Josenhans FF ~ 160+ Years of Experience

3 07 2011

Werner Gruber from a previous trip

On Wednesday, June 22 I fished with probably my favorite fishing companions in Jack McKenna and Werner Gruber. Jack mentioned to me in between casts that between the two of them I had over 160 years of experience on the boat! Jack will celebrate his 80th birthday this summer and Werner reached that milestone a few years back. You wouldn’t know it by their youthful approach to fishing. In fact, I have to do my best to keep up with the both of them, they don’t take many breaks!

The fishing this day wasn’t spectacular, but we accomplished what we set out to do. Electing to forego the stripers in anticipation of some tasty flounder fillets, we decided to head right to the flounder grounds. We were greeted with about a half-dozen other boats that had been thinking the same thing. It appeared everyone was playing nice, so we entered the drift as a slot came open and started to pick at the flounder. Werner was first with a nice-looking 20 incher, and as he brought the fish to the boat, the net man (guess who) flubbed it. Air ball! I could have sworn I had that fish in the bag, but the evidence proved otherwise. Sorry Werner. I made out better with the next two, including a beautiful 23 inch fish. Then the fishing slowed.

Jack can fly fish with the best of them

With all the competing boats it was taking longer than usual to cover the good areas of the drift, so we departed to try for some blues, a favorite of Werner’s. The bluefish were by no means thick, but we did have a flurry or two and some hard pulls from blues averaging three-pounds. Jack managed a nice 20-inch fish on his G. Loomis GL3 9 wt. There was just enough action this day to keep things interesting and with the great company we all had a great time. Enjoyed the trip guys!! No photos from this day, but here are a couple from past trips.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories : Fishing Reports

Josenhans FF ~ Fun with Bluefish

15 06 2011

Kyle with one of his many blues

Bluefish continue to bail me out when the mid-day striper bite slows, but I’m not complaining. I’ll take a 20 inch blue anytime over a 20 inch rockfish. The guys and gals are having a great time with this hard-fighting summer gamefish.

Saturday, June 4 – Today I enjoyed the company of Bert Massengale, his 13-year-old son Kyle and Bert’s mother Joann. It was Bert’s first trip with me, and while talking on the way to the fishing grounds I had mentioned to him that it is always good to start and end the day on a high note. Well, as luck would have it.. Pulling up to the first spot we caught some nice stripers right off the bat. It quickly became apparent that this was to be Kyle’s day. A number of nice rockfish were brought boatside with Kyle doing much of the catching. Bert got in on the action as well, and for an hour or so we had rock to 24 inches coming in the boat. Things cooled off just as fast as they started, and for a couple of hours it was slow fishing. I decided to make a run across the sound to a favorite bluefish hangout and the fish didn’t disappoint. For the remainder of the day, the entire Massengale family enjoyed some fantastic light tackle action with blues averaging 18 to 20 inches. “My new favorite fish” said Bert, as none of the family had ever before caught a blue. The feather-light G.Loomis Pro-Green rods were a perfect match for the hard-fighting blues. What a great way to break-in the family on Tangier Sound fishing.

Kyle was top dog with the stripers

Joann Massengale with a nice bluefish

Bert's "new favorite fish"

Storm Rattlin' Chug Bug

Monday, June 6 – Norm Bayer, Bob Hedrick and Joe Lundin joined me today for a six-hour trip on the lower portion of Tangier Sound. We had “slick cam” conditions, as the locals say, so we were able to quickly make the long trip from Crisfield to the lower end of Tangier Sound. We were hoping for some big rock on poppers at first light. It started off with a bang as two 26 inch rock inhaled our offerings and put up a great fight in the shallow water. Storm Rattlin’ Chug Bugs were the ticket this morning. The Rattlin’ Chug Bug is a great popper for this type of fishing as it pops and splashes effortlessly, rarely tangles, and the best part is the hooks don’t rust. The stripers love ’em! Unfortunately, with the sun rising fast to the east the bite suddenly turned off. Searching here and there we picked up another small striper, or three, but unlike the weather the action was anything but hot. Thinking of Saturday, I again traveled across the sound to the bluefish hole and, like Saturday, the blues were ready and waiting. In almost a carbon copy of the previous trip we had three hours of non-stop action with the blues. Norm’s Rapala Trigger X was like candy to the blues, and surprisingly long-lasting considering the blues razor-sharp teeth. No tail bite-offs with the Trigger X. This is Rapala’s answer to the Berkley Gulp! and I was impressed. Bob was doing his best to keep up with the fly rod and the blues were more than willing to oblige. Another day saved by the bluefish.

