Josenhans Fly Fishing ~ Pictorial Essay 2

29 10 2011

Thursday, September 29  – Scott Lange and Gary Peters brought a strong SW wind with them so we were forced to fish the protected waters of the Big Annemessex River just north of Crisfield. Things didn’t turn out too bad. The water was clear and we were able to cast poppers for a good bit of the morning. Well, judge the results for yourself..

Gary Peters with his 8 pound speckled trout - The fish hit a Stillwater Smack-it! popper

Scott Lange showing off his 4 1/2 pound speck

Quite a few stripers to five pounds hit our poppers as well, and we ended up with 7 specks from 2 to 8 pounds. Not bad for a windy day.

Saturday, October 1 – Another windy day, this time from the NW. Chris Karwacki Sr. and Chris Jr. decided to brave the conditions for a try at the Annemessex specks. We found clear water on the north shore of the river, but the water temperature had taken an overnight plunge. Specks don’t like sudden changes. We caught a few rock to 19″ and had a great time on a beautiful river, regardless.

Chris Sr. and Jr. enjoying a brisk day on the water

Wednesday, October 5 – My third trip on the Big Annemessex River in a week brought Al Torney, Charlie Frick and Nick Nicosia together for another cool, blustery outing. To their credit, the guys elected to give it a try as a stiff NW wind kept me looking for clean water once again. We found a few rock to 19″ and Al landed the only speck during the half-day trip. Great conversation and a few fish made for an enjoyable morning. The water temperature has dropped ten degrees in a week and is now down to 62 degrees.

Al Torney managed the only speck on a windy morning out of Crisfield

Thursday, October 6 – Norm Bayer and his brother Joe teamed up with Bob Hedrick and Jim Haire for a six-hour trip to Smith Island. A fairly brisk NE wind pushed us to the west side where we found good numbers of rockfish to 26 inches. Joe Bayer landed a nice 17″ speck.  Morning clouds kept the rock in the shallows for a nice long spell and the wind was not a factor while fishing the lee of the island.

Jim Haire coaxed a 7 pound striper out from behind a submerged stump

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Josenhans Fly Fishing ~ Pictorial Essay

29 10 2011

Friday, September 23 – George Lenard (www.specializedbaits.com), Dave Gedra and Rob Allen joined me for a trip on Tangier Sound.

George Lenard found Tangier specks loved the Li'l Jimy

 

Dave Gedra showing-off the specks beautiful spots

 

Speckled trout canines

 

Rob Allen with his over-stuffed speck. Final tally for the day was 20 trout!

 

Dave with a nice rock

Sunday, September 25 – Justin Matoska and Bernie Kemp joined up for one of my cost-sharing trips and we traveled to the Choptank River for some great speck and rock fishing. Great to see the specks that far north again. Final tally for the day was 10 specks from 16″ to 21″, plus numerous rockfish on poppers.

Justin Matoska showing-off a fat Choptank speck

 

Self-explanatory!! Only on the Eastern Shore!


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Josenhans Fly Fishing ~ Playing Catch-Up

29 10 2011

I guess by now you have realized that I am a tad behind in my fishing reports. I have come to realize that fishing everyday and writing a blog don’t mix. At least if I want to make the blog halfway readable, which is a chore for me under the best of circumstances. So, for the next few entries I will be giving you a pictorial of some past fishing trips. My apologies for not delving deeper into each of your trips, but I feel this is the only way that I can play catch-up. It  will hopefully be just as entertaining. Enjoy!!


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Josenhans Fly Fishing ~ G. Loomis

29 10 2011

A shameless plug for a great rod brand!

These are the facts as I understand them. G.Loomis blanks/rods are made in the U.S.A. Shimano owns G.Loomis. Has for maybe 10 years. G.Loomis still operates as it’s own entity. ALL G.Loomis blanks/rods are made by G.Loomis in Woodland, Washington and assembled in WA. Nothing is mass-produced or assembled in another country. Shimano rods are a separate entity altogether. The G.Loomis quality is the same as it has always been.

There are two warranties that should be of interest to you (see below). The Wildcard is new and is a great deal. It’s FREE. The Xpeditor has increased from $50 to $100 per rod but is still a great deal. They don’t ask a single question. Just ship you the new rod (usually get the new rod in 2-4 days) and you ship back the broken rod postage paid. The more expensive the rod the better the deal.

WILD CARD REGISTRATION
Wild Card: A service program offering a onetime, no questions asked, free, over the counter replacement. Applicable to NRX, Pro4x and GL2 rods only. All NRX, Pro4x and GL2 rods are covered by G.Loomis Limited Lifetime warranty mutually exclusive of this program.

Xpeditor™ Program Details
G.Loomis Xpeditor: a paid service that allows you to replace a broken rod expediently and without question.
•Upon receiving your request, G.Loomis will immediately ship a replacement rod via standard ground delivery
•When you receive your new rod, remove it from the shipping tube, place the broken rod into that same tube and affix the enclosed (pre-paid) shipping label on the outside of the tube.
•The cost: $100.00 U.S. (Per Rod) for standard ground delivery
This is a great deal on the more expensive rods.

