Fishing Report: June 10

Have you ever gone dry fly fishing for striped bass? With a 5 weight? And a size 8 fly? It's grand. Every spring grass shrimp begin to hatch in the Narraganset Bay. In most cases the grass shrimp hatch is a small fish game. Most people scoff at the prospect of targeting trout-sized bass, but when armed with a 5 weight rod and a size 8 grass shrimp fly, things can get pretty entertaining.

They didn't get much bigger than this, but what they lacked in size they made up for in spunk.

Upon arriving at last night's spot, I heard the tell tale pops of baby bass slurping on grass shrimp. Just like trout in a stream, the bass held on the edges of the current and waited for dinner to drift right in front of their nose. Dead drifts and swings both produced fish and while none of them were at all close to the 20 inch mark, they were a blast to catch.

All that remains of my grass shrimp fly. Even with the hackle undone, half the dubbing gone, and the tail destroyed, baby bass still hit the fly with reckless abandon.

If you are intrigued by the prospect of stripers on a 5 weight rod, stay tuned. I am working on a more in-depth post about the topic.