Happy Father’s Day to all the great anglers and Dad’s in BAYMEN Land…! Thank you for following The Baymen Reports all these years. Looking forward to fishing with you! – Capt David Bitters, BAYMEN, baymenlife.com (781) 934-2838

I love to fly fish fresh and saltwaters. Started fly fishing 45 years ago when my Dad bought me a Berkley fly rod and reel at Stone’s Department store in Hanover, Massachusetts! We had a lot of fun learning the sport and I was wide-eyed with excitement learning about something I had no idea existed!

Fast forward many years… An old friend, the late Konrad Gesner, called me one day and said “let’s fly fish for striped bass.” I met him at the Duxbury Yacht Club and we headed for the mussel bed north of Clark’s Island. If felt good to throw a fly again after many years of fishing light tackle only.

“FISH ON!” Konrad was very encouraging and coached me as I hooked up and landed a fine keeper striped bass on the fly rod. It was quite a fight and so exciting and satisfying to land such a fine fish on the fly. Well, that was it. I was back into fly fishing big time! I have been fly fishing now for 45 years and love it more today than ever before. I’d love to produce a TV travel show all on fly fishing around the world. Wouldn’t that be a blast..!

I hope you will come fly fish with me for striped bass in my home waters on beautiful Duxbury, Kingston & Plymouth bay! I know it well and I will give you a great day chasing one of our favorite game fish on the fly!

Tight Lines!

Capt. David Bitters, Baymen Guide Service, Inc. baymenlife.com

POST SCRIPT:

After lunch on Father’s Day, I said to my family, “I’m going fly fishing at the Bluefish River – who wants to go?” My oldest, Chloe, grabbed her camera and joined me. She is a very good photographer! I tied on a BAYMEN Universal Fly pattern that I had tied in my vice a few days earlier (I tie a lot of Baymen Universals – my signature Go-To fly that has been fish around the world).

I rigged up a Temple Fork Outfitters 8 WT Clouser rod with a RIO intermediate line and 15lb mono tippet. The tide had just started outgoing and nice little “stream” had set up. I cast out about 70 feet of line and let my fly sink for 20 seconds… Strip, strip, strip… WHAM!!! – FISH ON!!!

This was a very fine fish for the river and it took me right into my backing! I palmed the reel to slow him down, gained my line and turned him back up the river towards me.

What a fun fish to hook and fight! I got him to the dock I was casting from, lipped him, and held him up. What a beautiful fish! We took a few photos and I released him back into the river to swim another day. A great Father’s Day fish on the fly!

Tight Lines & Happy Father’s Day!

baymenlife.com

#TYL