Summer Striped Bass Pattern In Bloom

I am friends with two, of what I consider, highly-talented light tackle saltwater anglers, by the names of Capt. John Deering and John Burgraff. We haven't fished together in quite some time and after making a few phone calls everything was set up to fish the Chesapeake Bay on Thursday, Sep 13, 2007.

We met at Sandy Point State Park around 7:30am and were all very excited. This is an excellent time of year to let the birds be your fish finder, but be aware that they can't cover all the schools of feeding striped bass and bluefish. That means keeping an eye out for any disturbances in the water (nervous water), or active birds, while on the move. All I had to do was run the boat past some productive areas while John B. (aka Cat Tales) and Capt. John Deering (I call him 'the 'birdman'), visually scanned the horizon for any disturbances.

As we were at high speed Capt. John said, "Tommy, turn completely around and head toward 11:00 o'clock." As soon as I turned and looked in that direction, I saw fish rolling and bait being pushed out of the water. Well, that's when all the catching started. Throughout the day many lures were tried and most had some success...until Capt. John Deering put together a special rig that would catch fish as they fed on 1" silversides. After watching Capt. John catch fish on a 6 to 1 ratio, John B. and I said 'that's enough of that' and tied on the same rig, and then everyone was bailing fish for quite some time.

Fishing Tip: Try and fish with a variety of friends and/or guides. This will give you many oppertunities to learn productive locations, different techniques and much, much more.

Capt. Tom Hughes
Full Time Light Tackle & Fly Fishing Guide
Booking Summer Trips