Ghost Town – Bass/Birds/Bait Moved Out
We had several days of Fall Blitz insanity this past week, with some rough weather in the mix. SW winds and chop, and today, rain and thunder on the bay. Winds have turned hard E and the thousands of bass that were here earlier in the week have left.
Dick Bowman and I fished on Tuesday, September 14 and were treated to a spectacular Fall Blitz show of birds, bait and bass. We estimated there were thousands of bass in the bay and many hundreds of thousands of peanut bunker. There were also an estimated 5,000+ gulls working the schools.
Last night, with a hard SW turned S, with a W/NE/E pattern moving in overnight, I drove the beach road in awe of what I estimated to be 10,000 gulls over a couple mile stretch of water. Bass and peanut bunker were working under them in crazy blitz action with bait spraying out of the water in huge displays. The gulls were so thick they were flying in a tornado spiral – something I have never witnessed on our bay, but have seen in snow geese in other states.
The winds shifted E overnight and we had rain and thunder this morning. My pondering came true this evening as the birds, bait and bass were nowhere in sight. Gone with the wind, an East wind. I have seen it before when 5 miles of fish disappeared offshore over night in an unbelievable migration many years back. I was stunned the next day when I could not find fish.
So, that is where we are at this moment. I predict new fish will be coming down the coast and stopping in our bay over the next 2-4 weeks before the fall blitz is over. This past week may have been the peak of the fall run. We will just have to wait and fish and see.
Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, www.baymenlife.com 20 Years Guiding The Bay. Booking 2022/2023 Fly Fishing or Light Tackle On The MA Coast. baymencharters@gmail.com