On board today, client and good friend, Col. Richard Comstock (ret.) for fly fishing striped bass.

At first light, we ran into a massive school of small striped bass that was the largest school of fish I have seen inside our bay in years. All small fish but a lot of them and an absolute blast on the fly rod! The blitz lasted maybe an hour and then east wind freshened and they started to disappear.

On to our next spot of the morning and we found several small pods of fish that would stay up for a few minutes and then go back down. If we waited it out, they would come up again a few hundred yards away and we could re-set our drifts. This went on for most of the morning.

We worked all around the bay and also tried fishing structure. Not a single fish in the rip lines, over rocks or weed beds or channel drop-offs. All the fish today were schooled up and in migratory mode: Get the bait balls to the surface, bulk up, move south. That was the pattern all morning.

For flies, we took fish on topwater white poppers, a chunky streamer tied by guide Eric Thomas of RI, and a small Chartreuse/Yellow clouser. All of them worked with the clouser taking the bulk of the fish. Our best fish were on the bottom under the schools of topwater schoolies. We had to cast out, slack out, and count down up to 20 seconds before stripping back.

Total catch and release today was 36 striped bass all on the fly. An absolute blast with Richard “The Machine” Comstock. The man cast nearly six hours, non-stop.

Back at it. Watching the weather the rest of the week, Winds and rain in the forecast. Today, we skirted ENE winds all morning and they layed pretty flat.

Capt. Dave
www.baymenlife.com

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