Ryan Collins

Schoolies to small keepers are around and they are biting! My last three trips on the Miss Loretta have been really productive.

On May 6th I went on this recon trip with my Dad. The recon paid off big time because we ended up locating a population of bass despite poor weather.

Now that I knew where the fish were hanging out, I emailed the MFCC members who I was planning to take out fishing the very next day.

I told the guys to meet me at a different boat ramp than expected, and to bring plugs and jigs. I had a feeling that our first MFCC Group Trips of the season would be a success.

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I could barely sleep I was so excited. At 4AM I shot out of bed and was ready to rock and roll within 30 minutes. By 5:25AM I had arrived at the boat ramp.

I was met by MFCC members Doug B. and Steve Dillon. These guys have been members for several years now, but this was the first time I had met them in person.

We motored out to where my dad and I had caught most of our fish just 18 hours earlier. Instantly I began marking bass along the bottom.

However unlike the previous day, the bass refused to hit topwater plugs. I had a feeling it had to do with the high tide and cold water temperature.

Perhaps the bass would hit topwater plugs better during the last part of the outgoing tide, when warm water from the estuary would be flushed out to sea.

Not to be deterred we decided to change our technique. I gave the guys some bucktail jigs to work along the bottom, and almost instantly they started catching.​

All I did was allow the boat to drift with the current.

The guys would cast off the stern and very slowly retrieve their jigs, while gently lifting and lowering their rod tips.

The fish were schoolie size but they hit hard and with vigor. I thought it was amazing how a simple change in technique produced such a dramatic difference in results.​

I was very happy to learn that these were the first stripers of 2016 for both Doug and Steve. In addition, I caught it all on video!

After catching a bunch of schoolies, including some micro-size stripers, I decided to explore both the lower and upper portion of the estuary. I was hoping we would find bigger fish.