Greetings from Capt. Dave & BAYMEN!

On board today, The “A” Team: Frank Harrington and his sons Greg, Brian and Frank for light tackle striped bass. This crew has been with me for many years and they are Pro level.

At first light a snotty SW with 2-3 foot chop. High tide dropping, water temps 65 degrees, Gorgeous sunrise and a bright sunny day.

First stop we had bait, birds and bass over the flats. Once again, ULTRA selective fish. We landed two quick ones and then it was futile. But I had some tricks, experience, and intel up my sleeve. In this order: 1) Change technique before changing tackle 2) If technique does not get the hits, change tackle 3) If change in technique and change in tackle do not get the hits, 4) Change size, shape, and color of light tackle lures. If this does not get the hits, you must do #5) DRIVE AWAY AND GO FIND NEW FISH MILES AWAY! Why? Some schools in the bay are on an ULTRA selective feed and the size of the bait is next to impossible to duplicate with LT. 1/2″ inch and often smaller. Massive bait balls and ALL THE BASS are feeding ONLY ON THIS BAIT. They cannot be enticed to take anything else.

So, we drove away from big schools of topwater blitzing striped bass and ran three miles. Guess what we found? Big schools of striped bass blitzing bait on topwater, under birds. The best part? They WERE NOT on an ultra selective feed. They were in fact on a finicky feed but also bulking up on anything remotely the size, color, and shape of the dominate bait balls. And often, they would take what ever was in front of them if you made a perfect cast into their very fast forward movements. 

We set up drifts way up above the breaking fish and let the SW wind and tide push us into them while the bass pushed the bait towards us. Worked like a charm. The “A” Team put the tackle right on noses of the forward moving fish and we began to hook up on some monster size light tackle striped bass on topwater! Greg was High Rod and landed a 22 pound, 40 1/2″ inch striped bass – the biggest light tackle bass landed on my boat so far this season. To say it was exciting would be an understatement. The fish fought hard and wild and made some great runs with drags screaming 40lb braid off the reels. We even got into a mix of Big Blues at one point and landed one on a 15lb mono leader! We did not want blues today so we drove away from those fish and caught up with the schools of very fast moving striped bass. WHAM! A triple hook-up on the light tackle! What a blast!

This went on all morning until we were all tired out from chasing big bass in choppy seas. Total catch and release was 17 fish to 22 pounds and 40 1/2″ inches, almost all over slot keepers, including one monster blue. All fish landed on light tackle on the surface or 3-4 feet sub-surface. Today we cracked the code and we had an absolute blast on big fall run striped bass. Everything I prayed for, and more. Thank you Lord!

Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, baymenlife.com 31 Years Guiding The Bay. Still In Love.

Soli Deo Gloria!

*BOOKING 2026 SEASON*