Josenhans Fly Fishing ~ Pictorial Essay

29 10 2011

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

George Lenard found Tangier specks loved the Li'l Jimy

 

Dave Gedra showing-off the specks beautiful spots

 

Speckled trout canines

 

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

 

Dave with a nice rock

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

Justin Matoska showing-off a fat Choptank speck

 

Self-explanatory!! Only on the Eastern Shore!


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

16 10 2011

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

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

Wil Goetz with a 29-inch skinny water striper

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

Matt LaFleur enjoyed non-stop action with rock and blues

Alan Fiekin caught his fish on the fly

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

Nice speck Jeff!!

 

Makes getting up early worthwhile!

 

Jeff with another nice speck

 

Don Harrison with a nice rock

 

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

 
 
 
 
 
 

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Josenhans FF ~ Fighting the Wind!

6 10 2011

Me posing with Chris' fly-caught speck

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

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

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


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Josenhans FF ~ Tangier Slam is Alive and Well!

24 09 2011

The Tangier Slam – or one version of it – is usually considered catching a rockfish, bluefish and speckled trout on fly during the same day. Well, this is the time of the year to come on down and give it a shot. That is, if I can get you away from the blues once you get here. Yesterday, we had six of the prettiest speckled trout that you ever want to see from 16″ to 20″  that we caught during a quick stop on the way in from a very successful day of watching rock and blues knock our poppers all over the sound. When the weather has cooperated, the fishing of the past two weeks has been phenomenal! Here is a brief summary of some of the highlights.

Sunday, September 11 – I Fished with Gus McKee and his son Mac, along with Gus’ father-in-law Lou Pochettino and nephew Alex Pochettino. We found the mother lode of blues down near Watts Island and all hands had their fill. The 2 – 5 pound bluefish were all young Mac could handle on the light G. Loomis spinning rod, and the fellows sure kept the captain busy with the net! Great to see the younger generation get such a kick out of fishing. I believe Alex and Mac are ‘hooked.’

Alex and Mac with their trophy

Gus, Mac and Alex after a fun day on Tangier Sound

Monday, September 12 – Today I had the pleasure to fish with The Frederick News-Post Outdoors Editor Jim Heim. Jim writes the Casts and Shots column for the paper and I was hoping upon hope that the fishing this day would be worthy of a small article. Boy, did the fish ever hold up their end of the bargain. We started the day near Tangier Island casting Storm Chug Bug and Stillwater Smack-it! poppers to ravenous rockfish in four feet of water. Most of the rock were in the 18″ to 24″ range, and they really put on a topwater show in that skinny-water. After two to three hours of nonstop action, we traveled across Tangier Sound to find hungry two to five pound bluefish ready for an encore. Only difference here was that there’s no quit in bluefish. Same lures, same surface explosions, but each fight lasted several minutes longer. I think Jim’s arms were sore at the end of the day. That’s a good thing if you’re a guide… See Jim’s article at the link for Casts and Shots.

 

Lew completes the 'slam'

Tuesday, September 13– Lew Armistead and Donny McDougall brought their fly rods and were greeted with ‘slick cam’ conditions on Tangier Sound. We started off the day catching a few rockfish on sinking lines, but it didn’t come close to the top-water action that we had enjoyed the day before. With bluefish waiting to please, I pointed the bow east and told the guys to hang on. Upon arrival at a spot near Watts Island the guys were hooked up almost immediately. While Clousers and sinking lines worked well, both Lew and Donny quickly switched to floating lines and Gurglers for some of the most exciting top-water fly action that I have witnessed in a long time. Two to five-pound blues slashed, crashed and dove on top of the popping Gurgler, until both flies needed the occasional field repair. A simple piece of 15# monofilament was all that was required to restore the Gurgler to “nearly new” condition. Lew asked me what type of knot I had used to make the repair and I replied “lots of knots!” There’s no time for perfection during the heat of battle, therefore, I believe it was Lew who coined the name “Triage Knot.” I wonder if I should get a patent?? We even saved an hour at the end of the day to catch four gorgeous specks to 20″ up near Fox Island, thus, both Lew and Donny were able to accomplish the ‘Tangier Slam!’ Nice going guys.

