Josenhans Fly Fishing Blog

NW 15-20 dropped off to flat calm - The reward for perseverance

I absolutely love fishing the Chesapeake Bay’s lower eastern shore. The shallow water fishery that we have here is, in my opinion, unequaled on any other portion of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay. Acres of eel grass flats, underwater stump fields and wild marsh islands teeming with bird life all add up to an angling experience unlike any other. That said, there is one element that can quickly ruin the fishing on these shallow waters – the wind. Depths of six feet or less quickly become roiled by a stiff breeze, making it necessary to search in earnest for clean water. I always tell my clients that I look for several things when searching for fish; clear water, moving water (tidal current), baitfish, structure (grass, stumps, etc.) and deep water nearby. The deep water is not always necessary, but it helps when looking for bigger rockfish. 

In addition, a strong breeze  immediately reduces the number of locations that I can try during the course of a fishing trip. This is not always a bad thing, as it makes me work the fishable areas more thoroughly. This sometimes pays big dividends. It also allows me to try places that I don’t usually fish. Thursday, June 23 through Saturday, June 25 were three days where the wind just wouldn’t leave us alone. I wound up cancelling one day and shortening two others. The point of this short story is to show that there are times when the wind just plain beats me. I appreciate the effort put forth by the unfortunate few who happened to get stuck with this lousy patch of weather. As they say, we’ll get ’em next time…