Josenhans Fly Fishing Newsletter

14 10 2010
I’m sitting here listening to the rain and wind that canceled today’s trip, wondering when the next day will come that I can get out to fish. Quite a blow is forecast for the next few days. I have been on the water a lot the past two weeks, from the Little Choptank river down to  the CBBT at the mouth of the bay. Here are some photo’s and notes from some of these adventures.
 

A nice foul weather rockfish

October 3rd dawned with a moderate NE wind that seemed to gain strength as the morning wore on. Don Harrison and daughter Amy were eager to fish so we braved the elements and gave it our best shot. Fishing the lee of the islands was the game plan, unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the other team to show up. Stripers were few and far between for the day as the relentless wind clouded the water, making for difficult fishing conditions. Both Don and Amy still managed to coax a few rockfish from the marshy points of Tangier and their enthusiasm never waned. A good time was had by both as they enjoyed the sights and sounds of the undeveloped islands of Tangier Sound.

Jack trying out my stripping basin

 My good friend Jack McKenna fished with me last Wednesday as we tried our best to solve the Tangier Sound speckled trout mystery. Stopping at several of my favorite speck holes, Jack threw nearly every fly in the box at some of the prettiest grass flats on Tangier. The only takers were school stripers. Taking the hint, we turned our complete attention to rockfish and the action heated up. A wise sage once told me to save the best for last. Seems folks tend to remember the great fishing more if it happens toward the end of the trip. Pulling up to one of my favorite striper haunts, I eased the anchor over the side, hoping the rockfish had gotten the memo. Did they ever. Jack began to catch stripers with abandon. The stronger the tide ran the more frequent the strikes, until Jack was hooked-up on nearly every cast. With tired arms and a smile on his face (and the guides face) we headed for home after a great day of Tangier Sound flats fishing.

A nice fly caught striper

Last weekend I had a two day trip to the CBBT and Fisherman’s Island flats near the mouth of the bay. This is simply one of the most beautiful places to fish on the entire Chesapeake. My good friend, Harvey Conard helped me explore the area a bit on Friday in anticipation of running trips next spring for giant red drum. Starting around mid-April, reds from 30 – 50 pounds will swarm the flats and shoals of Fisherman’s and Smith Islands on their annual spring migration. While most of the fishing is done with crab baits; cast spoons, lead-head jigs and even flies take fish every year. Give me a call if interested in this world class fishery. But I digress. Back to the fishing, we ended the day casting to speckled trout on the flats of Fisherman’s Island and landing maybe forty specks from 10 – 13 3/4 inches. Every one came right to the top and gave the classic head-shake speckled trout are famous for. Boy I hope these fish survive the winter because next season looks to be a great year for specks!

 

Chris Sr. with a pretty spot tail

Saturday was a repeat of Friday, but with clients and good friends Chris Karwacki Sr. and Jr. Departing from the Wise Point ramp we were greeted to a spectacular sunrise and small rafts of ducks and shorebirds. Returning to the speck spot of the evening before we caught maybe 15 small specks before the the tide changed and the action slowed. A full day of exploring the back bays, casting to big red drum (no one home), watching porpoise feed in the shallows and generally taking in the sights and sounds of the lower bay brought us to the pilings of the third island of the CBBT.

Chris Jr. with his spot tail

After some trial and error with technique (mine – not my clients) Chris and Chris were able to hook-up with some gorgeous redfish in the eighteen inch range. Bluefish to twenty inches added to the excitement as we continuously jockeyed for position among boats and pilings. As on Friday, we ended the day catching and watching small specks feed on very shallow flats at the north end of Fisherman’s Island. Thanks Chris and Chris for a very enjoyable trip.

I have been fortunate to enjoy the company of more fly fishermen of late, and this past Sunday was no exception. Peter Gray joined me for a full day trip on the flats of Tangier, and his only weapon was my G.Loomis 8 wt. CrossCurrent GLX. This is a great all around rod for fishing the shallows of the bay. We started the morning in a favorite creek to see if we could pick up any of the larger marsh fish that have been feeding hungrily all summer long

Peter with a finicky marsh striper

on the small crabs and killie’s that inhabit the marsh’s tidal creeks. The tide was just right and the water was only slightly stained. I could tell from the first cast the Peter knew how to handle the long wand. After perhaps thirty minutes without success, I saw what I was looking for as inverted V-shaped marks appeared on the fish-finder. Peter was able to coax a fat four pounder from the bottom but it was slow fishing. There were more fish showing than he was catching. After several different patterns and stripping techniques, Peter found what they wanted in an exaggerated strip/pause retrieve that seemed to excite the fish into eating. Talk about picky rockfish. A few very nice, fat stripers came to boat side. Lefty’s cactus striper fly comes through again!