Tuesday, June 7 – Joe DeMeo and friends Joe and Chen fished with me on the Little Choptank out of Madison hoping for a mixed bag of croaker and rockfish. With a good supply of fresh peeler crab we headed to some hard bottom to try to put some croaker in the box. To make a long story short, it was not meant to be. A couple of croaker and the same number of large cow nose rays were all we had to show for our efforts. The evening shallow water striper bite wasn’t much better. The shallows were murky at best, due in part to a strong southerly breeze that had kicked up, and I think we are still a bit early for the good topwater rockfish bite that we experienced last summer. We’ll get ’em next time guys, thanks for the gallant effort!


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories : Fishing Reports

JFF ~ Topwater Stripers and Blues – Part 1

3 06 2011

The early morning striper top water bite is just beginning to take-off, and if conditions are favorable the action can be hot & heavy during periods of low-light. Sunrise is currently around 5:40 a.m. so you need to get up pretty early for the best action, and the bigger fish. After the surface bite slows we have been traveling to the main bay for some pretty good bluefish action on light spinning and fly rods. The blues have been averaging 18 to 22 inches and are a blast on this light tackle. Speckled trout are reportedly increasing in numbers, but we have opted for the hard-fighting blues, of late. Here is a brief rundown of some recent trips.

Last Monday, Tom Decker and Tushar Irani joined me for a morning topwater excursion on the Little Choptank River out of Madison. The water condition was not the best due to a strong southerly breeze and the ever-present cow nose rays. Not three casts into the day and Tushar hooked and landed a nice 24 inch rockfish on a Stillwater  popper. Another hour of battling the wind produced little so we retreated into the river proper where we worked the points and rips to no avail. If the tide had been more favorable I think we would have had cleaner water and different results – wind or no wind. Once the dirty water clears this area should become a hotspot for topwater rockfish.

On Wednesday morning, Jack McKenna met me at Somers Cove in Crisfield with fly rod in hand. It was to be all fly fishing today and I was hoping to get Jack into some of the bluefish that we have been catching out on the lumps of the main bay. The blues did not disappoint.  After a slow morning with rock in the shallows (full of May worms) we made the trek to the bay and immediately found the blues schooled-up and hungry. For the next two hours Jack caught blue after blue from 18 to 20 inches on a 7 wt. At one point Jack handed me the rod and said “catch a few, I’m taking a break!” There’s no quit in these hard-fighting gamefish. Our day ended with the blues biting – always a good sign as a guide – and Jack had a tired and happy expression that I won’t soon forget.

Saturday, it was back to the Little Choptank where, once again, we were met with a breeze and cloudy water. I believe we still have some remnants of the spring rains clinging to this area, and the unsettled weather of late hasn’t helped things. Mike Schenking and his friend John gave it their all at a few favorite topwater spots with just one blow-up to show for their efforts. It was a very nice fish that in short order cut John off on a barnacle-encrusted stump. John did everything right, but where we were fishing the striper had a definite home field advantage. After a brief jaunt to the False Channel in an attempt to jig up a few stripers, the wind let us know this was a bad idea and we returned to the shallows of the Little C. We plugged along for the remainder of the day casting soft plastics to favorite stretches of shoreline while picking up the occasional small striper. Nice to see the smaller fish are somewhat plentiful after the reported poor spawns of the previous three years. On another bright note, John received a text from a buddy that the morning crabbing was very good. There are some very nice fish in this area and I’m going to keep at it until everything clicks. Hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later.

