Tail Up, Mouth Open, Crab Gone

It really isn't hard to see why striped bass are so captivating. They are a very handsome fish, with their scales painted silver, blue, purple, green, white, and black. They lend themselves well to easy handling, with their sandpaper teeth and firm jaw, only a gill plate and a few fin spike to be concerned about. They are one of the most versatile of any saltwater or freshwater fish. They could be virtually anywhere in saltwater or fresh between the St. Johns River in Florida and the Gulf of St. Lawrence and places North that doesn't have an impassable barrier, and has a tolerable water temperature and quality. They could be in a shallow flat, a deep rocky ledge, a strong rip, a tiny creek, a salt pond, a river, a sandy beach, a rocky jetty, a grassy marsh. They are a challenging fish to target, especially in these times of declined population. Catching big striped bass takes skill, knowledge, versatility, and time. More so if you are intent on only doing so with a fly rod.

Right now is flats time in CT, LI, and RI. There are other things going on, obviously, right now you really could catch a striper in most habitats they frequent and using many different methods, but when big stripers are on the flats, to me, that's the ultimate. That's where I'm going to concentrate my effort. 

Juvenile sundial.

And right now I'm on a crab bite. I haven't caught any big fish yet, but when you hook an 8lb striper in a foot of water it acts big. On Thursday I had one fish take me into the backing in an attempt to leave the flat completely. I thought it was going to be the big one. Instead, this was the guilty party:

All of the fish we've been catching have been fat, healthy, and carrying a few sea lice. It seems like most of the fish that are in now just got here recently. They are nearly perfect specimens, though a few pounds and inches short of what I really want to be finding. 

In the morning on Thursday Noah and I were lucky enough to find a few fish tailing. I got probably the best take I've ever had on a crab. I saw a fish swirl, mad a cast ahead of it, watched it push up on the fly, pause, push again, then tail up and eat. I missed that fish, but it didn't really matter. It was a beautiful thing to watch. 

My hope is that while I'm away from the salt this weekend some big fish will push up and they'll be there to target during the week. The bite has been good. Really good. But I'm hunting for something more.