All the marsh fish were fat and healthy

For the remainder of the day it was a fish here, a fish there until we hit pay dirt at my last spot. Practically a repeat of the other day, the harder the tide ran the more frequent the strikes came. Peter had a blast catching these hard-fighting stripers as they used the full force of the moving tide in an attempt to avoid the boat. All fish were released to fight another day.

 
My next trip was with three good friends Ed, Doug and Jack in search of some early morning topwater action out of Crisfield. My first stop at a favorite honey-hole produced a big goose egg. Several moves later were met with similar results, and with the sun creeping higher in the sky I decided a quick change of scenery couldn’t hurt. Before I could say “cast that way,” Jack was hooked up on a Stillwater Smack-it! After a very fast drift and a couple of aborted attempts to anchor the boat we were finally able to get anchored in the right position and fishing turned red hot! Jack had the hot hand on topwater and Ed was trying to keep up with a shad tail. Ed caught a fat six pounder on the shad but the excitement of the explosive strikes that Jack was enticing was too much for Ed and he switched to a Stillwater as well. Doug was valiantly trying to coax a topwater strike on a large fly rod popper without success. The rock wanted a big bait. Doug finally switched to a large clouser deep minnow and began to hook-up on a regular basis. With three guys fighting fish, and me running bow to stern netting fish I forgot to snap a single photo. I’m glad the morning bite made the trip because for the remainder of the day it was a fish here and there, with nothing quite comparing to the morning’s heated action.
 
Dick Franyo and friend Ben, a federal judge from Baltimore, joined me for a breezy day on the Little Choptank. The wind was forecast to be NE at 15, dying to near nothing after lunch. Well, with a little more north than northeast in her, she was blowing pretty good for most of the morning. This stirred up the shallows out near the mouth of the river so we chose to cast to the protected shorelines in the Little Choptank proper. The good thing about October is you can usually catch rockfish along most any shoreline. Casting pearl shad-tails we were able to land twenty-five stripers just poking around the banks of the river with light spinning gear. With the cool breeze of fall in the air, thoughts of football crept into my head, especially since Dick and Ben were keeping score. I believe the final tally was 15 – 10 with Ben pulling out the victory. Great fun fishing with you guys!
 
Weather permitting, I’m scheduled to be on the water most every day next week, so I hope to have some big fish tales in my next newsletter.  I’ve got a brief break on Wednesday, as I travel to Silver Spring to give a talk on fly fishing the bay to the Potomac-Patuxent Chapter of Trout Unlimited.
 
Till next time,
 
Kevin 

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Fishing Reports

Josenhans Fly Fishing Newsletter

30 09 2010

Fall is in full swing and I have been doing a lot of fishing – or attempting to, what with all this wind – and catches have generally been very good. The key is finding clean water. The wind has at times made this a tricky proposition, but when conditions are right the fishing is very good!
 

Lew with a Watts Island rock on fly

Last week I had the pleasure of fishing two days out of Crisfield with some friends I met through CCA (Coastal Conservation Assoc.), Lew Armistead and Gene Hansen. Monday was a half day evening trip and the wind came along for the ride. Finding clean water was a must and we found very little. A few small specks, school-sized rock and maybe a bluefish or two gave us a slow pick for the evening. Looking for better results and an early start on Tuesday.

 
Early the next day a slight breeze was still with us and from a different direction, just in case it missed stirring up a few places on Monday. However, having a full day makes a big difference. We traveled to Watts Island where we found clear water and a few eager blues and stripers. You could see underwater stumps along the shoreline and the fish were hugging tight to the structure. The wind was dying out and the day was looking up.

