On board today, I had regulars, Chris & Molly DeVillers, and their god-daughter, Emily, for light tackle striped bass.

At first light, the bay was calm with a freshening South wind. And with the South wind came torrential rain. We began recon on the bay in search of topwater fish. There were none to speak of, with a fish or two occasionally breaking the surface. No bait and no flocks of birds. Almost an exact pattern that we had yesterday on the bay. The only addition today was lots and lots of rain that never let up once it started.

We kept an eye out for breaking fish and birds while we began to fish the structure all over the bay. Spots that held fish yesterday were void of fish today. My crew kept at it and we picked up a bass here and there and then we finally found a decent school of bass on some structure. We switched over from rubber crank baits to topwater tackle and the hits and hook-ups began to pick up big time.

Rains continued in torrential down pours and I was busy unhooking fish and pumping the manual bilge to keep the water out of the boat. No thunder or lightning, just heavy rain. We all took it in stride and made the best of it. It was a warm day and pretty comfortable, all things considered.

Total catch and release today was 23 striped bass to 26 inches. Emily had one big fish boil up on her topwater tackle and that fished looked to be at least 33″ inches but did not take the lure. Lots and lots of followers today.

Back at it soon. Hoping bait shows up in the bay and the bass follow and we may get a decent spring blitz before the summer pattern sets in. Today was a great morning fishing in the rain. Hardy charters!

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Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, baymenlife.com