Short notice for a walk on request for one or two anglers. This Monday, October 8 for a full day trip out of Crisfield. If interested please call or email me for details. Speckled trout fishing is still very good with fish to six-pounds this past week. Striper fishing improving and two to three-pound blues are plentiful, as well. New blog should be out in a few days…
Josenhans Fly Fishing – Short Notice Walk on request!!
5 10 2012Comments : Leave a Comment »
Categories : Fishing Reports
Josenhans FF ~ Tangier Slam!!
4 09 2012Tangier Slam – In the world of flats fishing, a ‘slam’ is oftentimes considered three, maybe four different species of fish, caught by a single angler, with a specific type of gear during a given day. Well, how about six species! That’s just what has occured several times during the past couple of week’s on board my Jones Brothers while fishing here on Tangier Sound. In fact, five species seems to be the norm rather than the exception. Stripers, bluefish, speckled trout, flounder, redfish and croaker are common catches while casting artificial lures on light spinning tackle or fly gear. On a recent outing with Don Harrison, his friend Doug Portner and Doug’s son Connor, while we didn’t 
quite reach six-species, sheer numbers made up for the species count. We began the day casting to breaking bluefish in the 12 to 17-inch range, enjoying action in which triple hook-ups were common for perhaps ninety minutes. We switched gears to look for specks, managing close to a dozen for the day up to 21-inches. Mixed-in with the trout were perhaps fifteen nice rockfish to 24-inches. The day ended on a hot note as the guys simply tore-up the puppy drum, landing maybe 50 in the 12 to 17-inch range, with a couple just shy of the legal 18-inch limit. All told, over one-hundred fish were boated giving the three anglers a day to remember. And to make his “slam” something really special, young Connor also accomplished several “firsts.” As is first striper, first bluefish, first speckled trout and first redfish! Way to break-out on the saltwater scene Connor!! Tangier Sound has always held a nice variety of game fish during the summer months and six or more species in a days fishing is not unusual. I look for this fantastic shallow water angling to continue right through the fall months.
Speckled trout continue to grab most of the attention here on the sound. Daily catches averaging ten-specks-per-angler have been the norm rather than the exception. Now that September is here, I look for the speckled trout top-water bite to really take-off! Last season, our top fish was an eight-pound beauty that exploded on a Stillwater Smack-it! popper.
Share a Trip – Once again, I am in need of several anglers to share the cost of a guided trip. The details are as follows:
Trip 1 – I need a fly fishing angler to share a full day (8 hour) trip with another fly angler. Cost per angler will be $225, all-inclusive.
Trip 2 – I need two spining anglers to share a full day (8 hour) or 3/4 day (6 hour) trip with a third spin fisherman. Cost will be $150 each for the full day, or $135 each for the 3/4 day trip. There is a catch (no pun intended) – My first available date is October 20. Speckled trout should still be around, along with stripers, bluefish, flounder and redfish. In addition to the 20th, I have open October 22, 23, 25, 27, 30 and 31. If interested, please email, or call me at your earliest convenience. My contact info is kjosenhans@aol.com or 443-783-3271. Thanks and good fishing!!
Nick Weber drove a long way to catch a speckled trout, and succeeded
Nick’s son Matt with a nice flounder
Not to be outdone by Matt, John Crowley bags a big flounder of his own
Matt LaFleur with an over-stuffed speck
Jerry Price adds a puppy drum (redfish)
Toby Godwin with a pretty speck
Darren Short found this big speck at the end of his line
Chris Mitchell surprised us with a 26-inch striper
Tom Phillips got in on the speck action
Chris adds a nice speck to his rockfish catch
Andrew Lepczyk caught this fine striper under working birds near Sharps Island
Pete Rolph has been trying to make this speck trip for two years – it paid-off!
Mike Johnson has his arms full with this hefty spotted trout
Elliott Pochettino can barely hold up his big speck
Owen Pochettino shows off his big fly-caught speckled trout
Don Harrison with a speck on his way to a Tangier Slam
..Likewise for Doug Portner..
..and Doug’s son Connor!
Doug boats a nice rockfish
Connor adds his own big striper
Connor with one of his many redfish
Terry Tubman with a fine Tangier Sound speck
Keith McGuire ran his boat over from the western shore to catch specks
Scott McGuire shows-off a specks canines
Scott with a nice spot tail
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Tags: Big Annemessex river, bluefish, Chesapeake Bay, croaker, flounder, fly fishing, Fox Island, Little Choptank, Red Drum, rockfish, speckled trout, Tangier Sound, topwater, Virginia Eastern Shore
Categories : Fishing Reports
Josenhans FF ~ Big Flounder Make A Showing
10 08 2012We took advantage of a brief lull in the speckled trout bite the other day and jigged up a few nice flounder. Total catch in a couple hours of fishing was ten, with eight keepers from 18″ – 24″. Big, beautiful fish!! Terry Tubman and Bobby Shenton did the honors. Nice catch guys!! The flatties were hitting 3/4 ounce bucktails, hand-painted & tied by Bobby’s friend and Choptank River fishing legend Chuck Prahl.