Gene with a colorful speck

A short boat ride over to Tangier Island brought us a change in tide and a few nice rockfish. After a bit, we decided to try the old Davidson wreck – or what’s left of it – and found beautiful water and eager bluefish. While not as big as they were in June, scrappy fighters all the same. With a couple of hours left on the meter we headed for the shallow flats between Tangier and Smith Island. Fishing grass-covered flats and some gorgeous tidal rips we managed stripers and a few speckled trout. Gene had the best speck at maybe 19 inches. A quick stop on an unmarked(and mostly unknown) flat provided a few more rockfish to send us happily on our way. Hard fighters these rockfish, and again hugging the stumps. Looks like if the wind ever lays down it’s going to be a great fall on Tangier.

Mark and John casting to structure

Friday, I was joined by Mark Pohlhaus and John Meyers, two longtime friends. We fished a half day out of Madison on the Little Choptank casting Stillwater Smack-it! poppers to shallow water stripers. John had the hot hand and managed to coax some explosive strikes from the scrappy stripers. Nothing like the sound of a rockfish inhaling a topwater lure. The water was crystal clear – perhaps too much so – but we still managed to land enough stripes to make a good morning of it. Bald Eagles kept us company as we searched the shallows for stripers.

Tony started the day off right!

Jim Smith and friends Tony Dale and David Claghorn joined me on Saturday for a half day on the Little Choptank. While breezy conditions greeted us as we entered the river, the stripers were right where we left them on Friday. David managed several nice rockfish right off the bat and Tony caught a beautiful five pound fish on a Stillwater.

I cranked-up the Yamaha with the intention of fishing upriver a bit but we never made it. Tony was the first to spot the birds and we spent the better part of two hours chasing breaking rock and blues with fly rods. The wind had died down and Tony and David had a blast using the long wands while Jim kept pace with his spinning combo. All-in-all a nice way to end a picture perfect morning on the

David hooked up on fly

Little Choptank. Several times during the day, Jim had fish boiling right around the boat. And this surface activity is just getting started!

Jim staring down boiling rockfish

Yesterday, Scott Evander and Bob Lepczyk met me bright and early at Madison with hope of a repeat of the past weekend’s action. Sorry to say it never happened – it was even better! While the day started off with a fish here and there – enough to keep the guys interested – we took a slack period to go look for the breakers of last Saturday. While we found a few blues and rock on the fly, it was not the explosive action of Saturday.

Bob with a nice fish on topwater

With the wind laying down and the tide getting right we opted to finish the day where we started. Casting Stillwater Smack-it! poppers in the shallows along the eastern side of the bay we watched as rockfish after rockfish smashed, crashed and swatted our offerings. Some even becoming airborne in their attempt to grab the poppers. The action was hot and we left ’em biting as Scott had to get home for his son’s football game. The rain and overcast conditions definitely kept the rock in the shallows long past their usual limit.

Scott and his rockfish

I’ll try to crank out the reports as fast as possible, but I’ll be fishing almost every day during October, so bear with me. Please feel free to email or call for the latest scoop on this fantastic shallow water action.

 
My best,
 
Kevin

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Fishing Reports

Josenhans Fly Fishing Newsletter 9/16/10

16 09 2010
When I started this newsletter, a good friend said he was surprised to hear that I intended to write a report every week, like maybe I was being overly ambitious. Turns out he knew more than I did. Oh well, I’ll do my best to keep them coming as regular as possible.
 
I took a little time off the past two weeks, for the holidays, and a weekend trip to Williamsburg with the family. I’m going to need the rest because the schedule is fast filling-up for the remainder of the late summer and fall season. If you are at all interested in a trip, please let me know soon so I don’t leave anyone out. I expect some great fall fishing on Tangier Sound over the course of the next two months.
 
My lone trip of late was a super fun day with Pat Weixel, his wife Judy and their four wonderful children Jimmy, Brendan, Annie and Kate. These kids sure had a blast fishing the creeks and marsh banks of Tangier Sound, within a stones throw of Crisfield. We decided to bait-fish for the most part, to give even the youngest a chance to catch a lot of fish and the tactic paid off. I started out the morning scooping up a dozen and a half rank peelers (down here, rank means ready to shed their shell and become a soft crab in a matter of hours) from the floats of Dryden Seafood. We decided to do the fishing in shifts, as there were six of them, one of me and my 20 foot Jones Brothers. Safety comes first.
 
