Greetings from Capt. Dave & BAYMEN!

On board today, repeat client, Jim Ardito, and. his wife, Alice, for fly fishing striped bass.

At first light, a choppy north wind with a slight overcast, a dead-low tide incoming, with water temps 71 degrees in the harbor. New moon.

It was slow going with the choppy seas but we found a lot of birds working bait and bass in some deep holes and also up on the flats in water so shallow, my skiff was bumping bottom in a few spots. And the fish were on an ULTRA selective feed this morning. I never saw the bait – not even once – but I am willing to bet it was a 1″ inch thin white minnow with an olive back! Tough to dupicate that baitfish even with a fly or light tackle lure.

We had three hook-ups and three spits. The fish were just so finicky and they really did not want our offerings and we did not get good hook sets. Time to drive away from these fish and find some new fish.

We ran two miles and found a lot of birds working bait and bass once again. They were in a deep channel surrounded by weed beds and ultra shallow flats. Jim worked the fly and Alice worked the light tackle. Jim got a nice striped bass in 16″ inches of water over a weed bed right on the edge of the flat. Then it was Alice’s turn on the fly. I set a long drift and when we hit that weed bed again – WHAM! Right by the boat in little more than a foot of water. A great fight and a great fish that taped 31 inches and 14 pounds. A real fatty. Both Jim’s fish and Alice’s fish hit an Enrico Puglisi EP fiber baitfish pattern with the weed guard cut off.

The birds, bait and fish eventually moved on and we ran another mile or so to another part of the bay for a break from the NNE winds and to look for new fish. Nobody home. So we ran out into the chop and found a school of fish under birds about two miles away, up on some flats. Again, they were on an ultra selective feed and we had serveral good drifts right through them without a bump. Fish like that will keep Captains up at night.

We worked the bay some more and finally called it a great morning on the bay and headed for the harbor a couple miles away. We ended the morning with seven fish, Alice’s fourteen pounder our best fish of the morning, on the fly.

Back at it. If you have a fly pattern that is slaying these selective fish right now, I would love to hear from you and see the fly pattern you are using.

Tight Lines!

Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, baymenlife.com 31 Years Guiding The Bay. Still In Love.

Soli Deo Gloria!