Greetings from Capt. Dave & BAYMEN!

On board today, regular, Dick Bowman (USMC), for fly and light tackle striped bass. At first light, a light West wind, overcast, and top of the tide. Water temps 56 degrees, air temps about the same.

Ahhhh…June….How I love thee. Ran the bay today in search of topwater action after a terrible May that brought heavy rains and winds and colder than typical temps. And very, very few fish with several days on end with no fish in the 24 square miles I guide in. With the arrival of June and West winds, I expected to find topwater action this morning, but I was wrong. No birds working and no topwater fish anywhere.

BUT I did spot “High Flyers” and if you know what that means, you know I parked the boat under them and watched the bay…and it paid off. We found a VERY loose school of striped bass zipping around the flats, chasing a VERY loose school of mature herring. Very, very, few fish, very few baits. But they all wanted to stay on the flats for the morning and we stayed with them. The striped bass would pop up for 5-10 seconds, smash a herring, and then disappear for several minutes or longer. Then, they would show a hundred or more yards away, for another 5-10 seconds, and disappear. This went on the entire morning and it was hard fishing.

When we found the High Flyers earlier in the morning, Dick and I were the only boat on the bay. An hour later, a half-dozen boats joined us. This was the only school of striped bass on the bay this morning, not a good sign of the migratory fish stocks. At one point, Dick and I left and ran across the bay to another spot that I was SURE would hold fish. It was dead. No bait, no bass. We checked a couple other spots and then went back to the High Flyers.

Dick insists that I fish with him. So, I picked up a 9 wt TFO Axiom II X rigged with a Capt. Brian Kelly big hollow fly pattern, and made a cast. Two hits and spits. Dick saw the opportunity, picked up his own fly rod rigged with a Baymen Universal fly pattern and made a cast…WHAM! Fish on! Just like that. Happy with himself and his skill with a fly rod and a fine striped bass landed and released, Dick went back to fishing his light tackle 11′-3″ steelhead rod – a favorite of his for striped bass on the bay! And he continued to catch and release small oil tankers disguised as fat, hefty striped bass all morning.

The West wind picked up and the bay white-capped, rocking us around and making it hard to set the “Perfect Drift” that I always strive for. But we got it done, the day was lovely, and Dick got himself a 10 fish morning. All fish were keepers or overslots, with the exception of two fish. Dick’s best bass was a chunky 35″ x 16lb, and his second best fish was a 33″ x 14″ pounder. A wonderful catch and release morning. TYL.

Back at it. Stay Posted:

Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, baymenlife.com 32 Years Guiding The Bay. Soli Deo Gloria!