The wind was blowing a bit, so for most of the day the routine was to look for a protected spot near a marsh bank, toss the anchor and then fish bits of peeler crab on a standard bottom rig. After a slow start with bait-stealing crabs, and several moves, we finally dialed in to the fish. Everyone caught fish, including speckled trout, rockfish, bluefish, weakfish (gray trout) and spot. I think the total tally for specks was near 50 fish!!  Many were close to 10 …………      inches. In fact, all of the speckled trout were in the 9 to 12 inch range. Sure was great to see these little buggers and hopefully this will bring some great speck fishing next season. They grow fast and will be of legal size next year.  The kids were all great fishermen, casting was for the most part uneventful (I only had to duck a handful of times :-)) and their endurance was better than mine. It truly was one of the best times I have had on the water this season. Here are some photos of the day. Sorry some of them seem smudged, I think that was speckled trout slime on the lens 🙂
Till next week…
Kevin
 

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Fishing Reports

Josenhans Fly Fishing Newsletter

3 09 2010
Poppers, Breakers and Perch!
 
We had quite the variety last week while fishing both the Big and Little Choptank rivers. Evening shallow water trips produced good popper fishing for rockfish near the mouth of the Little Choptank, while during the afternoon we were kept busy with surface feeding bluefish and stripers. One day, we even found some white perch eager to please on ultra light gear while casting beetle spin lures along the shoreline of the Choptank. Speckled trout are making a showing down in Tangier Sound and that is where I’ll be heading next week. The speck fishing should get better as September drags on..
 
Last Wednesday, Bernie Kemp and his lovely wife Susan fished with me out of Madison with the goal of some skinny-water popper action right before dark. Until then, it was off to Sharps Island flats to chase schools of breaking blues and rockfish. The action was sporadic, but we did find a few schools that held our attention while waiting for the sun to creep lower on the horizon. Around 6:00 P.M. after having our fill of the run-and-gun action with the fickle blues it was off to the shallows. It was just after 7:00 P.M. when, out-of-the-blue, we had the first blow-up. We landed a few stripers here and there until, at the peak of the action, Susan was getting hits on nearly every cast. No monsters came to the boat but both Bernie and Susan managed to land rock to 23 inches, all on Stillwater Smack’it! poppers. Then, like someone flipped a switch, the action stopped abruptly at 7:55. That’s been the story for these shallow water fish of late. You get perhaps an hour of adrenaline pumping action followed by silence. Alas, the nature of summer topwater.
 
Friday, I had a morning trip in the same area with John Daw and Jim Smith and their two grown sons. It seemed the closer we got to the fishing grounds the harder the wind blew. A nor’easter was kicking up a surf in the shallows that made it a chore to keep the poppers from skipping wave-top to wave-top. It failed to help the water clarity situation as well. As wind and tide were working together with the drift, it made it necessary to repeatedly anchor over previously productive spots. The fishing was sporadic, however the guys did manage to catch a few nice fish, and all told we had maybe ten to twelve blow-ups on poppers. We explored some additional shoreline structure in the immediate area and managed to scare up some schoolie stripers here and there. It was a fun morning and the guys learned a lot about the local area. The wind died to nothing as we ended the trip. Doesn’t it always..
Saturday afternoon I met Ernie Rojas and friends Mo and Dan at the public ramp in Cambridge – the one right behind the hospital. This is a beautiful facility with floating docks and convenient access to the entire Choptank River area. The guys were so excited to go that they started the trip off by catching perch at the ramp while I was busy parking the truck. After a short run down-river, we began drifting a shoreline along the north bank in just four feet of water. Perch hook-ups came almost immediately. Doubles and triples were common, but big fish were not. That said, the guys were having so much fun catching the smallish perch that I don’t think it really mattered.
After about an hour Mo heard me mention there might be some blues in the area and we were off to the bay proper in search of breakers. It didn’t take long, as just past the southern tip of Tilghman Island we saw birds. The schools were mixed rock and blues, not big, but plenty of action. The guys were well suited for this run-and-gun type fishing and the bay was ‘slick cam’, making it easy on the captain. We chased these fish for the better part of two hours with double hook-ups common. Take it from me, Ernie, Mo and Dan have FUN when they are fishing. Enthusiastic doesn’t begin to describe it!
With less than two hours of daylight remaining and a twenty minute run to the shallow water spot, we left fish to find fish, hoping for some popper action. Upon arriving, Ernie struck first with a rockfish that smashed his popper while being retrieved through a maze of limbs and logs. That fish eventually found freedom but it was just the start. Mo and Dan had never done the skinny-water popper thing and they had a blast. Rock of a larger grade made the hearts jump of both Dan and Mo as the blow-up was always unexpected and quite explosive. Everyone landed a few and Dan lost a very nice fish that charged under the boat. There were smiles all around as the sun finally disappeared below the horizon and we called it a day. Really looking forward to having you guys back!
It was a fun summer fishing out of the Little Choptank and while I’ll be back a few times this fall, I’ll probably be spending most of my time in Tangier Sound fishing out of Crisfield. The variety is greater and the shallow water fishing can be fast and furious. The scenery speaks for itself. My October dates are quickly being filled, so let me know soon to get the best of what’s remaining. I should be catching fish out of Crisfield until at least Thanksgiving and then it’s off to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in Virginia for some BIG stripers during the month of December. 
 