Donny with a nice blue on fly

 

Not to be outdone - Lew with an average-sized bluefish

 

Donny 'hooked-up!'


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Josenhans Fly Fishing ~ Specks and Blues!!

18 09 2011

James David with his colorful Choptank speck

Since the double-whammy of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee have muddied mid-bay waters I have been spending most of my time fishing out of Crisfield, MD. Speckled trout have been available, though finicky at times, as well as stripers and blues. While the specks are fun, it’s been bluefish that has everyone talking. Averaging 2 to 5 pounds, we have been enjoying some fantastic fly and light tackle fishing for these scrappers, that seem to be endowed with an endless supply of energy. An added bonus is the aerobatic display put on by many, as they often jump like baby tarpon. What a blast this has been! Casting in the clear waters of lower Tangier Sound (no adverse affect from the tropical weather here) my anglers have usually given-up before the blues. While I’m not sure what effect the recent cold front will do to this action, I expect they will be around for at least another couple of weeks. VA striped bass season returns on October 4th, so I can stop worrying about which side of the line I am on should someone wish to take home a couple of rockfish fillets. Here is a rundown of some of the action from the past two weeks.

James and dad Andrew with a topwater rock

On Thursday, September 1, I fished with Andrew David and his son James out of Madison. As we skimmed across the glass-like waters of the Little Choptank we kept an eye out for diving gulls; second only to “bent-rod sonar” as a means of locating feeding schools of fish.  We were soon rewarded with a patch of surface feeding stripers and blues, just off the False Channel, near the mouth of the Choptank River. Andrew was able to land a nice bluefish and a small rock before the school sounded. As luck would have it, the flat-calm conditions were soon replaced by a strong chop from the south, so we took our cue and slipped into the protected waters of the Big Choptank. While the guys were busy feeding Bass Assassin shad tails to six-inch bluefish, James let out a holler and shortly thereafter I slid the new under a beautiful twenty-inch speckled trout. A nice surprise on a breezy afternoon. We tried a few more points and as the wind died out we traveled south for some evening topwater with shallow-water rockfish. After a slow start the rock came alive just as it was getting too dark to see. As the routine went, we heard a splash and the guys felt a tug as their popper was inhaled by a scrappy rock in the 22 to 24 inch range. This lasted perhaps an hour before the darkness enveloped us for good. It was a great way to finish the evening.

Jake Leatherbury with a light tackle rockfish

On Saturday, September 10, Jake Leatherbury and his dad Rob met me near Saxis, VA for what started out as a speckled trout trip. This was a new experience for me as I trailered the Jones Brothers to an obscure ramp on Messongo Creek, just outside of Saxis. The tide was low, and the gnats hungry, but I managed to get the JB in the water okay and we pointed the bow west in search of some specks. It was not meant to be. The stronger than anticipated westerly breeze and low tide combination had roiled the shallows just enough to put the specks off their feed, so we resorted to Plan B. I was soon fishing more familiar waters over near Tangier Island. After a slow start, the tide picked up and so did the fishing. For the next couple of hours, Jake and Rob had good action on rockfish in the 17 to 23 inch range, great fun on the light-action G. Loomis Pro Green Series rods that I have really grown to like.  As the rock fishing slowed, I asked Jake if he would like to see if the blues were hungry, since we had to travel right past my bluefish honey-hole on the ride home. He and Rob were more than willing to give it a try. Well, to say we finished-off the day on a high note was an understatement. Bluefish from 2 to 4 pounds attacked our offerings with abandon and, quite simply, put the weaker fighting stripers to shame. There’s simply no quit in a bluefish. We left ’em biting, which is always a good thing when you’re a guide. No specks today but I don’t think the guys had a complaint. Enjoyed the trip guys! Stay tuned for more bluefish and speckled trout action in future reports!!

