Josenhans Fly Fishing Blog

Boy, has this been a cold, windy month so far! The winds are keeping the small boat, light tackle guys from fishing the CBBT, as we watch the water temperature steadily drop into the mid-forties. Seems like a repeat of last season, but without the snow. A bunch of us were finally able to get out yesterday and search for old linesides.

 

Jack McKennna met me in Salisbury, and the two hour drive to the CBBT went by rather quickly as we talked fishing and football. We arrived at the Wise Point boat ramp (I prefer it to Kiptopeake, less hectic) and in minutes we were steaming down the inland waterway towards the bridge. I decided not to waste time at the pilings, as the tide was roaring in and Jack, being a fly-fisher, would have difficulty getting the fly down into the strike zone. To the 4th island we went. We were greeted with cold water (45 degrees) and not much showing on the finder. We saw maybe two fish caught during two hours of hard fishing the island and surrounding pilings. A friend called with a report, of a rumor, of fish maybe being caught out near buoy four off Fisherman’s Island. Since we had some time, I decided to take a swing that way, looking for bird activity and warmer water. 

 

After about forty-five minutes of fruitless searching we found ourselves over at the third island. A couple of guides I know were huddled up so I eased in for a look-see. Was that ever a mistake! I immediately found myself surrounded by boats of all shapes and sizes with nary a fish showing on the meter. Not wanting to “make waves” so-to-speak, we just drifted with the crowd until we were out of the area. We went back and fished that area hard for about an hour with just one twenty inch striper to show for our efforts. Fish were showing on the finder but they were reluctant to bite.

 

Back to the fourth island where we started, and as the tide changed direction we picked up a fat 24″ rockfish on a five inch Bass Assassin. The meter was showing the fish were up off the bottom now! Another drift and Jack’s spinning rod took-on a sharp bend while line began peeling from the reel. After a good, hard battle a 33″, fifteen pound striper came over the side. Nice catch Jack – sorry it wasn’t on the fly rod.