15 Fish on Fly
Day Two with my client and good friend, Richard Comstock, for fly fishing only striped bass and blues. At first light, weather reports not looking good. Heavy rains and T-storms south and west of the bay. But we had a solid window and headed out.
First stop of the morning we set a drift on the low dropping tide. No hits and started to go back to set a 2nd drift when a boat went right over our drift. Any fish there were spooked out.
Second spot of the morning we got into a decent fall blitz on Browns Bank (your welcome). About two acres of fish rolling on the top busting bait. We landed several and then boat traffic picked up and it was hard to set a drift so we moved on.
Third spot of the morning was very interesting. This is September and all the fish are suppose to be on the move south and summer patterns are over, right? Wrong! A dozen or more fish were crabbing in about a foot of water in a narrow guzzle filled with eel grass. We spooked a bunch trying to pole into them and them hooked up on a topwater popper over the eel grass. That fish through the hook. We tried in vain to land a bass in that shallow guzzle but they would chase, swipe at the fly or boil up behind and turn away. We saw a LOT of wakes up in there.
Fourth spot of the morning and we were into a decent school of small bass over very shallow flats on the rising tide. We poled around and caught a few but most of them were spooky of the boat or would follow but not take the fly.
Fifth spot of the morning and things turned around. Lots of bigger fish came into the bay on the rising tide and started working topwater. Acre size pods of fish to 27″ inches (lots of 27″ inchers this season) were busting bait under the birds. Three pods to choose from and we bounced back and forth between them and got fish in all of them.
Top flies today: a white foam popper on the flats, Richard’s Comstock Clouser in Chart/Wht, and my Baymen Universal. All did well, but the Baymen Universal seemed to get the most hook-ups under stormy skies.
The bay remained flat all morning, but the rains finally came and we got a decent soaking. Back at the dock, it really cut loose while hauling the boat. But no thunder or lightning and we got in a full charter this morning with 15 fish landed and released, all on the fly.
Back at it. Stay posted. Lots of fishing left as the fall run continues…
Capt. Dave, BAYMEN, www.baymenlife.com