My best,
 
Kevin

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Fishing Reports

Josenhans Fly Fishing Newsletter

23 08 2010
Greetings,
 
Short report. I took a week off while my boat had some minor work done to the tilt/trim unit, now it’s ready to go for a long fall season. I did manage to get out today for some white perch fishing on the Choptank River. Mid-day, bright sun, low tide, dirty water and still managed to catch about 40 perch in a couple hours of fishing. Nothing real big but a blast on light tackle. Cast Beetle-Spin lures of 1/8th ounce did the trick. This is a lot of fun and they should be even bigger with better water conditions. Caught a couple YOY rockfish of around eight inches as well. Good to see those guys.
 
Three trips between now and Saturday so it’s back to stripers, blues and maybe some spanish macks. I think Saturday’s trip starts off with the perch so it looks like I’ll start the day off with some fast action. Hope to have a great report for you all next week. Topwater rockfish is still going strong and next Monday and Tuesday are the last two days for the six hour summer rates. If you would like to take advantage of some fun fishing let me know soon!
 
Tight Lines till next week,
 
Kevin 

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Fishing Reports

Josenhans Fly Fishing Newsletter

11 08 2010
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!
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

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Fishing Reports

Josenhans Fly Fishing Newsletter

2 08 2010
Hi All,
 
I had a fairly busy week since my last report and some nice weather for a change. I hope the 100 degree days are behind us. Fishing both the mid-bay out of the Little Choptank along with Tangier Sound out of Crisfield brought some outstanding catches, especially considering the heat of this summer. The water temperature at the mouth of the Little Choptank on Monday was 86 degrees – yikes! Lower Tangier Sound was somewhat cooler at 82 degrees. This hasn’t lessened the appetite of the fish, however.
 
