HAPPY SEPTEMBER! Hard to believe we have been fishing for five solid months and are now into our sixth month of the guide season.

On board today I had repeat client, Rolando Jeter, for LT striped bass. Rolando and I met at least ten years back and he has been fishing with me ever since. Rolando has landed some big bass on my boat in past seasons.

At first light, a gentle north wind and a fast dropping -1.7 low tide, made getting on fish slower than usual. We hit a few spots and fish were there, but it was so shallow we could not get to them – even in my shallow water skiff. So, we ran the bay for a bit and finally found a nice pod of bass working under birds. We started to land some feisty striped bass to 26+ inches. Several small pods of very spooky fish were scattered around the bay. At one point, we got into a nice little pod in about a foot or two of water inside a weed bed. Another pod was working the edge of a large flat.

All the bass are currently on a very selective feed as they move south for the fall run. Peanut bunker and also another small minnow of about two inches long with white sides and olive back are in the bay. And we saw a school of pogies today! But no big bass were chasing them and they were in relaxed feeding mode.

After the tide bottomed out and turned and started to come back in, we ran to the power plant in seach of blues. The blues that were there stayed inside the security area and we could not get to them. But we did see a ton of bass outside the area! Bass would boil up out of nowhere for ten to twenty second blitzes. Then they would go down and come up a hundred yards away. This went on all morning. They were very spooky and very selective. But we kept at it and finally figured it all out. They would hit Epoxy Jigs and super spooks. But you had to hit them on the head with it! A few blues were also in the mix and Rolando landed a fine dinner fish.

Back inside the bay, the flats were now covered and there were small pods around the bay doing the same thing: up for ten seconds and then back down. The super spooks did the trick but you had to work at it. It was great fun seeing the fish chase the spooks and knock them into the air. That was just plain awesome to watch.

We ended the morning with 25 bass and 1 blue. All on LT sight fishing. No keepers today, but bass were up to 27″ inches and we did have a big bass chase a spook right up to the boat. Several other fish were with him.

Stay posted: Another five solid weeks of fishing in our bay. Gorgeous weather we have been having and it has been great guiding weather.

Capt. Dave
www.baymenlife.com