Jake and dad Rob doubled-up on rock

 

Rob Leatherbury showing off a light tackle bluefish

 

Jake after a hard-fought battle


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Josenhans Fly Fishing ~ Breakers!!

31 08 2011

Time for Spanish!

Irene Update: My family, house, vehicles and boat came through unscathed. Thanks to all who called, or sent emails and text messages wishing us well, both before and after the storm. Your thoughts and prayers were most appreciated. I hope  you all came through it safe and sound as well. Crisfield was flooded for a couple of days, but that is a hardy bunch down there and things should be getting back to normal in short order.

Today (Wednesday, August 31) will be my first day fishing since the storm and I hear the breaking rock and blues are just waiting for us. I don’t think the fishing will be affected one bit. I have an evening fly fishing trip so stay tuned for an updated report.

David Pacy showing off his big croaker

While my last two trips for flounder have dropped off a bit – in fact, we came up with a big ‘goose-egg’ on the last trip – I have been overjoyed to see the mid-bay area come alive with breaking rock, blues and spanish mackerel. But, I’ll get to that in a minute. It seems that the flounder have moved well north, into the upper reaches of Tangier Sound, and it took me a couple of trips to realize this. While it could just be a temporary lull – bad tides, lack of wind, too much wind, etc., etc. (guides have plenty of excuses) – I haven’t given up on the lower reaches of the sound just yet. In fact, the flounder fishing down near the mouth of the bay is still going strong, so I expect some great catches yet to come. If I get some interest, I’ll be following the fish north, but there is still plenty to do on the lower portion of Tangier Sound. There are some decent sized blues roaming the flats of Watts Island and these are great fun on light spinning or fly tackle. The speckled trout catches should improve after the shallows settle a bit from the effects of Irene. Rockfish will aggressively attack poppers during early morning hours and as the waters cool, will begin to feed in the shallows all during the day. In short, things are shaping up to look like we are in for a very good fall fishing season.

On a recent trip with Bert Massengale, his son Kyle, and Kyle’s friend David Pacy we tried our best to get some big flounder in the boat. I went to the exact spot where, just a few short days before, we slammed big flatties to 24 inches but we couldn’t draw a strike. The tide was perfect, with little wind but it just wasn’t meant to be. David did manage to perk us up with a very nice croaker. The fish really gave him a fight on his light spin tackle. We moved to another location and after a few drifts Bert managed the first keeper flounder. A short time later Bert pulled in the second flounder, a fish of perhaps 21 inches. That was it for the flounder. It was still a fun four-hours on the water, and Bert took home some beautiful fillets.

Bert Massengale with a brace of flounder

I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you my earthquake story. I was waiting at the Madison boat ramp around 2:30 P.M. for my afternoon party when I received a cell call. It was my client, who asked if I had heard about the earthquake south of DC. I had. (I didn’t feel a thing, as I was on the road on my way to Madison for a half-day trip chasing breakers) . To make a long story short, my client was in a bind, as he is in the alarm business and the earthquake had wrecked havoc with his systems – not to mention cell service. Not a problem, we rescheduled for the following week. Being a thinking man, I had the boat, I was at the ramp and I had four hours to kill. I called my wife to give her the scoop, got the okay and off I went to do a little fishing. I never even made it to the False Channel (my intended starting point). Just off the mouth of the Little Choptank the water was whipped to a froth by ravenous schools of rock, blues and mackerel. The macks were a nice surprise. They were feeding on small bay anchovies and the smaller the lure the better. I stayed with the fish for about and hour and left them biting to explore a little. Not seeing much up north, I returned a bit later to find the fish were still on top. Looking at my books from last season, September was terrific for breaking fish off the mouth of the Big and Little Choptank rivers. It looks like this year will provide us with a repeat performance. This is a fly fishers dream, so break-out that long stick and give me a call for some fast-paced action.


