Greetings from Capt. Dave & BAYMEN Charters. And a shout out to Anchor Marine in Chatham who follows my Baymen Reports and who are often working in our harbor.

On board today, The “A” Team – Frank Harrington III, Frank’s son, Frank IV, and their friend Jesse, for light tackle striped bass. At first light – dead calm seas, light overcast, dropping tide. Water temps 67 in the harbor and 65 out in the bay. A wisp of West wind that turned to a wisp of East.

I began my run and gun around the bay in search of Fall Blitz action. We ran the bay from one end to the other (almost) and I also glassed the compass. Nothing! No topwater anywhere… Hmmmm… So, I decided to search out a little corner that held some fish for us the other evening from the shoreline – BINGO! They were there and we had triple hook-ups to kick off the morning. In no time at all, we landed and released the BAYMEN Charters daily average: fifteen fish! Mostly fat bass but some blues in the mix of a couple pounds each. The bite finally cooled and we moved on in search of more Fall Blitz action…

No other schools of topwater inside the bay that we would find. I switched over to fishing structure and we could not find any fish on the rips, cuts, channel edges, etc. So, back into the bay and I spotted what looked like birds working a mile distant. We made the run and pulled into a ton of fish in several schools busting bait on topwater. NOT peanut bunker – it was solid 1.5″ inch Silver Sides! We were fishing 4″ inch rubber and it took some experimenting with technique, but once we figured it out, it was Game On! We started to catch and release a ton of fat bass on light tackle. What a blast! The bay was glass and the fish were on top and also lighting up the sonar down below.

Some schools would touch nothing we offered them. Other schools were less finicky. We kept moving and setting drifts non-stop for the remainder of the morning. At one point, I look around and told my crew we were drifting through over an acre of topwater bass…!

We ended the morning with a whopping 61 fish caught and released. Most were a hair below slot keepers and you would not believe how hard these fish fight. Fall Run fish are brutes!

Tight Lines! 19 trips left on the books for 2023. STAY POSTED:

Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, www.baymenlife.com 31 Years Guiding The Bay. Still In Love.

Soli Deo Gloria!

*******BOOKING 2024 & 2025 SEASONS. FLY FISHING OR LIGHT TACKLE STRIPED BASS ON THE MASSACHUSETTS COAST. BOOK EARLY – DATES GO QUICKLY, OFTEN A YEAR OR MORE IN ADVANCE*******