16 Fish
Greetings from Baymen Charters!
On board today, regular client, Molly DeVillers, for light tackle striped bass.
At first light, a lovely high tide and light SSW breeze. Not a bird in the sky and no fish on topwater and no bait. This has been the case in our bay for several days now, and I am not sure where all the bait is…? A good rule of thumb is find the bait, find the bass.
So we ran the bay and ended up in a spot that has held the only school of bait and fish in the bay for the past few days. The fish and bait where there again and did the EXACT same pattern they have been doing: Fish busting bait on top water, a handful of birds working bait as well. Then as soon as the tide turns, the bait and bass began to leave the bay in unison! I have gone over this spot with a fine toothed comb after they leave and there is not a single striped bass or piece of bait that hangs back. They all leave all at once and today they did it again – but not before Molly landed many fine bass!
After those fish left the bay, we started bouncing all over the bay in search of fish. It was very slow with no bait, no birds, no topwater, and very, very few fish in the bay at the moment, anywhere. As I have mentioned in past days Baymen Reports, it is a little eery. I have 30 years of written journals, including the months of June, guiding on the bay. This June so far, has been a little inconsistent with a few of these slow days and very few fish. But my journals all say the fishing does turn around and the bay does fill up with fish again. One word I use a lot in my journals of recent years is “rollercoaster” meaning the fishing appears less consistent that it use to be.
But not to be deterred, Molly worked the water non-stop today for five solid hours and she ended the morning with 16 fish on light tackle, with the biggest nudging 28″ inches. We fished Baymen Jigs in the deeper holes, a few topwater poppers to try and get fish fired up to feed, and rubber crank baits that outfished everything. We worked the bay hard. Great job, Molly!
Back at it. Some rain/thunder storms in the forecast. STAY POSTED:
Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, www.baymenlife.com Shallow Water Fly Fishing & Light Tackle Striped Bass On The MA Coast For The Past 30 Years. Now Booking 2023 & 2024 Seasons.