Greetings from Capt. Dave & BAYMEN!

As I type this, the first day of Spring is just 3 days away… Whoo-hoo! Can I get an Amen! What a winter. But the snow is all melted in BAYMEN Land, the trees are budding, the birds are singing, and the herring are starting to show in the runs. And we are all looking forward to what comes next – Spring Striped Bass!

First stripers will start to trickle into our bay about April 15th. Fish are migrating up the coast from the Chesapeake, Delaware, and Hudson (their winter spawning grounds). As you all know, the bass follow the bait and everything is dependent on water temperatures. Our bay here on the MA coast is currently 45 degrees – a little warmer than usual for this time of year. Somebody asked me “the question” the other day that I get have been getting asked every spring for the last forty seasons: “Will the fish be early this year…?” My reply: “Nope! They will be right on time!”

Twice in my charter career over the years, we got into “gap day” fish and they were all keepers! Both days were in late April. Gap fish are small schools of striped bass running ahead of the big schools of striped bass. They show up for a tide, chasing whatever bait they can find, and they vanish a few hours later, on the move north. I have often wondered something: Do the gap fish sometimes arrive, realize it’s too early and no other fish are with them, and reverse direction, to join back up with bigger schools further south, and then start north again??? Just something that keeps me awake at night while waiting for the first striped bass of the season to arrive!

Well, nothing can change the course of time or the annual ways of the spring striped bass. They do what they have always done since the day God put it all in motion, long ago. The shore birds will arrive. Egrets, osprey, herons… all following the bait north. The terns will show up as well and the striped bass will be with them!

I will leave you with a little poem I wrote for my children when they were very young: ” When the peepers sing, schoolies are two weeks away; when the dandy lions bloom, schoolies are in the bay; when the lilacs bloom, welcome the cow bass of May!”

So there you have it.  A life of wisdom on the bay from the aging and grizzled Captain. I will add one more thing with both sadness and anticipation: 2027 will be my last year guiding on the bay. It will mark a 34 year career of guiding on the Massachusetts coast. For those of you that have booked for 2028, I will still be here to finish up those trips with you. But I will not be taking any new bookings for striped bass. Well, maybe a few…

The next chapter in the Captains life is to guide up in the North Country for trout, salmon, and smallmouth bass, on the mighty Androscoggin River. It is loaded with fish and I am looking forward to putting anglers on some very fine trout, salmon, and smallmouth. I hope you will make the trip and fish with me. 

Thats the word for today. 2026 is booked up, the striped bass will be here soon, and we will be chasing them with a vengeance with Fly and Light Tackle gear all season long! I can’t wait to have you all on board and to put you on the fish!

Sincerely,

Capt. Dave, BAYMEN, baymenlife.com 33 Years Guiding The Bay. Still In Love.

Soli Deo Gloria!