Capt. Dave Bitters with one of the smaller fish taken during the morning. Photo by Tom Richardson

This morning I fished Duxbury Bay, Massachusetts, with Capt. Dave Bitters of Baymen Guide Service, in conditions that felt downright autumnal. (Can summer really be just 5 days away?) On the plus side, all of the unseasonably chilly weather this spring has really kept the fish chewing well inside the bay, and today was no exception.

Gulls feast on bait trapped on the flats. Photo by Tom Richardson

Shortly after launching Bitters’ 22’ Carolina Skiff at the Duxbury town landing, we found a huge school of stripers busting bait just east of Bug Light. On his first cast Bitters connected with a 32” fish that hit one of his hand-tied Baymen Universal Clouser flies fished on intermediate line.

A small school of herring-like bait swims in a tidal pool. Photo by Tom Richardson

We lost the tide shortly after that, so we killed some down time by wandering around a shallow flat near the Cow Yard and watching the laughing gulls feast on 4” to 5” herring-like bait trapped in the tidal pools. The Baymen Universal and Baymen Clouser flies Bitters had tied the night before were a perfect match for these olive-backed baits.

The early morning bite saw big numbers of fish under working birds in the channel east of Bug Light. Photo by Tom Richardson

As the incoming tide began to flood the bay, we climbed back aboard the skiff and headed to a few of Bitters’ trusty structure spots, which produced some more fish, including a 29-incher that took a Bayman Universal in 3’ of water.

The incoming water and west wind made it difficult to fish many of the spots Bitters wanted to try, and the surface bite just never rematerialized, so we called it quits and headed back to the dock for some grub. All in all, a great morning of fishing with Duxbury’s premier fly and light-tackle guide.

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The Bayman Universal and Universal Clouser. Photo by Tom Richardson

The guide celebrated his busman's holiday with a 32" bass. Photo by Tom Richardson

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