First, I want to tell you about an evening trip I had last Tuesday with good friend and long-time client Bernie Kemp and his two sons Matt and Aaron. We fished out of Crisfield with the hope for some nice sized blues followed up by rockfish on poppers. The afternoon started-off breezy and only got worse as the day went on. With conditions too bad to look for breaking fish, we worked our way to the Tangier Target ship hoping to find some bluefish action before it really got bad. We did find the blues, though not as big as I had hoped but still fun on light tackle. Matt seemed to have a knack hooking the blues with Aaron a close second. In addition, Bernie surprised us by twice bringing in two very nice flounder in the 21″ range. Bernie was a little camera shy but not the flounder.. 
After the action slowed and the wind picked up even more we decided to head for shallow water and try for some rockfish. Too choppy for poppers, the guys managed to catch some nice school stripers and Aaron snagged a hard fighter of about 24″. Nice fish Aaron.
Considering the windy conditions and cloudy water the Kemp family did very well and all had a great time. The Jones Brothers gave us a safe, smooth, and mostly dry ride back to Crisfield.
I fished Saturday morning with long-time client and good friend Gary Beard. We met early at 5:30 A.M. at the Somers Cove ramp in Crisfield, and what a beautiful morning it was. Slick cam, as the local say, with hardly a breath of air moving. After a brisk ride to the fishing grounds (does brisk fit this time of the year?), we found perfect popper conditions.
Almost immediately Gary was watching stripers climb all over his Stillwater Smack-it! In fact, his very first fish turned out to be two, a rockfish on each hook – a first for Gary!
Almost immediately Gary was watching stripers climb all over his Stillwater Smack-it! In fact, his very first fish turned out to be two, a rockfish on each hook – a first for Gary!For the next two hours Gary had blowup after blowup from hungry rockfish, one or two fish even came clear of the water to attack his popper. It was a great topwater display and another first for Gary with shallow water rock fishing. While we had a couple of fish that looked to be approaching 30″ pull the hook, Gary still managed to land several in the 25″ to 27″ range. 
On the way back through Smith Island we made a stop or two and Gary landed a 16″ speck, the first of the year for us both. Wow! am I glad to get that skunk out of the boat! Thanks Gary..
As it stands now, my next few trips I’ll be playing around the Little and Big Choptank rivers. Fishing was terrific when I last fished there two weeks ago so I look for some good things to happen. I still have a few good dates available before the August rates are up, so shoot me an email if interested fishing has been great!
Till next week,
Kevin
Josenhans Fly Fishing Blog 
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