|
Date: September 22, 23 and 24, 2018 Body of Water: Casco Bay, Maine Boat: Shore fishing from the landing's float With: Generally alone Target: Striped Bass Time: Generally dawn and dusk, but for this short trip; whenever I could! Conditions: Variable. Water was still in the 60s and bass were present. Peanut Bunker were obvious baits and mackerel were totally absent. For these reports, please consider an approximated 12-hour Tide Clock, with each High Tide at 12 o'clock, and each Low Tide at 6 o'clock. This will divide each complete cycle into four quadrants, with mid-tides at 3 and 9 o'clock. Let's call Quadrant I the period from High Tide to mid-ebbing tide; Quadrant II from mid-ebbing tide to Low Tide; Quadrant III as predicted Low-Tide to mid-flooding tide; and Quadrant IV from mid-flood to predicted High Tide. From past experience, I know that the best fishing at my spot on the landing is during the lower portions of the tide, i.e., in Quadrants II and III, with the very best action usually occurring about 1.5 hours before or after the predicted Low Tide. Quadrant IV is better than Quadrant I; but a worthwhile fish can happen at any time or tide, especially if bait (usually in the form of mackerel) is available for the fish. Here is a link to a pretty comprehensive site for Portland, Maine tidal information. *** Saturday, 9/22/18 4 - 7 PM Low Tide at about 4:16 PM; predominantly Quadrant III and incorporating dusk Water Temperature = 65 degrees F (guesstimate; no instrumentation available) 4 for 5 It's a decently long drive from Michigan to Maine, and my goal was to arrive in Portland before my local bait supplier, The Tackle Shop, closed for the day. We arrived in town at about 3 PM to the news that bass were still available in strong numbers. I quickly purchased two dozen sand-worms and a few frozen mackerel. Arriving at The Landing, I assembled my gear as quickly as I was able. I was presenting my first bait by 4 PM. Conditions seemed to be just about perfect; a bit overcast and reasonably calm with favorable tide conditions, too. Still, I'd never fished here for stripers so late in the season. They should still be present, but the strength of their remaining numbers was unknown. Peanuts were visibly abundant while I awaited my first bite. Otherwise, my mackerel spoon was ignored and conditions were quiet. The first flurry of activity arrived at about 5:20 PM (low tide plus one hour), when I landed a sub-20-inch school bass that ate a sand-worm suspended under a slip float. It was great to have broken the ice! Meanwhile, my mackerel chunk rod remained quiet. I fish these chunks with a bait-runner reel. The presentation is unweighted, drifting or lying on the bottom. I'd started with my preferred head chunk (seemingly always better for bigger fish, and certainly less attractive to the crabs), had reverted to a meaty tail chunk, and seeing the size of my first bass, rebaited with a much smaller chunk (about the size of a nickel.) At 5:40 PM, this rod awakened, and the biggest bass of the night (23 inches or so) hit the deck. Another flurry of activity occurred between 6:30 and 6:45 PM. I landed a pair of 20-inchers and missed another bite; this action was all on sand-worms. I'd learned a lot! Bass were present; mackerel were not; I'd encountered a favorable tide schedule; worms would produce bites; small mackerel chunks would produce fewer bites, but from bigger fish. These factors proved to be true for the duration of my short stay. *** Sunday, 9/23/18 5:30 - 7:45 AM Low Tide at about 4:45 AM; Quadrant III and incorporating dawn Water Temperature = 65 degrees F (guesstimate; no instrumentation available) 3 for 3 I missed a solid "thunk" on the Kastmaster intended for any local mackerel, but otherwise all the morning's action was on bait. Things got off to a nice and fast start with a 20-incher eating a suspended sand-worm at 5:40 AM, and a solid, 29-incher (and the fish of the trip) on another small mackerel chunk at 6 AM. But then the action slowed, and the final bite came at 7 AM, when another typical 20-incher ate a sand-worm. 9:30 - 11 AM High Tide at about 10:55 AM; Quadrant IV, bright and clear Water Temperature = 65 degrees F (guesstimate; no instrumentation available) 0 for 0 As the tide approached high conditions, I continued casting tins and swim-baits while also chunking with my remaining mackerel. With no mackerel around, conditions were quiet, and I didn't get bitten. At 11 AM, I decided it was time for another bait run. A couple of local sandwiches came home with me in addition to some more mackerel and a couple of dozen fresh sand-worms. I expected the evening tide to be a good one, and I wanted to be fully prepared for any remaining chances I might have. Sunday, 9/23/18 1 - 7 PM Low Tide at about 4:55 PM; Quadrant I, II and III and incorporating dusk Water Temperature = 65 degrees F (guesstimate; no instrumentation available) 7 for 8 Conditions were clear and bright, but a strong southerly wind broke up the water's surface. I endured several tentative pull-downs on the worm-and-float combo before I finally got a real bite at 2:30 PM; the mackerel chunk reel awakened with a scream. This turned out to be a nice 23-incher, and once again, a chunk had taken the largest fish of the session. ![]() But sand-worms were worthwhile, too, because all my remaining bites were on these worms. I briefly connected with one before it got off, but otherwise they were all 18-20 inch schoolies. The best action was between 5:30 and 6:30 PM, when I landed four fish. *** Monday, 9/24/18 5:30 - 8 AM Low Tide at about 5:20 AM; Quadrant III and incorporating dawn Water Temperature = 65 degrees F (guesstimate; no instrumentation available) 6 for 7 This would be my last session for this segment of the trip. Conditions were clear, but there was an extraordinarily strong (>15 mph) and steady wind from the east. The bite was fast and steady until 6:30 AM; I was 5 for 6 in this hour. A chunk produced a 23-incher, sand-worms produced three schoolies, and I caught my first striper on a Diawa SP Minnow. This was a small guy, too, and it ate on a faster-than-expected retrieve. This fish was all my first on my new, LL Bean travel rod; paired with my Shimano Stradic 4000, this combo was a joy to fish with throughout the trip. I missed another fish on the SP Minnow and waited out one last bite; at 7:45 AM, my float went down for the last time, and a sand-worm produced another school bass. What do I have to say about this? This was a short and very pleasant portion of the trip; Maine stripers are just about always good to me. I loved the September experience; compared to summer, there was less boat traffic, reduced ancillary use of the float for other recreational purposes, the days were cooler and shorter, and the bass were still there to be had. This was relaxing, rewarding, and a good tune-up for the rest of the trip. This fishing had been very familiar; the remaining portions of my trip would all be new-to-me. I believe the Maine season had provided 69 stripers to me during my two visits in 2018. Three were greater than 28 inches. But, they were all fun, and I'd like to think that my light tackle affords the best experience in this setting. I left Maine in good spirits, not knowing what I might encounter at our next stop, Massachusetts' North Shore. We were going to Plum Island off Newburyport. What I did know was this; it was going to be rough! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Steve LachanceRI --> NH --> MI-->MA-->ME Archives
June 2024
Categories
All
|
Proudly powered by Weebly