HAPPY SPRING!!!! Whose Ready?!
Greetings from Capt. Dave & Baymen Charters!
EARLY SEASON OPEN DATES:
Spring has finally sprung and I am busier than beavers prepping for the arrival of the striped bass charter season! I am booked up solid for 2024 – HOWEVER, I may open a couple of early season dates in early to mid-May if the striped bass show early in our bay. It is always a gamble, but with the mild winter we have just had ( ZERO SNOW) I am guessing we will see some early fish. I will post Early Season Open Dates right here on my BAYMEN REPORTS if the fish arrive and we are into them. All Early Season dates will be on a moments notice and will be first come, first served. Stay Posted!
OTHER NEWS:
Baymen Universal Fly Patterns – I have been tying flies like crazy and am finally caught up for the season. No more orders being taken for 2024 striped bass. Thanks to everyone that wanted some Baymen Universals. I wish I had the time to tie more.
2024 Duck Season – I have a few dates open for puddle ducks in mid-late October through most of November at my blind. Reach out if you are interested in a puddle duck hunt NOW as dates will be gone long before fall rolls around again. I am typically booked 6-12 months in advance.
Maine Again – I took a couple days off in mid-March and went to Maine – again. This time going further and further north. It was a wonderful trip with some enjoyable hiking in the Big Woods. I saw deer, beavers, mink, turkey, pa’tridge, etc. I love to walk the land and always try to find a beaver lodge and beaver dam and take a walking stick off it. Beavers make the best walking sticks. I cannot wait to go back up again, when I do not know. But as one client said, ” one of these days you are going to go up and never come back.” He may be right! But I am booked out into the 2028 striped bass season back here on the MA coast so if I do go, it is not going to be for some time.
Gear Ready! – All the fly gear and light tackle gear is pretty much ready. I have lots of new gear and also some of last years gear all in tip-top shape. A few more rods being wrapped up at Aubut Rods and then I will start packing the tackle boxes for the season and tying new leaders and then tying on lures and fly patterns. I get excited just thinking about it!
BOAT UPDATE – My guide skiff is getting an acid scrub and new gelcoating on the under hull this week. Then, when it returns it will get a complete scrape down, sanded, wire brushed, and three coats of fresh Petit Marine paint. I have been doing this every spring for all my skiffs for the past 30 years. All new safety gear will be added as always. And the trailer work is now completed and ready to roll with new axel, plates, springs, bearings, lights, rear cross bar, etc. Hope to get a few more years out of it before replacing it with a brand new one. I trailer every day so my trailers get a lot of use and they hold up well as long as you keep up on the maintenance in the off-season.
HERRING RUNS – Stacked! I have seen a couple of them and the river herring are just stacked up in the runs and it is great to see. If you are near one, it is worth a stop to see nature carrying on it’s annual Spring Run with us or without us.
SPRING TROUT STOCKING – Underway! Check the daily site to see where the trout are being stocked in rivers, ponds and streams in our area. I wish I had time to guide spring trout this year but I just have not time. I will be lucky to get and wet a line myself a couple times. But if I have a date or two open up I will be sure to post it up here on my Baymen Reports.
Thats the word for today, March 20, 2024. As soon as the striped bass arrive, I will start my daily Baymen Reports right here, May through October. STAY POSTED:
Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, baymenlife.com 31 Years Guiding The Bay. Fly Fishing & Light Tackle Striped Bass On The Massachusetts Coast. Booking 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028.
Soli Deo Gloria!