 


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Fishing Reports

Josenhans FF ~ May 16 – Week in Review

26 05 2011

Maurice with a nice rock

I’ve been fishing a lot lately and once again I apologize for the tardiness of these reports. For the most part fishing has been very good. On a couple of days the wind and dirty water (partly from cow nose rays) has forced us to do a little searching, but we usually found something to catch. Last Monday and Tuesday I had the pleasure of fishing with good friends Maurice Klein and Gene Jones. Maurice was one of my very first clients as I was just beginning my guide business over 18 years ago, and he has fished with me every year since! Thanks for the continued support Maurice.

Gene not to be outdone

Monday we had a great day with stripers casting shad tails on 3/8 oz. jig heads. The fish were holding tight to the marsh bank as we had extreme high tides caused by the full moon. The incoming tide was pushing the bait (silversides) up tight to the bank and the stripers followed. All told the guys probably landed 40-50 rockfish in the 18 to 24 inch range. Tuesday was a bit tougher day, as very strong SE winds kept us on the eastern side of Tangier Sound. We found clean water around Janes Island and managed to have a slow but steady pick of rock in the 16 to 21 inch range. Maurice boated the first speckled trout of the year on a chartreuse shad. We found the clear water in a sheltered grass bed on the west side of Janes Island.

Wednesday I was joined by Pete Knox, Jim Smith and Walter Barczak for a six-hour trip doing some deep water jigging in the mid-bay area. Drifting over school after school of stripers we landed perhaps forty nice rock in the 14 to 27 inch range. Pete took top honors with a fat 8-1/2 pound beauty. All fish were caught drifting 5-inch Bass Assassins on 3/4 ounce heads in 20-30 foot of water. The water of the mid-bay still has a slight brown tint to it from the floodwaters up north. I sure hope this dirty cloud is flushed out soon.

Walter with a fat rock under ominous skies

Jim getting in on the action

Pete with his "2nd" biggest for the day

Ralph with a "corn fed" striper

Thursday was one of those days that you generally read about in a saltwater fishing magazine. My client for the day, Ralph Bones, could do no wrong. We started off the morning casting Stillwater Smack-it poppers to rock up to 24 inches. The fish aggressively attacked the popper as it slurped, rattled and gurgled over barely four feet of water. This shallow water popper fishing is just beginning to heat up, and should reach its peak in mid-July. Last season we enjoyed a great topwater bite throughout the summer months. Call or email if you would like to get in on some of this exciting action. After the shallow water bite slowed we decided to try some structure out in the main bay. As I eased the Jones Brothers up to my mark the fish finder came alive with fish-arches of all sizes and shapes. For the next four hours, Ralph caught rock and blues on fly and spin tackle. The bluefish averaged 18 to 20 inches and put up a hard battle on the light tackle. A special treat for Ralph was watching rockfish smacking a Bob’s Banger fly rod popper  all over the calm waters of the bay. Ralph estimated that he had probably boated nearly 100 fish, as he was constantly hooked-up. What a day!

Ralph had a blast with the fly rod

Kirk's fly rod reward

On Friday, I made the mistake of breaking a cardinal rule of guiding – never tell today’s client about the truly fantastic day you had yesterday.  Kirk Grassett and Nick DelleDonne (owner of The Evening Rise ) met me at the ramp in Crisfield just as the sun began to show itself over the horizon. After a bumpy 40 minute boat-ride, I pulled up to the site of the previous day’s early popper bite. By this time, I had already fueled Kirk and Nick’s expectations with visions of yesterday’s non-stop action. You guessed it, not so much as a swirl after our poppers. Nada! Nothing! We tried switching to sub-surface flies. Nick immediately had a nice fish grab his fly as it dangled over the side of the boat. Just as fast, the fly was cut-off on some structure. That seems to be the ticket, I thought. Maybe an hour and one fish later I discovered the ticket had expired. We moved to several nearby spots and both Kirk and Nick slowly began to pick up a nice rock here and there. The strikes were coming slowly so I opted for the deep-water structure where it all happened the day before. With a strong north wind and even stronger ebbing tide, the site of the previous days phenomenal action proved simply too difficult to fish. Not to mention that there was not a fish showing on the finder. Nick had a nice hit  on a fly popper and that was it. We returned to a flood-tide spot that I like and finished off the day catching stripers in the 17 to 21 inch range. Enough to keep it interesting and the guys had a great time on a beautiful day on the water.

