Greetings from Capt. Dave & BAYMEN!

On board today, Dr. Rusty Pool from Texas, For fly or die striped bass fishing. Rusty has fished with me for several seasons now and we have had some stellar mornings on the water.

At first light today, a light north wind 7 knots, dead-low tide rising, water temps at 68 degrees inside the bay and then dipping into the high 50’s on the incoming. Perfect conditions for striped bass.

We found a couple of fish right off hanging on the bottom in some rips. Rusty fished a Blaine Chocklett Game Changer fly pattern in all white (thanks Dick Bowman). The first fish came up from the bottom and slammed that fly hard! Rusty fished it on a floating Flip Pallot line. We both love this fly line for topwater.

We moved to a different rip and had several follows and Rusty hooked into another nice bass – a keeper on the fly! That fish was right on the seem and also hit B.C.’s Game Changer. I marked some fish in 14 feet of water and decided to give the 300 grain sink line and a Bob Clouser mackerel pattern a try, Two drifts, two fish. Not bad. But boy that sink line on a 9wt and a heavy fly are hard to manage. We switched back up to the TFO 8wt, Flip pallot line, and a Baymen Universal fly pattern. Smooth as butter.

Next stop, a small flat getting covered over on the incoming in about 3 fow. A little rip with a nice seem was set up and we drifted along the edge. Rusty put the fly on the X and a bass came right up and took it. A few other follows and we moved on.

Next three spots look so promising and we had a few follows but no takers. Even a few nips on the fly without getting hooked. Smart, finicky summertime fish. We Decided to run across the bay and fish some more structure. (Today was ALL structure. No birds, no bait, no topwater inside the bay). The structure looked perfect and Rusty landed another fish on a perfect cast. Once again, many follows and swipes and looks but no more hook-ups in this spot. 

We ran to one last spot of the morning and had a few bass again follow, swipe, but not take. Interesting behavior with these fish and I ran through the check list of possibles: Fly too big, fly too small; fly wrong color; fly not swimming right; fly has scent; fly action not enough to trigger strikes; fish not hungry… And the list goes on and on. The only way to figure out finicky fish is to spend a lot of time running through the entire check list and try to “crack the code” as we say. Some days you do. Other days you are left scratching your head and wondering… But that is what keeps this sport so darn interesting, fun, and challenging.

Well, we finally wrapped up a lovely morning on the bay, my first charter back since my vacation. We landed five fish including a keeper, and had about a dozen other follows and swipes at the fly. A great morning on a beautiful bay with one of my favorite fly rodders.

Back at it. STAY POSTED. Three months of solid fishing ahead of us!

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

Soli Deo Gloria!

*NOW BOOKING SEASONS 2026, 2027, 2028.