23 fish, 1 gull
On board Friday I had repeat client, Gary Condon, Matt “Wampum” Daly & Crew for LT striped bass.
At first light the North winds started to kick in. For the first hour, we got into decent topwater action with a few birds working over them. Then, an hour into it, the North winds picked up and kept building most of the morning, topping out at around 20 knots. It was snotty and choppy, but the crew kept at it and did not let up.
At one point, the sonar LIT UP with some BIG bass on bait. We set a drift and WHAM! Big fish on screaming line off the reel! And then that sickening feeling when your line goes limp… We did not have a good hook set and that big bass threw the hook. We re-set the drifts several times looking for that very small school of BIG bass. No luck. Then, we worked a grid pattern trying to pick them up on sonar again. No luck… There was maybe six big bass in that pod and they only gave us one chance and then they were gone.
Back into the chop and winds and we landed a few more bass right on a tiny drop-off. The fish were right on the line. They hit Super Spooks and rubber crank baits. Gary also had luck with a lipped swimming wood lure in yellow with white bucktail.
Before we wrapped the day, we beached the boat out of the wind and Gary openned up a huge cooler, packed with sandwiches, drinks, candy bars, and cookies! We ate like kings and enjoyed great conversation about two of the male species favorite subjects: Women and fishing.
Not a bad day on the bay in spite of those nasty north winds that did not let up all morning. It was really rocking out there, but we still had fun. Total catch for the day was 23+ striped bass.
Tight Lines & stay posted. Saturday was dead-calm at first light and maybe somebody found those BIG fish!
Sincerely,
Capt. Dave
www.baymenlife.com