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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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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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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Josenhans Fly Fishing ~ “There’s No Place Like Home”

9 05 2012

After 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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Josenhans FF ~ January Newsletter

21 01 2012

Josenhans Fly Fishing = Fly Fishing & Light Tackle Charters

While the name may say “fly fishing,” most of you are aware that I am certainly no stranger to the spinning rod. I carry quality G.Loomis rods and Shimano Stradic spinning reels for your use. In addition, you are more than welcome to bring along your own tackle on your guided trip.  I always love to compare tackle and techniques with my fellow anglers.

In gearing-up for the 2012 fishing season one of my first steps is this slightly overdue newsletter. During the past few weeks, I have made the occasional trip to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT) with some nice rockfish being caught on both fly and spin tackle. Take a look at the fishing reports section of my blog for the latest in CBBT action. The next couple of months will also yield some very good light tackle and fly fishing action on the Pocomoke River. See below for trip info. Now for a brief rundown on what to expect in the coming weeks and months.

Pocomoke River Yellow Perch

Fishing Opportunities in 2012 

Pocomoke River – I am currently booking trips on the scenic and wild Pocomoke River. We’ll put-in at the Byrd Park ramp in Snow Hill, Maryland where we will chase yellow perch, crappie, pickerel and largemouth bass. This is a great way to spend a midwinter’s day casting ultra-light spinning or fly tackle. The winding nature of the Pocomoke creates many protected and productive shorelines that can be fished comfortably, even as cool winter breezes keep bay boaters in port.  The all-inclusive cost for a six-hour trip is only $275 and I’ll supply the coffee and donuts. Take a look here for some of last season’s Pocomoke action Pocomoke River Fishing 2011.

Pocomoke River Pickerel

March White Perch –  Beginning around the first of March I will be guiding clients to some terrific white perch action on the Nanticoke River out of Sharptown, Maryland. This is a fun trip for adults and kids, as there is always plenty of action. When the run is on, the perch generally average 10 to 12 inches, with fish of 13 inches or greater caught every season. This was one of my most popular trips last spring, and with the peak of the run  lasting maybe three weeks, it’s best to get your name on the books today! Check out some of last season’s action at Nanticoke White Perch 

Nanticoke River White Perch

Susquehanna Flats – Even though last season’s flats fishing was a bust, I believe that with this winter’s low snowfall (so far) amounts, this coming spring’s catch & release flats fishery could prove to be outstanding.  There have been good numbers of big fish in the lower bay and offshore of the Virginia Capes; so I’m looking forward to a big migration towards the Susky this spring. I have some good dates available during the peak period of the last two weeks in April, so book early to get the day you want. 

Red Drum at Fisherman’s Island, VA –  I have had quite a few requests to make the trek to the barrier islands of Virginia near the CBBT to try for trophy red drum during the spring run. There has been a super fishery for the past few years with big reds averaging 30 to 50 pounds. While much of this is fishing live bait, on good weather days these fish can be caught casting bucktail jigs, spoons and flies. If you would be interested in this type of trip, please let me know well in advance. The timetable for this will be the first week or two of May. 

Tangier Sound Flounder and Croaker

Tangier Sound Spring/Summer Fishing – What with the mild winter weather we have experienced, I really expect to see some great speckled trout fishing beginning around the first of May. We caught some BIG specks last fall, and a spring run of big pre-spawn trout is long overdue. Don’t miss out on the return of this great shallow water gamefish. Flounder fishing was off-the-charts last summer and I am hopeful for more of the same in 2012. Bluefish provided fantastic light-tackle action throughout the late spring and summer months in 2011, especially for fly-fishers looking for a good fight on the long wand. The early morning rockfish bite was very good at times, as big stripers smacked out Storm and Stillwater poppers all over the sound. There is plenty to do while fishing out of Crisfield.  

Big Tangier Sound Speckled Trout

Winter Speaking Engagements – I will be speaking at several fishing club meetings and events in the coming months, so if you’re in the neighborhood stop in and say hi.

