Ben, Juan, Rudy and Allen

May 6th, 2009: Cloudy and Cool, Water Temperature 65* and Clear.

Got out on the water early and caught bait. Went to set up on an area where I caught some nice fish yesterday but a good friend was already there so I set out a spread of 10 planner boards, a bobber and 4 downlines nearby and pulled similar flats. Juan started off the day by landing a fish off a planner board that hit closest to the shore. After our first pass all the guys had caught fish but Rudy. Once his turn came up the wind got calm and for an hour and a half we watched our baits get chased to the surface by Stripers. Time and time again the fish would chase the baits up, swirl the baits, follow the baits for up to 100 yards and never strike at them. Rudy got tired of going from one side of the boat to the other getting prepared to catch a Striper just to watch them boil the baits. After this happening about 25 times he finally hooked up and caught a Striper. It was after 10 and I decided to give up this madness and try different areas with hopes of finding fish with different attitudes. We set out the same spread and pulled the rest of the day, at least a couple miles, only to catch a few more fish. What a frustrating day knowing that there are nice fish under our baits and not be able to get them to hook up for my clients.

I may try some secrete techniques tomorrow if the fish act the same way.