This past Monday was a scouting day for me and I managed to spot a few schools of breaking bluefish in the vicinity of Sharps Island Light. These were fairly nice fish in the two to four pound range. Right before dark I slipped into the shallows for some popper action and the rockfish were still there with one 30 inch fish brought boatside, along with several more in the 20 – 26 inch range. At one point the water erupted when a large school of rock ambushed a pod of silversides drifting through a shallow water tide rip. What a site to see in four feet of water.
The next evening I fished with Matt Zuiderhof and his friend Brian Holt. We pulled away from the ramp in Madison on the Little Choptank at around 2:30 P.M. After a moderate sail up towards Sharps Island Light – all the while searching high and low for any signs of breaking bluefish – we finally found a school that stayed up for awhile.  We caught maybe six to ten nice blues up to 4 1/2 pounds. Once hooked, I do believe the blues were out of the water as much as they were in, as they did a tarpon proud with their tail walking theatrics. There were several small stripers mixed in with the blues. Like Monday, we traveled to the shallows for some evening popper fishing. While we managed a few fish late on poppers, the hot ticket tonight was a Storm Wildeye Shad. For the better part of two hours Matt and Brian caught rock after rock, with extended periods of fish on every cast. These were nice fish too, with most in the 20 to 24 inch range. Largest fish tonight was maybe 26 inches and I figure the guys boated over 40 stripers. Sorry no pictures, we were all kind of busy.
Friday evening I headed south to Tangier Sound to fish with Ernie Rojas, Rob Allen and George Lenard, all of the CCA’s Northern Virginia Chapter.  With a stiff 15 – 20K northerly wind greeting us as we entered the sound, we decided to head to the lee side of some islands and look for clean water. Found what we were looking for and after trying several spots we found some hungry stripers. While not coming in every cast the fish were of decent size, averaging 20 to 25 inches. Rob and George were the top rockfish producers, while Ernie added a few nice stripers and also boated three monster croaker to 17 inches. Wish I could get more folks to fish for these hard-fighting cousins to the red drum, they sure do put up a battle. George is the owner of Specialized Baits, and his Li’l Jimy bucktail jig was the top producer. Check out George’s line of custom-tied baits at www.specializedbaits.com, they are true works of art!
Saturday morning’s crew was the same as Friday. We took in a picture perfect sunrise and calm seas while enroute to the fishing grounds.
Beautiful sunrise and calm seas. Photo by Ernie Rojas.
  With perfect conditions, Saturday was all topwater. Rob was first to hook-up on a Stillwater Smack-it popper with a nice six pound striper. I believe Rob was also top rod for the day, he had that popper talking to ’em. 
The rock were smacking the poppers all over the place in just four feet of water until the sun got up too high and the action slowed. George was still able to coax in a few with his Li’l Jimy. We didn’t get any of the 30 inch fish of previous trips, but approximately 12 – 15 rock in the 20 – 26 inch range came aboard during the morning’s action, in addition to those that missed the popper on the first swipe. A brief stint out in the bay near the target ships netted us a handful of blues and that was about it for the day. Decent sized fish on topwater and good friends made the morning a rousing success.
 
Heard a report of some puppy drum (redfish) being caught on bait, so I’ll be looking for them to start coming in the boat along with the rockfish. I’ll keep you posted.
 
Till next week,
 
Kevin

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Fishing Reports

Josenhans Fly Fishing Newsletter

22 07 2010
Little Choptank Rockfish – Here you go, my latest weekly newsletter – available bi-monthly! Sorry about that, but where does the time go? I’ve been fishing fairly often with some good to outstanding catches to report. We had another of those mornings with BIG stripers crashing topwater plugs, and I really do believe if the wind would cooperate we would see this type action most every morning; but I’ll get to that in a moment. Here is a sample of what has been going on in my neck of the woods.
 
Maurice Klein and his younger brother Paul joined me for an early morning excursion on the Little Choptank river one day last week. We cast Stillwater Smack-it poppers and Storm Chugbugs around shoreline structure with limited early success. I was beginning to get a little nervous, as guides tend to do on half day trips, when the tide turned and brought clean water to the fishing grounds. We started to have some decent action with stripers to 23 inches crashing our topwater offerings. It would have been an even better morning had we not lost the three biggest fish of the day. Fish that looked to be upwards of 26 inches exploded on the popper only to immediately find structure and promptly remove themselves from the plug. Such is skinny water structure fishing. We still got to observe the explosive strike and initial run, however brief it may have been.
A second trip to the same area with Chris Karwacki Jr. and his wife Heather brought slightly different results. After another slow start (why am I getting up so early) we had some super fly rod action on small school stripers right before noon. While not the big fish we had been anticipating, there is nothing wrong with catching 14″ – 18″ rockfish every cast on an 8 wt. fly rod. Heather managed her first ever fly caught striped bass, to add to her growing list of fly caught species. Nice job Heather! The thirty or so stripers caught during the last hour made the trip a complete success. 
Jack McKenna made a trip to Crisfield with me in hopes of snagging a ten pound striper on a fly rod. Well, we got it half right. While Jack had some good action on rock to 23″ on the fly, the guide made the mistake of catching the three biggest fish of the day, all over 30″. The biggest stretched out at 32″ and yanked the boga down to eleven pounds. The big fish were simply exploding on Stillwater and Storm poppers, some even jumping clear of the water, but they would not even look at the fly popper, no matter the size. We tried the pop-n-switch to no avail. I guess the axiom big baits-big fish holds true. To his credit, Jack was content to catch the slightly smaller fish on the fly, and he refused to allow me to keep my line in the boat. All fish were landed in short order and swam away with a healthy kick. July has seen some unbelievable topwater fishing, and it sure is a sight to behold when the bite is on! If you missed the spring flats fishery, come try this while it lasts. 
Just yesterday I had a trip to the same area out of Crisfield but the forecast 5 – 10 mph winds were blowing at a steady 15 – 20. The water was a mess when we arrived and my three fishermen, Dennis Smith, Gary Burnett and his son Jeremy were quite content catching smaller stripers in the two to three pound range. A common key for the topwater bite has been finding clear water – it’s an absolute must. We spent the remainder of the day casting to 2 – 4 pound bluefish, most of which provided us with great head-shaking aerial displays. Super fun on light spinning tackle. All-in-all a great two weeks!
 
