Well, by now you must be starting to get pretty excited for the upcoming striped bass season on the Massachusetts coast! Like you, I can’t stop thinking about it. This morning, as I ran Big Dog on the beach while scanning the horizon for whales, I smiled and laughed out loud at how lovely the water looked and told Big Dog I can’t wait for the striped bass to arrive for another season!

When will the stripers start to appear in our local waters? Well, for the last 27 years, I have tried to land my first striped bass of the season by April 15th. This spring I will do the same. I don’t always get one on “opening day” but I always try! Then, with each passing day, as I finish last minute prep on boat and gear and a final check of all the paper work needed as a guide, I began to scan the bay daily with binoculars looking for signs of fish. I remember one late April morning, I got a call from the late Capt. Joel Webber, who said, “Capt. Dave! There are fish ALL OVER out here in the fog in Plymouth bay!” The first school of migrating fish had arrived and there would be many, many more behind them as the bass moved up the coast the Chesapeak, Delaware and Hudson rivers where they winter over and spawn.

I remember another April morning very well, when I got a call from an attorney in California who said he was going to be in Boston for a conference and could I get him out for some fly fishing for striped bass. I told him “no” because there were no fish in the bay this early. It would be another week – or two – before I started taking charters. He asked if we could go anyway and I told him sure – as long as you understand we will see no fish and you will catch nothing. He agreed and said he just wanted to cast his fly rod on our lovely bay. So, we booked and the next morning we were on the water before sunrise. It was COLD! We were wearing winter coats, hats and gloves. The night before when I went to sleep, I prayed to God that He would send fish.

Well, we headed out on the bay and there was not a bird or a ripple in sight and no sign of any fish. I slowly began to run recon around the bay, remembering my prayer the night before. We checked Duxbury and Plymouth and then I figured we might as well check the flats up in Kingston, but there was just no way… We tuned the corner around Goose Point and my jaw hit the deck!!! 1-2 acres of water were rolling with striped bass – BIG striped bass!!! I pulled into the middle of it all like it was a dream and my client began to hook into keeper striped bass on the fly rod! I forget how many we landed but they were stacked and rolling on the surface for over an hour. And then, just like a switch, they were gone… We were all smiles and I quietly gave thanks to God in my heart for sending the fish for my client. It was an overwhelming feeling of peace and contentment on the ride in. My client was thrilled and we got some great pictures to remember the day. Some time later I got a package in the mail from California. It was from my client and it was whole bunch of hand-tied flies he had tied up and wanted to give to me. That put a big smile on my face and gratitude in my heart.

So, as we wait for April to arrive and the striped bass to come up the coast, I look over my wish list of gear and tie my fly patterns while sitting by the fire. I dream of seasons past and seasons to come, and I so look forward to beginning my twenty-seventh year of guiding on the bay with wonderful clients.

Tight Lines Soon…

Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, www.baymenlife.com Instagram @baymencharters FB: Baymen Guide Service, Inc. Baymen Charters