at Cockroach Bay when I saw another kayak angler. I knew right away that it was JayB and wondered if I should approach him. He was chatting with someone in a gheenoe so I figured, what the heck & pedaled on up to them. Right away JayB was friendly and welcoming to this newbie.
How many good friends have I met through Paddle-fishing.com? More than I can count. Thank you, JayB for all that you did and for who you were. Rest in peace, dear man. I will never paddle fish (nor drink fine wine) without thinking of you.
35/34.5/26 24/22/1/1
I finally found Cow Creek. It's at the end of the Road to Nowhere!
Indeed sad news..Although I never had the opportunity to fish with JayB I did have the pleasure of meeting him at one of the local fishing seminars a few years back.
That encounter led me here to P-F.com.
Our condolences go out to his wife and family.
Senior Exalted Pro Staff Member of the Paddle-Fishing.com Kayak & Canoe Anglers Club
I met Jay while wadefishing Piney Point nearly twenty years ago. This was before he invented kayak-fishing. We struck up a friendship that day and have been fishing together ever since. For probably a decade, we fished every Thursday morning together.
We shared many firsts; his first slam, my first Tarpon, our first camping trip to the 10,000 Islands so many years ago. We camped on the Kingston Key Chickee in hammock tents. My avatar is a picture he took that first night. For three days the wind howled and we had no choice but to hunker down, sip our Old Bushmill's and get to know each other better. And we did. Though I fell out of my hammock tent and he got us lost on the way back to Everglades City, we often reminisced fondly of that trip. Even when he could no longer speak I could see his eyes light up when I brought up the subject.
In the two years since his diagnosis, our fishing habits changed. The days were cut shorter and we did a lot of hand holding getting in and out of the kayak. It became more of a social engagement than a fishing trip and I will treasure those times forever.
Last night, I held his hand for the last time. His friend Jim, John, and I had the privilege of sipping whiskey and exchanging Jay stories by his bedside while he proved how tough he really was. It is just the way he would want it, I am sure of that.
He touched so many lives - that beautiful gentle soul.
Here's to you, old boy. I love you and I miss you and I'll see you in Heaven.
I only met Jay twice, once at the first One Lure tournament and once after another. We occasionally would use “play on words” in clever and witty banter with each other. Rest well Jay and thank you.
Britt Lowry
I was impressed, that the older I got, the more patient I became. Turns out, I just don't give a shit.
The first time I met Jay was after we had communicated via email and CapMel's forums. I had been here for 3 months trying to figure out fishing in Florida with very little success. I had only manged to catch 2 snook in all that time.
Jay took pity on me and sent me directions to the Clam bar, telling me to fish with an 1/8oz jig with a curly tail and wade until I found the grass before casting. I did as instructed and on my first cast caught my first ever Florida Spotted Trout. In all I caught about 20 fish that day, none bigger than 18" but man I was so happy, I thought this fella JayB must be a fishing god.
I emailed him to thank him and he then gave me directions to his beloved bayou, detailing again where to fish and what to throw. The next trip I followed his directions and was rewarded with 40 Trout with a few going over 20", who was this guy? and why was he giving me such great info.
In the UK, due to the heavy fishing pressure fishing spots are very closely guarded and certainly never revealed to strangers on the internet. So I was having a hard time believing anyone could be so generous.
A couple of weeks later we arranged to meet at the Ft. Desoto car lot on a Sunday morning. I arrived at 0 dark thirty, and as I jumped out of the car this tall guy wearing cut off jeans and big fedora style hat ambled up to me.
"Are you John? I'm Jay, you ready to do some fishing?" we shook hands and I thanked him profusely for all his help thus far, he was very humble and said there was no need to thank him, "It's only fishing."
As we walked over to the bayou, smoking cigarettes and sipping coffee, he smiled and said "I'm going to teach you all I know about fishing in Florida, and that and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee" We laughed and I knew right then this was a guy I was going to become friends with.
We didn't catch much of anything that morning, but we talked a lot, and laughed througout. Jay was something of an Anglophile and he got a real kick out my fishing stories from back home.
As we walked back to our cars, he told me "I'll be here next Sunday, you're welcome to join me" of course I accepted his offer and we fished together just about every weekend after that.
We soon became much more than fishing buddies and I knew I had made the cut, when I was invited to his house for ribs!
Jay and I had a very special relationship, he guided me, encouraged me, supported me, cared for me, advised me, listened to me, laughed with me and once or twice he even admonished me, but not once did he ever argue with me.
We disagreed on many things but we never crossed words in 9 years.
I became part of his family, and he mine.
We achieved many things together the most lasting of all, being our friendship.
We will always be friends. If I could have changed places with him, I would have. I look forward to meeting him again and wetting a line and tellin each other stories. He was the best of men.
"If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree." - Michael Crichton
Very sad to hear about Jay I first met Jay and John back on capmels site right about the time they were bringing life to this site. I invited them to join me on the river for some snook fishing as I recall we didn't catch much that day but it was allot of fun. I got to spend time with him at a couple of the camp out's at shell key. He was always fun to be around I only wish I could have known him better. I hope he's fishing with the Canoeman today!!!
After I first found this site and got a Real kayak, I found myself spending more time on this site. Then, I had to ask the question about the long haired, humped back, domestic bovine. Rik gave me an education and The Chairman of the board was named. I got to see him at the last OLC, and saw him at a couple other events. But I never had the privilege of an official introduction.
I hope to be able to read his words of wisdom for a long time.
To the Chairman of the yak committee
Yes, I can get 20 feet of Pontoon boat equipment on a 16 foot Pontoon boat....
I first met Jay on Captain Mel's web site chat room about ten years ago while I was studying graphic and web design at a local college. When I should have been paying attention to my professor, I found myself instead mesmerized by Jay and his passion for this new style of fishing from a kayak. When Jay and John decided that they wanted to promote the sport on the internet, I was honored to assist in designing the web site, never thinking for a second that it would develop into an almost cult like following. Jay was specific, he knew what he wanted from the first day that we began to develop Paddle-Fishing.com, and I always had a clear understanding, making it easy to build the site in a short amount of time. It was like that with everything. Jay was clear, concise, and I always knew where I stood.
Over the years Jay's personality and character played a huge role in not only growing the sport of paddle fishing, but in bringing together a very close knit group of men who all blessed my life in their own special way. Had it not been for the grace and friendliness of Jay, I would have never had the opportunity to share in so many incredible weekends of cammaradarie with these men. Jay's magnetism attracted all walks of life, and somehow brought them closer together, with whit and wisdom.
For the last several days, I spent hours on my knees in prayer, asking God to comfort Jay, his wife, and family, knowing that Jay was in the company of his best friends, John and Tommy as his time grew near. When I got the news my heart was heavy, this community lost a great man, a wonderful soul, and an ambassador of the sport. Jay may have left this world, but he left it knowing he was loved, and will never be forgotten. It will be a great day when we can meet again Jay, I bet the Scotch is good where you are now and that the water is always glassy calm.
I never had the honor of meeting JayB in person. I have always heard only good things about him and enjoyed his reading his posts. He will be missed by all and will never be forgotten.
What a kind and considerate human being. He will be sorely missed by us all. He has set the bar high for behavior amongst our group and we should all strive to be like him.
I knew I was welcome when he took the time to PM me once. I felt so proud to have made him laugh. A simple man with such high ideals and principals. We have been blessed by his friendship and love for the sport we all so enjoy here. Thank you so much Jay for all the joy you brought into my life
Obama just traded 5 Mercedes for a Slinky ....Greg Gutfeld