February 8 – I will be speaking at the monthly meeting of the Saltwater Fly Anglers of Delaware in Lewes, DE. Come out and enjoy a PowerPoint presentation on Tangier Sound Fly Fishing. I will also touch on the Susquehanna Flats C&R fishery and my outlook for this spring. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. and you will find directions on their Web site.  

February 21 – I will be speaking at the monthly meeting of the MSSA’s Essex/Middle River Chapter at the Commodore Hall in Essex, MD. Located at 1909 Old Eastern Ave., the meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. I will give a PowerPoint presentation on Fly and Light Tackle opportunities on Tangier Sound, with a special emphasis on the great speckled trout and flounder fishing that we enjoyed this past season. I’ll briefly touch on the Susky Flats as well. Come on out and enjoy an evening of fishing talk!

February 25 – I’ll have a table at CCA’s 10th annual TieFest, the region’s premier fly-fishing show, located at the Kent Narrows Yacht Club in Chester, MD. Show time is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and admission is free. This is a must-attend event for any fly angler who’s wet a line in saltwater. I always book a lot of trips at this show, so arrive early and stay late. The food and friendly atmosphere make this my favorite event of the entire year. See you there!

A final note: I am in the process of updating my Web site Josenhans Fly Fishing with new photos and graphics. In addition, for the most current reports and happenings, please check-out my blog at Josenhans Fly Fishing Blog as daily reports may be posted here before they are distributed via the e-newsletter.  Thanks for reading, and here’s to a fantastic 2012 season!

Capt. Kevin  Josenhans

 


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Josenhans FF ~ November Wrap-Up

19 12 2011

And a windy November it was.. The greatest challenge of the past month was not catching fish, but juggling the schedule to accommodate everyone who wanted to fish. A stiff breeze was relentless! I know some of you were moved three times before we were able to hit the water. Thanks everyone for your patience and flexibility. Now on to fishing.

An early November trip brought Tim and Matt King down to Crisfield for some late fall rockfishing. The water was ‘slick cam’ in the morning, with some very nice rockfish caught around the sod banks of Smith Island. Someone flicked the wind switch around eleven o’clock and we hit zero to 25 in the blink of an eye. Made for a fun ride home. “Part of the adventure,” Tim said. Oh, Tim did manage to catch a “Diamond Jim” fish, but when he called the number on the tag he was told the tournament had expired. Sorry Tim.

Matt King with the season's last speckled trout. What a year it was!

Tim with "Diamond Jim"

 

Matt King enjoyed the fight of rock like this beauty while using the feather-light G.Loomis Pro Green series spinning rod

 

Monday, November 7 brought Karl Bernetich and Bernie Kemp together for a walk-on trip. This has been a popular cost-saving program, while at the same time giving fellow anglers a chance to make new friends.  I’ll act as your booking agent and make all the arrangements at no extra cost to you. Since the program’s inception, several clients have made repeat requests to fish with the same angler. 
Karl Bernetich picked a good day to fly fish the creeks of Smith Island
Wednesday, November 9 was a wild day, weatherwise. Dave Fetterman, his son Cory, along with Dave’s brother Kurt met me bright and early at the Somers Cove ramp in Crisfield, only to be greeted by a blanket of fog. While visibility was limited, we could see far enough to avoid a collision, so off we went. It was kind of neat actually, the GPS helped point me to a shoreline location that I wanted to fish, the sod bank would appear out of the haze, and more times than not there were rockfish waiting for our offerings.  It was fun fishing and gave us a sense that we were the only boat on the sound. Later in the morning, as the sun burned-off the fog, we chased surface-feeding rockfish in the bay out near the target ship. A great day on the water with three great friends.

Dave Fetterman was happy with his Smith Island creek striper

   

Kurt and Cory spot working birds through the lifting fog

On Saturday, November 19, it was a treat for me to take Mark Horst and his three boys fishing out of Crisfield. His sons Kent, Shannon and Delvin turned out to be very good with the spinning rods. After a slow, cold morning – and a boat trip that seemed to cover Tangier Sound in its entirety – we found breaking fish right out in front of Crisfield at the infamous “Puppy Hole.” The boys had a blast pulling in rockfish to five pounds. Thanks for hanging tough guys! 

