Greetings from Capt. Dave & BAYMEN!

The striped bass season is on our doorsteps! The first “Rumor Fish” are starting to trickle in and I have even seen two photos of “early fish” (no sea lice) just south of us on Cape Cod waters…

Last night, we had winds kick up to 50 knots and then heavy rains started at 5:53am. How do I know the exact time? I was getting ready for a clamming trip on the negative – 1.1 tide, thats how I know! LOL… Clamming trip rescheduled. Maybe tomorrow…

AMAZING weather is on top for the weekend and the week ahead. We are talking temps touching into the 70’s possible. I truly think we will get into a few fish this week coming up. Stay Posted:

OTHER NEWS

The work on my Guide Skiff continues. Basically we rebuilt the whole trailer, as you know. We also re-gelcoated the under exterior. I trailer my boat and have never moored my guide skiffs. Got to stay mobile to chase the fish. Sliding the boat off and on the bunks over the years will wear off the factory gelcoat and you have to keep up on it by re-gelcoating the bottom of the skiff. Just part of the expense of guiding. This past week, sanding, chipping, scraping, wire brushing, and painting started in earnest. The interior of the boat is looking AMAZING – like a brand new boat. This rain has put the skids on the painting, and it takes three days of dry-out before you can start up again. But the great weather on tap will find me back on it to finish up the job. I always love how nice the boat looks at the start of the season…!

Well, watch this site for my BAYMEN REPORTS. They will start right here in earnest as we get into fish, with daily photos, techniques, fishing reports on who, what and where. One thing I am quite excited about for this season is late summer/fall FALSE ALBACORE, aka “LTTLE TUNNY”. Last season, for the first time in my 31 years of guiding, False Albacore started to show INSIDE our bays in decent numbers. We were hooking into them and getting bitten off on 20lb leaders on Fly and Light Tackle gear and I thought they were Big Bluefish… UNTIL I had one by the leader at the boat (that I estimated to be a possible state record) and then it broke off! Ugh!!!!  Dave Mulcahy had an incredible fight with that screamer on LT September 29th, that neither of us will ever forget! This season, when/if they arrive again, I am ready and rigged with wire tippets and my clients could be landing Little Tunny!

Lastly, IF YOU GET A STRIPED BASS THIS WEEKEND OR IN THE WEEK AHEAD, BEFORE I DO, SHOOT ME AN E-MAIL WITH A PIC. I will post it up here on Capt. Dave’s BAYMEN REPORTS. You can have bragging rights for the whole season as the angler that caught the first striped bass in our local waters.

Tight Lines – Any time now,

Capt. David Bitters, BAYMEN, baymenlife.com 31 Years Guiding the Bay. Fly Fishing & Light Tackle Sight Fishing for Striped Bass on the Massachusetts Coast. Booking 2025-2028.