I've caught striped bass a hundred different ways — but this one felt brand new.
After co-hosting our Zoominar with local flats guide Chris Kokorda on shallow water striper fishing, I'd been carrying a crab fly in my box for weeks, waiting for the right moment. That moment arrived on a foggy Monday morning in late May, which you may remember reading about here. On that day I encountered a school of stripers cruising over a shallow sandbar I'd been walking past for years.
In this video you'll get to see the crab fly setup I used — 9-weight fly rod, sinking line, Rio tapered leader — and the retrieve that got the bite: rod tip pointed down into the water, medium-speed strips, letting the fly hop along the bottom. The take came out of nowhere, and the fight that followed on that skinny water flat is something I won't forget for a while.
Whether you're a fly fisherman or a conventional angler curious about flats fishing for stripers, this one's worth a watch. The drone footage of the school alone is something special!
📍Access the beach I was fishing in this video > view Google map of beach
🎣 Read the full report + more drone footage: https://myfishingcapecod.com/crab-fly-stripers/
How do we access the video of the pattern?
Hey Robert! The fly tying demonstration was part of the Live Zoom Series we held this past spring. Unfortunately I don’t have a recording of the demonstration here on the website. However, I will more than likely invite Chris back to do another live zoom for MFCC members this coming winter. You can also purchase the crab flies directly from Chris if you’re interested. His email is [email protected]
Love the flats fishing are they running now 7/4.
Bob Marden
Glad you enjoy flats fishing Bob. There isn’t a much more fun way of catching stripers than in shallow water with the fly rod. Yes, there are still bass on the flats. Mid-May through early July is probably my favorite time to find them in shallow on the flats, but you can still get them August-mid October.