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Date: September 24, 2018 Body of Water: Plum Island, Massachusetts Surf Boat: None With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 2:30 - 6 PM Conditions: Clear and bright, with steady easterly winds in excess of 15 mph. The surf was up! As we arrived on Plum Island and I caught my first glimpse of the ocean, I concluded it was simply too rough to try the ocean side; I figured I'd try to find some calm, quiet water in the estuary behind the island. But "Metal Mike" at Surfland Bait and Tackle (www.surflandbt.com) claimed that it was not too rough; and anyways, the bass were on the ocean side! In exchange for the advice, I picked up a couple of recommended top-waters, as well as a bucktail jig and a Diawa SP Bullet swimmer. I still didn't have a ton of confidence when we arrived at our ocean-side hotel. During a brief walk down the beach I encountered a lone angler. I noticed that he was throwing a Kastmaster, and not even that far into the surf. As I walked back, I saw that his rod was bent; he landed a small school bass. When he almost immediately hooked up again, my confidence grew, and I was soon ready to hit the beach and try the heavy surf, myself. Just a few casts in, my 1.5-ounce Kastmaster got eaten by a school striper. It wasn't a big one, but this was my first striper from such heavy surf. For the next hour and a half, I intercepted another 9 or 10 fish, landing a total of 7. They were all school bass of 20 inches or less, but I was pleased to have such action. The bites came from the back side of waves cresting over the furthest reachable bar; from the front side of waves about to crash; and from the wild whitewater resulting from the solid 5-footers crashing into the beach and filling the troughs. Rips through the bar were fairly obvious, and several of these provided better than average action. My goal was to simply stay in contact with the tin; reeling fast when I lost contact and allowing it to tumble along the bottom when I was tight. All the hits were obvious! The action cooled off after 4 PM; I only got one additional hit in my last couple of hours of effort. The tide had been falling throughout. I called it quite at 6 PM; given the clear skies, it was time to get in position to watch the full moon rise over the ocean. Date: September 25, 2018 Body of Water: Plum Island, Massachusetts Surf Boat: None With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 6 - 8 AM; and again, further down the island, from 10:45 to 1 PM Conditions: Overcast, with steady southeasterly winds in excess of 15 mph. The surf was still up! Confronted with a rising tide and lots of mung weed in the water, I couldn't raise a bite. I alternated in other lures to fight the weeds, but the only lure I could really fish weed-free was a bottle plug on top; this looked enticing in the white froth, but provoked no action. After breakfast, I visited Surfland again. I picked up another tin and exchanged stories. I then got dropped off at Lot 6 in the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (www.fws.gov/refuge/Parker_River/visit/visitor_activities.html). Conditions were very much the same (but, now, with added precipitation), and the weed situation was more manageable. The tide seemed to still be rising. Despite the rain, east wind and gray skies, I found no willing bass. There were plenty of obvious rips, cuts and bars, and I covered a fair amount of water. I had the most confidence in the Kastmaster, but I mixed in various top-waters and swimming baits. It just didn't seem to matter. I know there were fish nearby, though; a seal prowled just outside the furthest breaking waves, eventually drifting away to the north. What do I have to say about this? New place, new water, new techniques; and some success! I enjoyed encountering the bass in this surf, even if they were smallish; I'll take what I can get! I certainly plan on returning to this area. This was a good addition to our trip; but now, it was off to Boston, even if it was already clear that the night's BoSox game would be rained out. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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