Greetings from Baymen Charters & Capt. Dave!

On board today, one of my regulars, Baymen Dick Bowman for fly fishing and light tackle striped bass. At first light, WSW 10 knots, overcast, and dropping tide. Water temps around 66 degrees.

First stop of the morning Dick hooked into a really nice fish that screamed line of his reel ( I LOVE that sound!). I said, “Quick give me your phone and I will take pics fighting the fish!) Dick reached into his vest, handed me the phone, and the line went slack. AHHHHHHHHHH……!!!!

Next, we pulled into a nice school of fish and a friend of mine also fishing the bay, pulled in with us. A decent school of topwater striped bass. Spooky, finicky, and running and gunning on a small school of micro bait. A couple bumps, no hook-ups. Onward…

Third spot of the morning nobody home… Fourth spot of the morning – FISH ON! We found a scattered school of bass in a channel on the outgoing and picked up a couple of fish. There were some other boats in the area so we did not stay long… BUT (!) we did see a Great White shark about 50 yards or so up bay. That fish came up and hovered over a small rip for about 30 seconds and then went down never to be seen again. Massive wake! I did NOT get a great look at it or photo. This was the fifth GW sighting inside the bay this year I am aware of. Two by me, one by an oysterman, one by a friend (while wading at night!) and one rumored to be off Long Beach but I have no idea who saw that one.

Fifth spot of the morning was our best spot for fishing. Fish were stacked in a channel and slowly moving down stream out of the bay. They were holding in 13 fow with their bellies on the bottom. We went three for three on drifts and then they moved further down stream. We moved with them and hooked up again. Then, they scattered and were hard to find. I look up another channel and to my surprise, spotted a school of fish with birds working about 200+ yards away. We zipped right up there and got right into them. Spooky and selective just like the earlier fish we found. They would be up for a minute and then go down. A few minutes later they would come up a hundred yards away and we would head right to them. Then back down and back up a long ways away. We played the “tennis game” with them for the rest of the morning and got into a good rhythm. No other boats around and we had the fish all to ourselves. Just the way I like it.

The last fish of the morning at dead low tide, was in one of these back and forth blitzes. I told Dick we were going to “rush” this next school of fish busing topwater and then shut down as we slid right into them. Dick was ready and made an absolute perfect cast into the breaking fish. The second his popper hit the water – WHAM! Fish on! A reel screamer on Dick’s new Aubut fiberglass rod and Visser spinning reel. That fish hit in about 12 fow and then ran up onto a flat in 2 fow over an eel grass bed! Scorching run before we finally landed it, took a quick photo, and released it.

Total catch and release today was 11 hard-earned fish, all on different tackle. Clouser fly and holy Baymen fly on 9wt fly rod, Yozuri popper, rubber crankbaits, Baymen jigs on light tackle. A fun morning with one of my favorite charters! And as usual, prior service USMC Dick Bowman brought me a bag of tackle, a jug of ice tea, a bag of nuts, and a fifty count of my favorite light tackle barrel swivels. Thank you, Dick! And thank you for your service to our country!

That’s the word for today. Back at it. Stay posted. Thirty more charters left for the 2023 season.

Sincerely,

Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, www.baymenlife.com 31 Years Guiding The Bay.

*******BOOKING 2024 & 2025 SEASONS. FLY FISHING, LIGHT TACKLE ON THE MASSACHUSETTS COAST. BOOK EARLY, PRIME DATES GO A YEAR OR MORE IN ADVANCE******