On board today, I had repeat clients Ken Hartshorn, Frank Harrington, and Frank’s sons Brian and Frank Jr. for light tackle striped bass.

At first light it was very flat and light NW wind on a half-tide dropping. We rigged out with topwater poppers, sub-surface rubber crankbaits and bottom Baymen Jigs. No topwater, very little bird action and no bait. So, we checked a few of my spots and decided to go all topwater again today and work the flats, drop-offs and structure. It proved very productive!

We found bass in about 70% of my spots today, but almost no bait. Some of my spots that produce big-time in mid June held no fish. Other spots that typically don’t hold fish this time of year, held fish. We moved around a lot today and set drift after drift. The winds began to freshen NNE and by the time we headed in it was all East. We had a lot of chases and swipes among the hook-ups on topwater poppers. The missed fish are what I call “East Winders.” They chase and swipe, but are hard to hook up. A rapid retrieve usually increases the hook-ups.

The excitement of using poppers is one of my favorite ways to fish when we can get the fish to come to the surface. The explosive hits always catch you off guard and watching stripers chase down and smack the tackle is great fun!

Total catch and relase today was 44 fish with 2 keepers that went home with the anglers. What a world-class fishery we have here on the Massachusetts coast.

Back at it. Stay posted:

Capt. Dave
www.baymenlife.com
*Booking 2018 Dates – Don’t Miss Out For Next Year*