Terry Tubman with his pool-winning 24-inch flounder
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Tags: Chesapeake Bay, flounder
Categories : Fishing Reports
Josenhans FF ~ Hot August Fishing, News
4 08 2012What a summer of fishing this has been! Hot weather and even hotter fishing, especially for speckled trout. Right after my last blog entry, I took a planned two-week mini-vacation for some much need R & R. I had been running full-steam since the beginning of flats season. It was time for a break. In addition, my Yamaha made a trip to the doctor to have her fuel injectors cleaned. Seems they only do this in Florida. After a few extra day’s wait for shipping, I am happy to report the prognosis is excellent; as the 150 HPDI once again purrs like a kitten. Now back to the fishing report…
The last trip before my break Dave Elvin, Mike Nolan, John Scott and his son Troy enjoyed a banner day catching 30 specks ranging from sixteen to twenty-one inches. Thrown in was an assortment of rock, blues and croaker and, needless to say, it was very hard to take time off. It didn’t help matters when my first day back I was greeted with 15-20 Kt winds that roiled the shallows, yielding but a brace of specks. The next day I traveled to the quaint township of Onancock, Virginia. My clients for the day had rented a private home just on the edge of town, so I agreed to meet them at the town dock. The fifteen-minute run to the bay down Onancock Creek provided a picturesque cruise past a mix of stately old Eastern Shore homes, smaller shore dwellings and miles of unspoiled shoreline. I think I could retire happy living on Onancock Creek. In addition to the beautiful scenery, fishing’s not bad either. Final tally for the day was 23 specks to twenty-two inches, a baker’s dozen of feisty bluefish and a handful of rockfish. Once again, all was right with the world. During the past two weeks, speckled trout catches have been as high as 35 per day, with a handful of days in the 20’s. Flounder catches are still well off last years pace, but the few times we have tried has yielded some nice fish to 24-inches.
Late-Summer and Fall Bookings are running way ahead of last season’s pace, so if you want to enjoy some of this fabulous speckled trout fishing please don’t wait to reserve a date. I have been blessed with many new clients this season and for that I am truly grateful. And to my long-time friends, words alone cannot express my gratitude for your continued support.
Share a Trip – I occasionally receive requests to find a fishing partner(s) in order to share expenses. This way, you get the full trip at half, or even a third the cost. I will act as your booking agent and make all the arrangements, in advance. If this trip arrangement interests you, please let me know. Enjoy some photos from the past two weeks.
Randy and family began their trip at the Onancock, VA Town Wharf
Julie holding a beautiful spotted trout
Randy’s daughter Kylie loves to fish and her smile shows it
Somers Cove Marina at sunrise – Crisfield, MD
Scott shows-off a puppy drum – I think it’s going to be a fun fall with redfish
A first for my boat. At five-pounds, this Smooth Puffer put up quite a fight..
…not so much when swelled-up!
Troy with his largest speckled trout to date
Mary with an awesome speck
Michael with a nice speck of his own – what a morning this was!!
Troy with one of his six biggest specks to date – all caught on my boat this morning
After 28 specks to 23″ in just four hours, Terry T. and Bobby S. enjoyed the view on the ride home (No, it wasn’t quite that close)
Rodney Sunday with his first fly-caught speckled trout
and, while he’s at it…
..his first fly-caught bluefish! I think he’s hooked!!
Not to be outdone, Rodney’s dad Corey landed this pretty trout
Let’s not forget there are some nice flounder out there!
George Lenard of http://www.specializedbaits.com fame fooled this fat 22-incher with his Blue Crab pattern
Dave Gedra with a nice flatty on a Specialized Baits Li’l Jimy
Redfish like Li’l Jimy’s, too
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Tags: bluefish, Chesapeake Bay, flounder, fly fishing, G.Loomis, Li'l Jimy, Red Drum, rockfish, speckled trout, Tangier Sound, Virginia Eastern Shore
Categories : Fishing Reports
Speck Fishing as Hot as the Weather!!!