The G.Loomis GL2 blank makes a great rod and comes in a variety of models. It is relatively inexpensive and will work for all bay fishing situations.

Check out their website at http://www.gloomis.com

Disclosure: I am a member of the Shimano/G.Loomis Pro Team


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Josenhans Fly Fishing ~ Rock, Blues & Specks Like the Old Days!

16 10 2011

Rock have been giving my clients a super top-water show during the early morning hours casting Storm Chug Bug and Stillwater Smack-it! poppers. Bluefish in the two to four pound range seem to be everywhere, and they will chase the same poppers – even with the sun high in the sky. But the fish that has everyone buzzing is speckled trout. We have had some fantastic speck fishing this fall, much like days of old. While most of the specks are running 16″ to 21″ there have been quite a few in the four-pound range, with one tugging the Boga all the way to the eight-pound mark! That big fish was fooled by a Stillwater Smack-it! Jr. popper. Some highlights!

Monday, September 19 – Don Harrison and Drew Clemens had some fun with rock on poppers early casting the skinny water near Tangier Island. A cold front during the weekend had dropped the water temperature at my bluefish honey hole from 80 to 68 degrees. Not good. However, after moving to the bay proper west of Tangier we found warmer water and school after school of hungry two to three-pound blues. Don and Drew had their hands full – and kept the captain busy – for the remainder of the trip.

Wil Goetz with a 29-inch skinny water striper

Tuesday, September 20– Matt LaFleur, Wil Goetz and Alan Fiekin joined up for a trip to the lower end of Tangier Sound. From the first cast it was non-stop blues and rock anyway you wanted to catch them. While Matt and Will battled it out with three to five-pound blues while casting Storm Chug Bugs, Alan kept busy in the back of the boat throwing a popper with his fly rod. At times, the blues would literally become airborne in a head-on charge, before landing choppers-first on top of the fly. Stripers to five-pounds were in the mix as well. I was kept busy netting, releasing and re-tying for a good three hours straight. Who says fishing is a non-aerobic sport! To finish the day, we hit the skinny-water for some fantastic rockfish top-water action.

Matt LaFleur enjoyed non-stop action with rock and blues

Alan Fiekin caught his fish on the fly

Wednesday, September 21 – Jeff Kaplan had a great trip with early morning stripers on top-water, followed by all the blues and rock he could handle out on some underwater humps in the main bay. The rock ran up to 28 inches while the blues averaged two to four-pounds. I was finally able to drag Jeff away from the non-stop action to head to the grass flats for a try a speckled trout. Jeff was not disappointed as he landed six nice specks from 16″ to 23″ during our final hour of the trip! What a way to complete the Tangier ‘Slam!’

Nice speck Jeff!!

 

Makes getting up early worthwhile!

 

Jeff with another nice speck

 

Don Harrison with a nice rock

 

Drew Clemens caught this fat speck to complete the 'Tangier Slam'

 
 
 
 
 
 

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Josenhans FF ~ Fighting the Wind!

6 10 2011

Me posing with Chris' fly-caught speck

Wednesday, September 14 – Chris Goldmark and Dennis McVey joined me for a day in search of speckled trout. Chris is a guide out of New Jersey, who also fishes for bonefish and tarpon in Puerto Rico during the winter months – I don’t believe he has seen snow for a while. Up to this point, my previous clients have been preoccupied with the fantastic bluefish action we have been enjoying, but when I could pull them away we have caught our share of specks. I was looking forward to a full day of speck fishing. As is sometimes the case, the Tangier shallows were slightly turbid due to an overnight breeze. While the water was plenty fishable, my experience with speckled trout is that they don’t take well to sudden changes in water condition, either clarity or temperature. During late morning I was able to locate some clean water with a moving current down around Tangier Island. We quickly picked up three specks (Chris caught two on his 8 wt.) but that was it. Along the way, we also picked up small stripers and blues, but for the most part, the day was a slow pick. It was still a beautiful day on the water and we caught enough fish to keep things interesting. Thanks guys.

Thursday, September 15 – Bernie and Susan Kemp enjoyed some fantastic light tackle action with bluefish in the two to five pound range. After a morning hiding-out in the Big Annemessex river from a stong southerly wind, we were able to venture south to the lower end of Tangier Sound where we had all the blues we could handle. Nearly every fish exploded out of the water on the strike and many jumped several times before being brought to the boat.  The morning hadn’t been a total bust, as small specks and stripers allowed both Bernie and Susan to complete the Tangier ‘slam’ on spin-tackle.

Saturday, September 17 – Nick and Caren Eckwerth were greeted with the first nor’easter of the early fall season. A steady NE wind and cool rain had caused a sudden drop in water temperature which did not sit well with the fish. The fickle shallows can be like that. Clean water was also at a premium. It was still an enjoyable day on the water, with Caren picking up a handsome speck and Nick adding a rock or two. With good company and a boat, who needs fish anyway!


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