MORNING OBSERVATIONS: East winds. Large school of fish 500 yards SW of First Crossover; a second school (micro pod) in back of Clark’s Island. Very quiet up this end of the bay… Spoke with one angler that landed a 37 1/2″ striper at first light on bait. Lots of ring-billed and herring gulls sitting shoreline. 19 (!) Great Blue Herons in a single flock along the marsh edge. Quite a sight. Small flocks of Sanderlings, Dunlins, Curlews, Red Knots, Semi-palmated’s, dotting the shorelines. Hundreds (thousands?) of swallows migrating down the beach road in loose flocks. Seven mute swans at the mouth of the Bluefish River…

My 2023 Striped Bass Charter Season has officially come to a close. I will continue to scout and fish a few days here and there, but my scheduled season has come to an end.

We are now in what I call “Gap Days” where we will see schools of bass passing through our bays here in Plymouth, Kingston and Duxbury as the Fall Run starts to wind down. We will have some major fall blitz action for sure, right into December. But there will be days or even a week between schools of fish moving through. A lot of down time with some wild, intense blitz action. I often come across schools of big bass in late fall while duck hunting, and nobody is fishing them.

I wish all my clients, friends, and fellow Baymen an awesome Autumn season whether you have already hauled, cleaned and put away, or are continuing to pursue the striped bass right into the edge of winter. I have always dreamed of following the fish from Plymouth Bay to the Chesapeake and catching fish on Christmas Eve,

Tight Lines and all the best to you all, for the rest of your season.

Sincerely,

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

Soli Deo Gloria!