Greetings from BAYMEN!

On board today, one of my regulars, Baymen Dick “Tackle King” Bowman for LT striped bass. Dick has been fishing with me for many years.

At first light, dense fog rolled over the bay. We picked our way along and found our first school of topwater striped bass. These are the same fish that have been ULTRA selective. We fished them for a short time, landed a few, and then moved on to find other fish.

Next stop of the morning we found another small school of topwater fish. By the time we got to them across the bay, they had already broken up. We fished the area, landed a few more fish, and then moved to our next spot of the morning.

Out third spot had another school of topwater bass that were very finicky. In fact, most of the fish today, if not all, were very selective and on an “imprinted” feed of micro baits. This has been the case for the past three days and today they were more selective than yesterday. Dick lets me fish along with him so I threw the fly all morning while he worked the light tackle. What a treat to be able to fish alongside this great angler!

I was surprised to see no fish in three of my spots that have held fish over the past week. The bass are schooled and in migratory mode and feeding on the micro baitfish. Find the bait, find the fish. Also some good flocks of birds working the scattered schools of fish around the bay. We fished mostly shallow waters of about 6 feet today, up on the flats. We did fish some deeper waters and did mark fish down deep as well as on topwater. But when there are fish on top, we tend to ignore the bass down deep. Topwater is just so much fun!

Top fly pattern today was a tie by Mike Rice of Mud Dog Salwater Flies called a Bulktail Sand Eel (crimped barb). The bass tore it up. For light tackle, Dick got some great fish on a variety of lures including Hogy poppers and Epoxy baitfish. The color White was the best producer.

Total catch and release today was 23 striped bass on fly and LT. A flat, dead-calm bay with a rising tide. Fogy start giving way to bright sunshine and blue skies. Water temps were 70’s at the dock and high 60’s around the bay.

Back at it. STAY POSTED:

Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, www.baymenlife.com Fly Fishing & Light Tackle Striped Bass On The Massachusetts Coast. 30 Years Guiding The Bay.

NOW BOOKING 2023 & 2024. Book Early – Dates Go Quickly.