On board today, I had repeat regulars, Frank Harrington, Ken Hartshorn and Frank’s boys for light tackle striped bass. What another great morning!

At first light, we found a pod of fish working in the Duxbury Channel. A few small fish and we moved on. Next up, we hit a structure spot and landed a half-dozen more schoolie bass.

Then, we decided to fish the dead-low tide in every guzzle we could get the boat into. We switched over from Capt. Dave’s Baymen Jigs, to topwater poppers, spooks, and rubber cranks. It was COLD out there and I wasn’t sure if bass would be crabbing the shallows. But we found enough fish to keep us busy until the tide turned and came back in. Great fun targeting fish in ultra-skinny water!

When the tide did turn, a handful of fresh fish came into the bay chasing bait. Not a lot of fish in the bay today. We had to run a lot and try lots of structure and also keep a keen eye out for quick top-water blow ups. Our hard work paid off in a big way. After structure fishing, we came out into the main channels right into a school of BIG fish running bait up onto the flats. BAM! Two keepers in maybe 4-5 feet of water. Frank’s son hooked into an absolute screamer!!! That fish took out a hundred yards of line and the drag was really zinging. I was watching the spool empty and starting to wonder if I was going to have to start the boat and give chase! Ten minutes later, we boated a FAT keeper. By the time we landed that big fish, the boat was fast aground. Thats how shallow these fish were in! I had to use a paddle to push us out to deep enough water to put the engine down (about 12 inches).

After that great blitz, it was slim pickings as we moved around the bay and searched for more topwater. The winds turned NE (surprise, surprise…) and the bite pretty much shut down. On a hunch, we visted a shallow channel that we could not get to an hour earlier due to low water. On this second visit, we slipped over a bar and cast the edge of the flats in only a few feet of water. I sait to Frank, if the bass are here, this is where they will be – WHAM! No sooner had I got the words out of my mouth, when Frank hooked up on a BIG bass on my Baymen Jig! That fish actually took the jig very gentley but gave a hard fight, Frank got it to the boat and I netted it aboard.

Total catch today: 27 fish, 3 keepers, all on light  tackle. Capt. Dave’s Baymen Universal Jig (available at MGC Bait & Tackle, Rte 53, Pembroke; and at The Saltwater Edge in RI); Gagg’s Grabber Poppers with my bucktail tied into the rear hook; Spooks walking the dog; and of course, rubber crank baits.

Another awesome morning on the bay. Not a lot of fish inside, but we figured out how to find the ones that were here and did very, very well.

Tight Lines & Stay Posted:

Capt. Dave, BAYMEN

www.baymenlife.com