On board today, I had Col. Richard Comstock for Day 2 of fly fishing for striped bass.

At first light, winds were North and choppy and continued all morning. But we have fished in worse and Col. Comstock can cast all day in any wind or weather, non-stop. He is “The Machine”

First stop we joined another boat and got into topwater fish busting bait. We landed four quick ones and then it was over. Next stop, we fished a piece of structure where a friend landed a 36″ a couple days ago. No luck so on to our next spot. we found another small school of fish with four boats working them. That school of fish broke up in a matter of minutes. But we managed a couple more very FAT and healthy schoolies to 25″ inches.

We decided to switch up from a clouser to a popper and try for a repeat of yesterday’s success on calmer seas. We worked structure that held fish yesterday, but they were not there today. Back to the clouser and we worked more structure and landed a few more fish. We ran across the bay and fished up in Kingston and landed a few more fish. Then, we drifted over a deep channel that was stacked with fish yesterday and gave us some great drifts and hook-ups. But today in the north wind, it was void of bait and bass.

Another stop at a drop off and we were into breaking fish once again! There was channel, a flat, and a cut and the fish were there. Lesser terns worked overhead picking off bait being pushed to the surface by the bass. We set many drifts and landed several more fish. We had a small bass on and another bass three times the size was flanking it. 30″ inch fish or so. Then, a short time later, another big bass boiled right off the bow that looked to be a very nice bass! Those were the only two keepers we saw today. Most fish were fat, healthy schoolies in the 18″-24″ inch range. Great fish on the fly!

We ended the morning with 16 hard-earned fished caught and released. It was slow, bump and grind fishing and not what we were hoping for in the Spring Blitz. But we were relentless, covered a lot of water, and found what fish there were inside the bay. The north winds never let up and it definitely made fishing slow. But we fished hard and reached the daily average +1.

Back at it. STAY POSTED: Tomorrow winds are ENE all day.

Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, baymenlife.com