177 Fish
On board today, regular clients Frank Harrington, and Frank’s three sons, Brain, Greg, and Frank Jr. for light tackle striped bass. This crew has been fishing with me for about eight years.
At first light, a dead low incoming tide, water temps 62 degrees at the dock, and light WNW wind. Thing looked VERY quiet on the bay and I was thinking today could be the first “Gap Day” of the fall run. We began to run some recon around the bay and I was delighted to find a big school of bass up on the flats and in deep, narrow guzzles. Lots of bird action picking off the bait being driven to the topwater by striped bass and chunky “schoolie” blues. We began setting drifts, had a few other boats join us, and it was non-stop action for about two hours.
We eventually left that ball of bait and bass in search of more fish. We found another big ball of bait, bass and birds about two miles away back up on more flats and deep guzzles – almost the same scenario as the first school we got into earlier. It was non-stop action for the rest of the morning. Another boat was fishing next to us with fly gear, when suddenly a HUGE fish leaped out of the water right beside him! We all yelled to him, “WHAT WAS THAT!!!???” He yelled back, “IT WAS AT LEAST A HUNDRED POUND TUNA!!!” Crazy to see bluefin tuna inside the bay that close! We also saw two more huge boils near us, but were unsure if they were from BIG bass or more bluefin tuna?
Today was basically non-stop action for the Harrington Crew on light tackle. These guys have the Baymen Bounce and Cast N’ Count techniques down pat. We had multiple triple hook-ups and many quad hook-ups! They kept me very, very busy releasing fish all morning non-stop – a guide’s dream!
Total catch and release today was a whopping 177 striped bass and four bluefish. All fish were landed on light tackle rubber crank baits using the Baymen Bounce technique. One angler also had amazing success using the quite aggressive “Brian Bounce” technique! He was hooking up non-stop with the rest of the crew.
My guide season is winding down for 2019. I have a few more scheduled trips and then I will take a few more first come, first served trips for Fly Rodders or Light Tackle anglers into October. E-MAIL ME if interested. At the moment, fishing is excellent. Small fish have been the rule this season up and down the coast, but our daily averages of catch and release striped bass have been through the roof!
Back at it – STAY POSTED:
Sincerely, Capt. David Bitters, F/V BAYMEN, baymenlife.com Instagram @baymencharters