Debra's first light tackle striper

Saturday proved to be a tough bite as well, with breezy conditions, cow nose rays and stained water. Fishing with me were fellow eastern shore residents Jim and Debra Drayton. After a quick fly casting session for Debra – who picked up the idiosyncracies of casting a sink-tip line remarkably fast – we headed to the lee of Tangier Island. Finding some relatively clean water behind the island Debra caught her very first light tackle rockfish. Great job Debra! Jim added to the creel and for the remainder of the day we bounced around from spot-to-spot catching a striper here and there. The day was gorgeous, Tangier Island provided a beautiful back-drop and I have rarely seen two people enjoy a day of fishing more that Jim and Debra.  They even managed to take home two 21 inch rock for the evening meal. I really enjoyed your company guys and hope to do it again soon!

Jim with a nice rock on a bright cloudless day


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Fishing Reports

Josenhans FF ~ G.Loomis NRX

10 04 2011

The new G.Loomis NRX is on my boat and ready for fun! Come out and try it!!
“>


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: ,
Categories : Fishing Reports

Josenhans FF ~ Ready for the Flats

4 04 2011

43" Susquehanna Flats rock on fly

I had the boat in the shop this past week to replace a clogged fuel filter in the engine. I think this HPDI has about four of the things in the gas line. It’s a wonder any gas gets through at all. Ethanol seems to be the culprit in this case as it’s cleaning out my inboard fuel tank and sending all that crud through to the engine. Thinking about switching to ethanol free fuel. I’ve got a trip or two on the Pocomoke this week for crappie, bass, etc. and then I’ll be heading up to the Susky flats. I’m just about booked solid starting next Monday, but I still have two days open before the season ends on May 3. If anyone wants one of these last two dates, now is the time to call. I have a few guys on standby should the fishing get hot, but the early bird gets the rockfish. Still a few spots left for a half day evening topwater trip as well.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Fishing Reports

Josenhans FF ~ Pickerel on the Fly

10 03 2011

For the past several weeks Baltimore fly fishing guru Joe Bruce and I have been trying to get together for a trip to the Pocomoke River. It has been quite a while since Joe has wet a line on this river, and hearing I have been catching some bass and pickerel – Joe wanted to give it a shot. He especially wanted to try out his new fly pattern, the Bullethead Darter. This past Wednesday, we met at Byrd Park in Snow Hill for a late morning/afternoon trip along the Pocomoke. I have to be honest, it proved to be a long slow afternoon of fishing. We only managed to bring three pickerel to the boat, while fishing in rather breezy conditions. Just ten days ago I thought I had these toothy critters figured out, but just when you think that, fish have a way of humbling you.

Joe with pickerel fooled by Bullethead Darter

On the positive side, Joe’s new fly worked as advertised. While Bulletheads have been around for a while in one form or another, Joe’s Bullethead Darter is different. It’s simple in design yet highly effective. Tied with Icelandic wool, the fly has incredible action, even while stationary in the water. And that’s the neat thing about the Bullethead Darter is its neutral buoyancy when there is a pause in the retrieve. The fly simply sits there and ‘breathes,’ like a minnow trying to determine its next move. The combination of materials that Joe has put together, when cast on an intermediate line, really makes the fly come alive. Joe stresses to use a long (7-1/2 foot) tapered leader, so that as the slow sinking line seeks the bottom, the fly will remain suspended, thus more visible to the fish.  The fly is available at Tochterman’s Fishing Tackle in Baltimore by calling (410) 327-6942, or directly from Joe on his Web site at http://www.joebrucephotography.com/index.html


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Fishing Reports

Next Entries »