8 07 2012
Bring on the heat!! Even with the sweltering temperatures of late, there has been no let-up in the speckled trout bite! Given decent weather and a break from the wind, on most days we are catching 20 – 30 fat, healthy specks on a variety bucktail jigs, soft plastics and flies. Specialized Baits Li’l Jimy’s, Bass Assassin 4″ Sea Shads, Clouser Deep Minnows and Cactus Stripers are all gobbled-up like cotton candy at a carnival. I have seen stretches of good speck fishing in my 30 years of fishing Tangier Sound, but never have I experienced such a prolonged period in both size and numbers. The specks are averaging 17″ – 21″, and this past Monday, Dennis Dame boated a gorgeous five-pound, 25″ specimen on fly. With a little luck, look for this incredible fishing to continue right through October. On the flip-side, the fantastic flounder fishing that we had last summer has, so far, failed to materialize. That said, I haven’t been putting in a lot of time trying, for obvious reasons.. Bluefish to 20-inches are available if you want a hard-fighting gamefish to put a bend in your light spinning or fly rod and a few stripers are always around. I have less than a handful of dates remaining open in July, and August is fast becoming booked as well. Drop me an email or call if you would like to get in on some hot summer fishing. If a full day sounds a bit too long in this heat, the less-expensive six-hour trip is plenty of time to fish a tide, and we will be off the water before the oven cranks up!
Walk-on Notice
On the subject of guided trips, I am in need of one or two anglers to share the cost of one or two days fishing with another angler. The date(s) requested are July 26 or 27 and August 20, 21, 22 or 23. This will be a full day, 8-hour trip. Cost will be $150 or $225 per person, subject to total number of anglers. Specks, blues, rock and maybe even some flounder should be available. I look forward to seeing you on the water!!
Troy Scott with a beautiful speck
Sam Dame caught this 23″ beauty on fly
Dennis Dame and his 5-pound, 25″ speck on fly
Laura Wolf is all smiles with a gorgeous speck
Happy Father’s Day to dad Dave Wolf
Chris Wolf gets in on the action, as well
One more for Dad!
Barb Long had the hot hand early
Doug Curtis boated this healthy speck
Ron Long adds a nice rock
Doug with a nice rock of his own
Scott Evander with a big speck
Mike Long shows off a good spotted trout of his own
George Lenard of Specialized Bait fame shows the Li’l Jimy in action
Rob Allen cradles a fat speck
Rob fooled this nice striper on a Stillwater Smack-it!
A colorful speck for Trey Blackiston
Ginni Bowen with her 11 pound rockfish – nice catch Ginni!!
For the catch of the week, Trey pulled in this 32″ cobia! The fish was released.
Justin Matoska with a windy day speck
Justin’s friend Kenny with a speck of his own
Cam added this nice flounder after the wind finally won out
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Tags: Bass Assassin, bluefish, Chesapeake Bay, flounder, fly fishing, Li'l Jimy, rockfish, speckled trout, Tangier Sound, topwater
Categories : Fishing Reports
Josenhans FF ~ Specks Still Going Strong!!
14 06 2012
Speckled trout catches show no signs of slowing down! During a recent five-day stretch my clients boated a total of 100 trout!! That’s an average of 20 per day if you don’t have your calculator handy 🙂 While we’re not seeing quite the number of big females that we had several weeks ago, the mostly male specks have been averaging 16″-21,” so no small potatoes there. Every so often a roe-laden female will push the tape to 23-inches. In addition to casting the shallows for specks we have tried jigging-up some flounder with mixed results. Dave Wilmoth, Rob McColligan and Rob’s son Jeremy managed two beautiful flounder of 21″ and 17,” in addition to 18 specks to 22″; along with a 32-inch rockfish caught by Jeremy. On the very next day, Lou Pochettino, his son Dave Pochettino and Dave’s son Alex, along with Lou’s son-in-law Gus McKee and Gus’ son Mac were patient enough to boat four keeper flounder of 18″ to 19-1/2″. Eight pretty speckled trout to 21″ were also brought to the boat. Lou was treated to seeing his two grandson’s out-fish their dad’s. We are hoping for a repeat of the super flounder fishing that we had last summer and it appears that things are right on track. Specialized Baits bucktails and Berkley Gulp! Swimming Mullet did the job on the flatties. I look for continued good fishing for specks and the flounder should get better with each passing day. It looks to be a great summer here on Tangier Sound!
Michael Avara and Steve Malan with a brace of specks
Jim Davis landed this nice speck
Glen Cooper fooled this fat trout on a very windy day
Glen and Jack Cooper with one of a dozen trout caught by 9 a.m.
Tim Riley showing off one of 24 specks boated
Tim even threw in a nice rockfish
Jeremy McColligan and dad Rob shows off Jeremy’s 32-inch striper
Jeremy getting in on the speckled trout action
Dave Wilmoth with a nice speck
Alex Pochettino struck first with a nice flounder
Mac McKee shows off his first speck with Grandad looking on
Dolphin gave Alex and Mac a show as good as Sea World!
