Greetings from Capt. Dave & BAYMEN!

On board today, repeat clients, Alex, Mark and Mike for light tackle striped bass.

At first light, a ton of bait in the harbor and we landed 5 fish before heading out. Earlier in the morning, a friend of mine landed three before work.

As we got out into the bay, we knew NOAA was calling for NNE increasing throughout the morning and the forecast was dead on.

We ran to where we landed 80 fish and 4 keepers 48 hours earlier and that spot was nearly void of bass! We landed a couple and then moved on.

Next spot was also void of bait and bass but was stacked with gulls and cormorants resting up on the flats. It was near slack tide.

Third spot of the morning have a bunch of fish and birds working as soon as the tide turned. We landed a bunch. Drifts were fast and the fish were spooky of the profile of the boat (engine off) and would keep a 50-70 yard perimeter around us. It was hard to get a perfect drift today. But we kept at it and worked many large to small schools of fish and began to catch quite a few.

Next up, we ran to Saquish Rip, North Side Guzzle, Splitting Knife, Seven Is Heaven and then Captain’s Flat. No fish on sonar and no bait. We did find a small group of bass up on shallow flats and int a deep water cut and landed a few more fish.

The last stop of the morning had birds working but they continued to be spooky of the boat making it hard to get near them on the drifts. But we got a few more!

Seas finally topped out at 3 feet with 4 foot chop. We made a final rally and called it a great fall day on the bay. Heading in, seas turned NE and white-capped.  Total catch and release today was 27 fish all on LT. Topwater poppers and rubber crankbaits got the job done.

Back at it. Stay Posted: Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, www.baymenlife.com