Kent handles this rock like he's done it a thousand times

 

Shannon shows off a nice rock

 

And the big fish of the day goes to young Delvin! Nice catch!!

 

Mark and his sons after a fun trip!

On the day after Thanksgiving, Frank Shipper, along with his two sons Chris and Ford, met me at the docks of Somers Cove Marina for a six-hour trip in search of breaking rockfish. It took a good ride in the cool morning air, but we finally found the stripers just east of Tangier Island. The guys had a fun time jigging soft plastics and Li’l Bunker spoons by Specialized Baits, all-the-while catching rockfish averaging 17″ to 22.” After a couple of hours of steady action Frank says “let’s get lunch.” A hot crab cake platter at Drum Point Market in Tylerton on Smith Island was the perfect ending to a fun morning.

Chris and Ford catching two at a time

On Saturday, November 26, Justin Matoska and friend Kenny Fletcher enjoyed catching schoolie stripers on both fly and spin-tackle. We ran into working birds pretty much everywhere we tried, which was pretty much everywhere.. Kenny managed to master the fly rod and catch his very first saltwater fish of any kind on a fly. Thanks for being a quick study Kenny.

Birds working over acres of rockfish - a common sight in November!

 

Justin trying out the G.Loomis NRX 9-wt. A real gem to cast!

 Jack McKenna was one of my final trips of the year out of Crisfield and he enjoyed a mixed bag of breaking rockfish early, followed by a few shallow water stripers around the banks of Smith Island. Finishing-off the year in the creeks of Smith Island was the perfect way to end a terrific season on Tangier Sound. Now it’s off to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel for a last fling at some big sea-run rockfish. At least that’s the plan…

My Lowrance HDS-7 helps to keep tabs on the rockfish when the birds take a break

 

One final creek rockfish for Jack


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Josenhans Fly Fishing ~ After the Wind

11 11 2011

October usually provides me with a day off here and there, what with the odd cold front pushing its way through. Well, beginning on the 19th a strong front kept me off the water for three straight days. I thought this just might do it for the specks, as we had some fairly cold nights mixed in with the wind. See the results for yourself..

Saturday, October 22 – I moved north a bit and met Tom Hylden and Shelley Davis in the small town of Nanticoke on the upper portion of Tangier Sound. This is a short portage for Tom and Shelley, as they wanted to tryout the fishing closer to home. We fished the shallows of Fishing Bay, Bloodsworth and Holland Islands. A cold morning it was..

Shelley landed this 24" rock on a brisk morning out of Nanticoke

Tom managed to get in on the action with his fly rod

Sunday, October 23 – Keith Campbell and Bill Martin flew into the Salisbury airport where I picked them up for the thirty-minute trip to Crisfield. We spent a beautiful fall day on Tangier Sound casting shads and Bass Assassins to the stumpy points and creeks of Smith Island. The morning started off a little slow, but as the tide ebbed in the afternoon the fish came alive and both Keith and Bill had good success with stripers to 24″ along with five speckled trout. Looks like the specks might hang around a while despite the cooler water.

Monday, October 24 – Boy, am I getting spoiled by this gorgeous fall weather. Matt LaFleur and Wil Goetz, along with Tammy and Tobey Godwin met me at Somers Cove Marina for a six-hour evening trip, and after a brief exchange of pleasantries I made a beeline for Fox Island. The tide was perfect for my favorite speck hole, and after catching a few yesterday, I wanted to see if our success was a fluke. The water temperature was down to 63 degrees, and though a bit on the cool side it was still  well within the specks comfort zone. It turned out to be a great evening of fishing with good friends and the speckled trout and rockfish proved eager to please. I think we finished the day with 15 specks to 20″ and a like number of rockfish to 23.”

Wil started the afternoon off right with this colorful speck

Tobey had the hot hand with the specks

Tammy got in on the action with this nice rock

Matt and Tobey double-up on specks

Wil took top honors on rockfish

 

 


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Josenhans Fly Fishing ~ Specks Go Out With A Bang!