Tight lines until next time,
 
Kevin

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Fishing Reports

Josenhans Fly Fishing Newsletter

8 07 2010
Tangier Topwater! 
Had some hot fishing recently so I wanted to get this out there before it cools down (not the weather, I think that’s here to stay).
Last Saturday I fished with David Brown and his eight year old son Owen. It was a beautiful day, but with a bit of wind. Owen said he was game so we made the long trek to the western side of Tangier Sound and points south. As we began casting shad tails on quarter ounce jig heads the fishing was not exactly what you would call fast. After some searching, with just a fish or two to show for our efforts, Owen latched on to something big and fought it like a seasoned pro. It was touch and go for awhile, but Owen gained the upper hand and after a good battle he managed to bring the fish boatside. It was a beautiful seven pound striper! Way to go Owen!! After a few quick photos we released the fish to fight another day. We quickly caught a few more stripers but Owen’s fish took top honors for the day. It was a half day trip so we made it back to the dock in Crisfield just in time for lunch. 
Yesterday’s trip was one for the record books! Steve Evander booked a trip to catch some of the 2 – 4 pound bluefish that we have been battling while fishing in the main bay west of Smith and Tangier islands. I suggested we start early to see if we could have some fun casting poppers to rockfish in the shallows before we head out into the bay. And fun we had! The very first fish came on a Storm Chug Bug popper and yanked the boga down to the 12 pound mark! Not bad for a mid-summer striper on light tackle. That would have made most anyone’s day but Scott wasn’t finished. He proceeded to watch as big stripers slammed that Chug Bug all over the place. Fish after fish came to boatside and most all were in the 5 to 10 pound range. We both commented that it was just like fishing on the Susquehanna Flats! All this occured in five feet of water.
Sorry to say the blues never really turned on later that day, but after the morning we had no one seemed to notice. We’ll get them next trip.
 
We have been enjoying some super topwater action on nice-sized stripers for the past three weeks. There are also reports of more breaking bluefish and rockfish in the mid-bay so fishing is starting to come around nicely. Don’t forget the Little Choptank six hour trip deal for just $300. Four hour trips out of Crisfield for the same price.
 
Till next week…
 
Kevin 

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Fishing Reports

Josenhans Fly Fishing Newsletter

2 07 2010
Hi Everyone,
 
Just a short report this week to let you know I’m still alive and well. The striper fishing has definitely become a low-light deal. Early morning and late evening has produced rockfish in the shallows casting poppers and plastics, There are a few spots where you can catch them all during the day if you have clean water and a good current. Not taking many pictures due to the very warm water and stress this puts on the fish. Please take care to release them gently and quickly this time of the year. 
Had an evening trip last night and the rock were feeding on large schools of silversides and baby bunker. Didn’t get the first smack on a popper until 7:45 PM. Late or early is definitely the name of the game for topwater. Nice fish though. Bait was so thick the water looked like silverside soup!! Will try to get some pics of the bait with my polarized lens so you can see just how thick these schools are. Like a grocery store for the stripers.
 
Bluefish can still be had in the main bay off Smith and Tangier Islands. Look for signs of surface activity. The blues will sometimes feed all day, as sunlight doesn’t seem to bother them. Some big croaker are around deepwater structure and more flounder are moving in.
Till next week,
 
Kevin

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Fishing Reports

« Previous Entries Next Entries »