26 Fish
On board today, I had repeat client, Ed Morris from Idaho, for LT striped bass.
At first light, a nice west wind and a rising tide brought a ton of fish into the bay. Mostly schoolies with a few cows mixed in. First pod of fish were right outside the harbor but they would take nothing. On to the next pod and the biggest explosion on the water I have seen this season! HUGE bass! Motored over and worked the area hard. Fish busting all around us and no hits!
On to the third pod of fish… Tons of fish busting all around us but still no hook-ups. I change up all the tackle to tiny rubber crank baits. I think we landed two fish in these blitzes in the first hour. Frustrating… Very spooky, very selective. Then, I start thinking it through and go back to the topwater poppers. I change up the typical cadence from “POP-PAUSE…POP-PAUSE…” to RAPID CRANK AND POPPPING! Almost as fast as I can crank – BINGO! Fish started to slam our poppers on almost every cast. The reason: they don’t have time to study it and ask the question. It goes past them lightning fast, they give chase, and slam it out of instinct!
The next couple of hours we boat and release 26 fish. Ed gets a wicked hit at one point, I see his rod bend and a big bass screams line off the reel in four feet of water, high up on the flats. A few minutes later I net a big light tackle bass and the rest is history. The second part of the morning the topwater bite was over. No more fish inside that we could find. When that happends its live bait or go home.
26 Fish total today on light tackle topwater poppers in the fall run.
Stay posted: September is about to begin!
Capt. Dave
www.baymenlife.com