Mac and dad Gus with a big flounder
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Tags: Chesapeake Bay, flounder, Li'l Jimy, rockfish, speckled trout, Tangier Sound
Categories : Fishing Reports
Josenhans FF ~ Better Late Than Never
5 06 2012As promised, here are some final shots from a very successful spring Susquehanna Flats season. Though many of the BIG stripers had spawned and gone by mid-month, there were enough new recruits in the 30-inch plus range during the last two weeks of the season to keep things interesting. All-in-all a great way to start the summer striper season. Thanks again to all who fished with me and I look forward to seeing you again soon, either for some Tangier Sound fishing or next spring on the flats.
My Best!! Capt. Kevin Josenhans
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Tags: Chesapeake Bay, rockfish, Susquehanna Flats
Categories : Fishing Reports
Josenhans FF ~ Specks in the Shallows
25 05 2012
Speckled trout have been a hot topic, of late, as well they should be. Catches of this colorful, aggressive, toothy, temperamental, head-shaking, shallow-water cousin to the weakfish have been off-the-charts good at times this spring. Perhaps a brief history lesson is in order. Back in the day (1993 to be exact) – the year I started my guide service – specks were my bread & butter. At the time, there were only a handful of small-boat, fly & light-tackle guides plying their trade on the main-stem of the Chesapeake Bay. While bass guides were having great success fishing the brackish river systems for largemouth bass and panfish, the bay’s saltwater scene was still happily chugging along on the 40-foot charterboat train. Guides like Capt. Mike Murphy and myself pretty much had the speck fishing all to ourselves. Back then, we may have even taken the great speckled trout fishing for granted. It seemed like there was no end to their abundance – until the end came. For maybe six or eight years the speck population took a powder. While Tangier Sound would still have a brief fall run, for more than a few years the spring run was non-existent. Cold winters in North Carolina resulted in several large fish kills; coupled with the cyclic nature of the species, the population dwindled. Shallow water anglers soon turned their attention to more abundant species like striped bass, bluefish and flounder. Well, now the specks are back and in a big way. Several above-average spawns, along with mild winter weather, have brought this angler favorite back to levels not seen in over ten years. In fact, there have been many days where my clients have caught more speckled trout than rockfish. Let’s hope the trend continues!
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Tags: Chesapeake Bay, speckled trout, Tangier Sound
Categories : Fishing Reports
Josenhans Fly Fishing ~ “There’s No Place Like Home”
9 05 2012After a whirlwind tour of the Chesapeake Bay I am finally back home, casting to speckled trout on the crystal clear flats of Tangier Sound. On my first trip back I was greeted with some beautiful specks to 21-inches, along with a smattering of schoolie rockfish. It’s my feeling that the specks will provide us with some great fishing until their departure in late October.
Nathan Holsey shows-off a beautiful Tangier Sound speck
Not to be outdone by his son, Greg Holsey lands a fine speck
Casting to the pristine shorelines of Tangier Sound
Right before I returned to Tangier – and just three days since the completion of a fantastic Susquehanna Flats C & R season – I made a short four-day stopover to Fisherman’s Island, VA. Here we sight-cast to schools of monster red drum and big stripers. While this fishing is not for everyone – with long periods of watching and waiting – we did manage to bag a couple of trophies. For Ray Wasdyke his persistance paid off with a 46-inch bull red drum that would have pushed the scales to over 47-pounds. What made this catch so remarkable was that Ray landed the red on a 9-weight fly rod. A world-class catch by anyone’s standards. Congratulations Ray! A day earlier, Harvey Conard watched a school of big stripers cruise the nearby flats for perhaps fifteen minutes before coaxing one away from the pack with a bucktail/twister combination. After a game fight we slid the net under a gorgeous 40-inch rockfish. The stripers looked just like a school of cruising bonefish (big bonefish) on the clear, shallow flats surrounding Fisherman’s Island.
Ray Wasdyke with his trophy 46-inch red drum on fly – World Class Catch!!
Harvey Conard with his 40-inch striper
In the next issue I will take a brief step back, with highlights from a very good Susky Flats C & R season. Stay tuned!!
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Tags: CBBT, Chesapeake Bay, fly fishing, Red Drum, rockfish, speckled trout, Tangier Sound, Virginia Eastern Shore
Categories : Fishing Reports
Josenhans FF – Rain, Wind & Rockfish!
22 04 2012Great day on the flats! A cold rain, strong north wind gusting to 25 mph and lots of hungry rockfish. Large Stillwater Smack-it! poppers brought savage surface explosions from stripers to 33-inches. Good grade of fish this morning with many 26″ to 30″ fish. Best part was, the wind and rain kept most other boats in port. Without the crowds, the fish bit the entire trip!
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Categories : Fishing Reports
Josenhans Fly Fishing Blog 