Greetings from Capt. Dave & BAYMEN!

On board today, Dr. Ray Hutchinson for Fly or Die striped bass. Ray hails from Michigan and this was his first time targeting striped bass.

At first light, dead-calm seas, water temps 63, and no wind. Tide was half-tide dropping. We saw one small school of fish out on the bay but passed on them and headed for the spot I found fish in yesterday… Bingo! They were stacked up once again in 12″-24″ inches of water up on the flats on the dropping tide.

We pulled into breaking fish slamming bait on the surface. They were VERY finicky and it took us a while to crack the code and settle into their feeding pattern. Patience and endurance were once again the keys to success.

Technique was also paramount. The bass did not want to chase the fly, they wanted it right on their heads, but moving fast past them. They preferred a quick retrieve. Ray used both single hand strips and a double-handed strips. We really got dialed in and once we figured it out it was a blast targeting these fish in skinny water on the flats. We grounded out the boat a couple times and like yesterday, I had to paddle and pole the skiff back to deeper water to use the engine and go to the next school of breaking fish.

Ray is a fantastic fly rodder and very experienced. He has fished around the country and has landed tarpon, snook, redfish, trout and smallmouth bass on the fly, in addition to other species. His casting is absolutely perfect and he can land a fly in a teacup at 70 feet! No joke. He did it over and over and I was delighted. 

No blues today, but we did have one seal “fishing” with us, but he stayed a ways off and it was not an issue spooking fish. I had rigged up several fly rods with wire leaders for today’s fishing after all the blues we have been seeing. But today, there were no blues inside the bay and no rumors of False Albacore.

PATTERNS & TECHNIQUE

Top patterns today where an all white popper on a floating line; a Mike Rice Muddog Saltwater Flies bunny strip peanut bunker pattern in all white; A Strolis bunny strip baitfish in all white; A Blaine Chocklett Game Changers in all white. A white fly is the right fly at the moment. All of today’s patterns are from Bear’s Den Fly Shop In Taunton, MA. Leaders where six foot Fluro or Mono in 20lb test. Fly lines were ORIVS intermediate lines and also an ORIVS “ART” floating line. Fast strips past breaking bass or bass resting on the bottom were the key. The fish were selective and we had numerous follows and “nips” and the fast strip seemed to trigger the most strikes. Rods were TFO Axiom II X, and TFO BVK. Ray also fished a very nice Sage 9 wt.

We ended the morning with 14 striped bass, several just short of keepers, and also a very nice keeper (see first picture in this Baymen Report). Almost all fish were landed in 12″ inches to 24″ inches of water with few exceptions, and they fought hard in the skinny water. Fly fishing at it’s finest.

Back at it. STAY POSTED:

Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, baymenlife.com 31 Years Guiding The Bay. Soli Deo Gloria!