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Josenhans FF ~ Hot Weather Trio

6 08 2011

We’ve been fishing more four and six-hour trips than full-days of late, as the temperature seems to hit 90 degrees by 10:00 a.m. most everyday. That’s not to say that the fishing has been bad. The daybreak top-water rockfish bite has been good at times, albeit short-lived. We’ve been having about an hour of decent surface action in the shallows and then it’s ‘lights out’ (or on as the case may be). Flounder fishing is still holding its own, with limit to near-limit catches of flatties measuring 18 to 23 inches. Drifting 1 to 1-1/2 ounce jig-heads tipped with Berkley Gulp! Swimming Mullet baits has produced good catches along the channel edges of Pocomoke and Tangier Sound, as well as the main bay west of Tangier and Smith Islands. Here’s a quick run-down on a few of my most recent trips.

Friday, July 22 I fished with Dan Zimmerman and his wife Kate. Conditions were perfect at daybreak as we saddled up to my favorite skinny water topwater spot. Clean water, nice current, etc., etc.. Not hit one. Nada. It took me forty-five minutes before I realized that the rock just weren’t there. This was the exact same spot that we crushed them just a short week ago. We moved to a little deeper water nearby and almost immediately Dan hooked-up on a real drag-screamer, only to have the hook pull. Kate had a monster boil behind her Storm Chug Bug but not a touch. At least the fish were here, for a moment. Dan landed a decent rock or two, and Kate caught several smaller fish on a shad, but that was it. We salvaged the day with a couple of nice twenty-inch flounder while drifting Gulp! baits in thirty feet of water. I attributed the lethargic rockfish action to the heat, as we were all pretty toasty and ready to call it a day after six-hours in the oven.

Mike Baugh with his 26-inch speck caught on a Stillwater Smack-it! popper

I had a change of scenery on Saturday, July 23 as Mike Baugh and his fiancée Sal met me at Madison for a six-hour trip on the Little Choptank. We began the day casting poppers over some nearby submerged logs and after just a few casts Sal hooked up with her first ever top-water striper. The twenty-inch fish exploded on a Storm popper and gave her a good fight in the shallow water. A few more drifts with another blow-up or two and then came the catch of the week. As Mike was retrieving his Stillwater popper a nice fish crashed it right in front of the boat and began to shake its head violently – a dead giveaway. Mike quickly brought the silver-hued fish boatside and I slid the net under a beautiful twenty-six inch speckled trout. The speck pulled the Boga down to 5-1/2 pounds, best of the season, so far.

After a bit, we took a swing out by the False Channel and jigged up a few low-twenties rock, along with a short flounder. The spot-slingers were having a blast with some decent rockfish, but the boats were so thick it was hard to get a good drift. We tried flounder a while without any luck and before long we were back in the shallows. Mike and Sal ended the day catching a couple of schoolie rock on shad tails before we called it a day. I can’t be sure, but with a house right on the Little Choptank, Mike and Sal just might have been back that evening looking for the twin to that pretty speckled trout.

'Bunker Boat' out of Reedville, VA

I fished Monday, July 25 with Bernie and Susan Kemp. We got a bit of a late start due to passing thunderstorms and finally pushed off from the Somers Cove dock at around 8:00 a.m. We still had plenty of cloud cover when we arrived at the shallow water top-water hole so we gave the poppers a try. Before I could get Susan’s popper tied on Bernie’s Stillwater was engulfed in a huge explosion of spray and the drag on his Shimano spinning reel was screaming. This was a very nice fish. Bernie did everything right, but in a replay of last Friday, the hook came free. I think the rock at this spot have seen one too many Stillwater poppers. After a couple of more hits with maybe one or two fish boated, the action died. On to the second spot. More blow-ups at the second location where Bernie and Susan both landed a couple of nice rock on their poppers. Sometimes I believe that when a big striper hits a popper, they push so much water that the hook-set is simply luck. Bernie and Susan still had the thrill of the topwater display, and to me that’s half the fun. Oh, did I forget to mention that the heavens opened up again and we all got thoroughly drenched?  No matter, flounder were next on the agenda. We tried a new flounder location – for Bernie and Susan, anyway – and Susan was immediately rewarded with a nice twenty two-inch flounder she caught on a Gulp! Swimming Mullet. We drifted maybe three hours at two different locations in lower Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds but we just couldn’t fill our limit. I think we ended up with five fat flounder in the 18 to 22 inch size range. Pretty fish none-the-less and a good end to a stormy day. 

