15 Fish on Fly & LT
On board today, I had Ryan Ross and his five year old son, Benjamin, for fly fishing and light tackle striped bass.
At first light, an absolute stunner of a sunrise. Water temps 67 degrees and winds dead-calm. Tide was half and dropping.
At first RECON, all the fish, birds and bait from yesterday were gone. All my spots were void of any activity to speak of. A break here and there but a far cry from yesterday.
We worked several of my structure and flats spots for a while as I contemplated switching over to an all structure fishing charter. Then, across the bay, I spotted birds! Lots of birds, in a foot or two of water. We went right to them and it was game on for the rest of morning.
Fish, birds and bait were moving out on the dropping tide in the migration. It was not total Fall Blitz Insanity but it was definitely day two of the Fall Run with some nice bass in the mix.
We fished tiny rubber crankbaits, a Baymen Clouser, and a cut-down white flatwing. We got fish on all three. We landed some huge schoolies that were fat and topping out at 26″ – 27″ inches. So much fun on the light tackle and fly gear. Towards the end of our trip, we went back to where we started the morning in Plymouth waters up on the flats and landed a fat keeper.
Total catch and release today was 15+ striped bass. I stopped counting after a while. We dropped maybe ten more that threw the small hooks. But the big news: Five-year-old Benjamin enjoyed his first time out on a boat and seeing all the sights and sounds of the bay, and he landed his first striped bass, AND he landed his first keeper. A very impressive young man who’s parents are raising him right. Benjamin is hooked for life.
Back at it. Stay posted as the Fall Run is just getting under way.
Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, www.baymenlife.com 29 Years Guiding The Bay
***BOOKING 2022 & 2023 STRIPED BASS ON FLY & IG