8 11 2011

This has been some year for speckled trout on Tangier Sound. Perhaps the best in ten years. There seems to have been another successful spawn this season, with many juvenile fish showing in fishermen’s catches, so I’m cautiously optimistic that the speckled trout population has returned to its once great levels. The final test will be a good 2012 spring season. Lets hope that come May of next year, when the water temperature reaches that magic 62 degree mark,  everyone’s favorite trout will once again cruise the grassy flats of Tangier Sound. 

Thursday, October 13 –   Michael Avara and Mary Norton booked me for a half-day morning trip and enjoyed good action with rock  on poppers to 6-1/2 lbs. along with eight speckled trout from 16″-19.”  Nice mornings work!

Mary Norton holds her largest ever popper-caught rockfish

Michael Avara pulled this beauty from the banks of Fox Island

Monday and Tuesday, October 17 and 18 – Just as sure as the Monarch butterfly migration every fall, Maurice Klein and Gene Jones show up every October for a couple of days fishing. Well, fishing and eating Smith Island crab cakes. This year was no different as I enjoyed two beautiful fall days fishing with old friends. Monday was record-day, as Maurice and Gene eclipsed the existing two-person, single day record for the season by boating 32 speckled trout. The trout averaged   16″ to 21.”  Tuesday was for stripers, as we chose to concentrate our efforts on bagging a creel limit of rockfish. We succeeded, and then some, as we played catch-n-release for the remainder of the day. Another nine specks were added to the mix for a two-day total of 41 specks. Nice work guys!

Maurice and Gene with a net full of good-eating specks

Maurice with his homemade popper/clouser speck teaser

It's "lavender", not purple

Gene with a Smith Island "creek" rockfish


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Josenhans Fly Fishing ~ October Specks

5 11 2011

Friday, October 7 – Paul Anderson, his son Matt, along with Paul’s brother Mike joined me for a day chasing rock, blues and specks. At daybreak we had rock to 26″ on poppers,  hard-fighting blues to three-pounds mid-day and ended with a speck apiece ranging from 18″ – 20″ for three Tangier ‘Slams.’ It doesn’t get any better than this!

Paul, Mike and Matt with some Tangier variety

Saturday, October 8 – Chris Cianci, Chuck Prahl and Don Cochran took a break from their home waters on the Choptank River to put Tangier Sound to the test. We began the day with some topwater rockfish action, with many more blow-ups than hook-ups. Sometimes rockfish aren’t very good at eating poppers. The excitement of the strike though is well worth the effort. The surface action was interrupted when Don switched to a 4″ shad and began to hook speck-after-speck. It didn’t take long for the other guys to take the hint and soon all had boated a nice speck or three to 21.” Final tally on the specks was eight. I think we could have done much better were it not for the super pretty day, light winds and an abundance of Saturday boat traffic. A guide’s gotta have some excuse..

Don Cochran had the hot hand on specks

Monday, October 10 – Ed Roach, Doug D. and David Blorstadt enjoyed great daybreak topwater action on stripers up to six-pounds. The shallow-water rockfish really put on a show, smacking the Storm and Stillwater poppers all over the sound. The action died once the sun came up so we turned our attention to blues. While the size of the blues has diminished, there was just enough action to keep the guys entertained. After the blues quieted down, we went speck-hunting. While playing hard-to-get, we did land a few nice specks, with Doug’s 22″ beauty the prize of the day. We picked at school stripers for the remainder of the day while enjoying good weather and conversation.  Three nicer guys you could not fish with.

Dave Blorstadt had some early topwater success

Tuesday, October 11 – Jack McKenna had a day to remember with speckled trout. Overcast skies, calm winds, clear water and plenty of spotted fishes! To top it all off, Jack is a fly fisherman, and an eight-weight was his weapon of choice. Specks jumped all-over Jack’s pink Cactus Striper as he boated 22 trout to four-pounds! To date, a 2011 high for my boat. Great job Jack, and be sure to tell your son in Florida that speckled trout fishing is alive and well here in Maryland..

 

Jack McKenna with one of many specks on the fly

 

 

Another fat speck

 

The pink Cactus Striper was a speck favorite

 


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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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