Randy started the day off right!

On Wednesday, July 27, I was fortunate to fish with three generations of the Beard family. Gary, his son Randy, along with  Randy’s son Doug. It had been two or three years since this trio has fished together on my boat and I was looking forward to the reunion. Gary had a great trip almost a year ago to the day casting poppers to shallow-water rockfish and his wish was to get Randy and Doug in on the action. As luck would have it, a strong northerly had the water roiled just enough to put most of the rockfish off their feed. Most, but not all. Randy was the first to hook-up as a beautiful mid 20’s striper crashed his popper in the wind-driven chop and he expertly brought the fish boatside. After a quick photo-op the rock was released to fight another day. Randy’s fish was pretty much the highlight of the morning bite as we found murky water at all my favorite shallow water spots. Again, we turned to flounder..

Doug with his very first flounder

As we pulled up to an edge in thirty-five feet of water I smiled inside as the wind hadn’t affected the clarity of the deeper sections of the sound one bit. I don’t think we even had all three lines overboard before Doug was hollering and hanging on for dear-life to a doubled-over pole. The fish initially stayed deep, but after a minute or so Doug was able to bring the fish to the surface as I slid the net under a beautiful twenty-two inch flounder. This was Doug’s first-ever flounder, and what a way to start. Nice catch Doug. The wind was just enough that I decided to throw over the wind-sock to slow our drift a bit. This helped and we were able to land maybe eight colorful flounder, with three of 18 to 22 inches finding their way to the cooler for the ride home. Once again some beautiful Chesapeake Bay flounder salvaged what could have been a blow-out.


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Josenhans FF ~ Topwater Hanging On

13 07 2011

Tyler with his 22" flounder

On Tuesday, July 5 I met Mel(Skip) Bertrand and his grandson Tyler Wheeler at the Somers Cove Marina boat ramp for a six-hour trip for some rockfish and flounder. Conditions for an early topwater bite were good and I was hoping the fish would put on a show, since Skip and Tyler don’t often fish for rock this way. The first fish came out of nowhere and exploded on Skip’s Storm Chug Bug about halfway back to the boat. When a 26-inch striper hit’s a popper in four-feet of water much of the fight is on top, and this fish didn’t stray from the norm. After a game fight Skip landed and promptly released the fat, healthy rockfish. It wasn’t long before an explosion of water caused Tyler’s popper to disappear and Tyler was hanging on for dear life with his G. Loomis IMX rod bent double. Tyler did a super job of keeping the mid-twenties fish out of some nearby structure and boated the striper in short order. Game on! For about thirty minutes blow-ups were coming on a regular basis and then it just quit! 

Though short-lived, the explosive strikes and tough battles more than justified the early wake-up call. Now it was flounder time. I eased the Jones Brothers into position for our first drift and briefly explained the jigging technique to Skip and Tyler. It wasn’t long before the first rod was doubled-over with a heavy fish. Using Li’l Jimy bucktails by Specialized Baits, or simply a plain 3/4 oz. jig-head with a Berkley Gulp! Swimming Mullet we boated several nice flounder to 22-inches before the action shut down. While we didn’t get our limit this day, it was fun watching Skip and Tyler perfect a new (for them) flounder technique that they can try elsewhere.

Justin with a nice topwater rock

Saturday, July 9 was practically an encore performance of Tuesday’s trip. Only this day it was Justin Matoska and Colin Maxfield who were at the working end of the G. Loomis spinning rods. The rest of the cast was the same. Rockfish from 22″ to 27″ crashed the topwater offerings of Justin and Colin for the better part of an hour until the action subsided. Once again, Storm Rattlin’ Saltwater Chug Bugs were the hot popper. A couple of things that I like about the Chug Bug is they pop easily (and throw a lot of spray in the process), cast like a bullet, and the Perma steel hooks are super-sharp and resist rust. After the topwater bite died, Justin and Colin broke-out the fly outfits and began to cast chartreuse and white Clouser Minnows over some shallow structure. Both are fairly new to saltwater fly fishing but after a few tips Justin and Colin were easily reaching the fifty foot range with their casts.

Colin with a hog on a Storm Chug Bug

The wind was a definite liability this day and the guys did well casting the sink-tips into a stiff 15 K breeze. While the stripers didn’t cooperate, Colin managed his very first saltwater fish on fly, a colorful speckled trout! When the wind let-up enough to drift for flounder we took a short run and fell in line with several other boats already on site. While the catching was less than stellar, Justin and Colin did manage two keepers of 18 and 21 inches. All-in-all, another pleasant day on the bay with, I believe, two new converts to the world of saltwater fly fishing. Keep at it guys!

Colin showing off his first speck

 

Justin jigged up a nice flounder


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Josenhans FF ~ Speckled Trout

24 06 2011

Eric's speck

June 14, 15 and 16 brought a nice change of pace, in that we boated a few nice speckled trout, a rare catch of late. Granted, we have not been searching too hard for specks – what with the rock, flounder and bluefish action to keep us busy – but the windy conditions of these three days forced our hand. On Tuesday, Luther Carter, Albert Dulin and Eric Krouse met me at Somers Cove, along with a very stiff NW breeze. After some debate, we decided to give fishing a try along a protected shoreline of the Big Annemessex river. This was to be a pay-as-you-go day, and I can tell you that the meter didn’t run very long. After just two hours we  had had enough of the constant bombardment of the 25 knot winds and called it a day. But not before Eric was able to pull a colorful speck out of a semi-protected grassbed. Thanks for keeping the skunk out of the boat Eric.

Paul E. with a fat rock

I had an evening trip on Wednesday with Ray Leety, Paul Sirochman, Dave Stover and Paul Eichelberger. Ray brought his boat along so we weren’t crowded and together we made the long, bumpy (wind again) trip to lower Tangier Sound. The water was fairly clear in the lee of an island and the wind died a bit as the evening progressed. The guys were able to catch a few rockfish on poppers as the waters calmed and the sun set much too fast to the west. Ray had a pair of rock at 20 and 23 inches that exploded on his popper and gave him a good fight. Paul E. and Dave were fishing with me, and together they landed maybe a dozen fat stripers while casting four-inch pearl shads. It was a nice, pleasant four-hour trip and I enjoyed the company of four very good fishermen.

Ray and Paul S. with Ray's five pound speck

The same group met me bright and early on Thursday for a half day morning outing. This time Ray and Paul S. rode with me. As we rounded the “five-legger” (buoy at mouth of Little Annemessex) I had every intention of beginning our day where we ended it the previous evening. A couple of shots of salty spray to the face from a strong southerly breeze quickly erased those thoughts from my head. I opted for the west side of Smith Island where I believed that I could find some clear water. Casting a Storm Wildeye Shad to some rocky structure quickly netted Ray a beautiful, fat, five-pound speckled trout. I don’t know about Ray but that one fish made my day.

Paul's speck hit a popper

 Between both boats we were only able to scratch up a few smallish rock, as the wind was really making things miserable. We bit the bullet and pounded our way back across the sound to the Big Annemessex river. We found some pretty grass flats in the lee of some islands and Ray managed a small rock but little else. As we were heading towards Paul E. and Dave in the other boat I saw a large splash and Paul with his rod bent double. My first thought was that he had snagged a large cow nose ray, but as we got closer we witnessed Paul posing for the camera holding a speck that was almost a carbon copy of Ray’s. The explosion of water I observed was the speck crashing a popper on Paul’s first cast. It was a fitting way to end the morning, and a shake of the fist to the ever-present wind.


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