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PONDERING CORE ESSENCE
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When I picked up the amybaby22 last year, I knew I would be in position to expand my striped bass horizons. To appease my daydreams, I picked up a variety of reliable Hogy lures. I've used the Hogy Epoxy Jigs successfully for stripers, blues, jacks and little tuna, but to date had not even tried many of the other lures I'd purchased. A recent day-trip to Buzzards Bay changed that, and I enjoyed success on a few new baits and techniques. Fishing new water, I need a bait that provided quick coverage! Plus, I love top-waters, so it was natural to choose a Hogy Popper. I usually use poppers in a slow, deliberate and hopefully vulnerable manner, but on this day, I fished it rather frantically in areas of moving water. Sure enough, a pair of stripers found it in short order. The first, a 21-incher, provided a crushing hit near the boat, and the second, although only about 14 inches big, totally choked the lure head-first. They both wanted it! When I relocated to some heavier water and could not maintain functional contact with the popper, I switched to a subsurface presentation; the Hogy Original, 10-inches long, on a 3/4-ounce jig head. Although I had a couple of touches at first on a slow, darting retrieve, this lure got crushed by a fat 24-incher when I fished it faster, perhaps imitating a herring. When the fog burned off, I lost touch with the stripers, so I switched to sea bass. Jigging with a large Epoxy Jig in green and then switching to a Hogy Heavy Jig in pink kept my rod bent for the next hour-and-a-half. Just these few baits kept me well-equipped and in the game for a very pleasant day of fishing. I've got plenty of other Hogy lures in my bag, too, and I look forward to getting them out when the proper conditions present themselves. There's nothing secret or fancy about this selection of baits; and I certainly don't mean for this to be a commercial; I just like recognizing that it finally all came together to be a good Hogy Day on the water. Specific details of this particular session can be found at www.numenonfunfishing.com/numenonfunfishing/buzzards-bay-on-a-weekday , while Hogy lures can be inspected at hogylures.com . Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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I'd not gone 15 miles into the trip when a deer appeared at the edge of my headlight's illumination and we collided. After 34 years in Michigan, I'd finally claimed my deer. I had no chance to react, and I was lucky that it was a somewhat glancing blow that spun her off my left front fender and into my left passenger door. Not an auspicious start to this long-anticipated trip; but I pulled my old truck over to the side of the highway. She seemed to be drivable; the damage was mostly cosmetic. After a day-stop at Lake St. Clair for some more smallmouth bass with good friend BL, my destination was Falmouth, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. My new Maritime skiff awaited me there, and I suspected there were a number of stripers and sea bass available for my long weekend visit. The day's bass fishing on Lake St. Clair was good (feel free to check out the details at www.numenonfunfishing.com/numenonfunfishing/lsc_201905-guided-trip ), and the rest of my travels were trouble-free. By Friday evening, I had the skiff rigged and ready! While the persistent wind kept me inshore and limited my options, I found fish almost immediately; and I relied on this group of fish for most of my fishing action over the course of the next several days. These stripers were just about always willing to eat a jig/fluke combination, and sometimes even preferred a topwater popper. While this wasn't the grand, adventurous fishing for 30-pounders that I'd envisioned, it certainly was calm, peaceful and relaxing. And, I did get a taste of other places and other fisheries (Buzzards Bay bottom fishing, tracking down birds and bait in Vineyard Sound, and targeting the salt pond outlets) to spice things up over the course of my stay. Details are available under the NumenonFunFishing header, above. The Maritime Skiff 1480 proved seaworthy and stable. She exceeded my expectations. With 107 stripers over her gunnels for the trip, she earned her first striper decal. I expect I'll be able to festoon her with many more in the future. She's fishy, for sure! I was fortunate to have acquired this new boat and to have taken this trip. I was hosted very nicely by my Uncle M and his wife, N. We caught some fish and shared several fine meals. I got a bonus visit from my Boston daughter, K! I caught piles of fish with fine, well-matched tackle. Even with the ill-gotten beginning, this was a fine trip! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways So much has changed since my Rhode Island youth. To the point, striped bass returned! While they never truly or totally disappeared, they were simply not part of my world. If they existed to any fishable extent in Rhode Island's waters during the late 1970's or early 1980's, nobody talked about them; at least not anybody I knew. I was introduced to stripers in Casco Bay, Maine in August of 2000. I've been fortunate to fish for them just about every season this Century, and I've probably caught close to 2,000 of them. Ninety-seven percent of these have been caught within a few hundred yards of our "float" at the end of our communal landing. I'm fortunate to have had this access, and I'm fortunate to have encountered so many fish on my intermittent trips. I love fishing there, but I have to admit, I've been frustrated by lack of consistent access to other striper grounds within the bay. Sometimes the fish aren't present in front of me. Even if I'm on fish from the float, perhaps the stripers would be bigger elsewhere? Perhaps they'd be more likely to take a topwater lure? Perhaps I could sabiki some macks and live-line them for some real bruisers? And if I were to hook a cow, perhaps I could chase it down instead of simply watching line melt off my reel? With the recent acquisition of the Maritime 148, I've taken some steps to remedy this frustration. And while I purchased this boat with plans for a long-term future on Casco Bay, I'll be honest; the boat is on the Cape, and I'm currently day-dreaming about black sea bass! It's probably been more than 40 years, but I have caught black sea bass in the past. On very occasional summer-time head-boat half-day trips from southern Rhode Island or Martha's Vineyard in the mid-to-late 1970's, the quarry was scup and sea bass. I caught both on the heavy tackle provided. I have specific memories of the take and dogged pull of a single, outstandingly nice scup, and I remember a particularly bounteous day with my father out of Martha's Vineyard. While I remember having caught sea bass, I haven't retained the specifics of any particular fish. I recall them as having been black, ugly and small; really nothing beyond that, and I know that these memories do not do them justice. Apparently, this species has been aggressively expanding to the north. While I remember them as small, summer fish and a subordinate, incidental by-catch to scup, their numbers and average size around Rhode Island Sound and Buzzards Bay have exploded! Moreover, they are available for a longer part of the season, and advances in tackle and tactics have made them a more sporting quarry. In short, black sea bass are now a "thing" for the southern New England saltwater fisherman. The peak of their availability in Buzzards Bay likely coincides with my ability to pick my new boat up; let's say mid-May. The bigger stripers and bluefish might not have arrived by then, and so it only makes sense that I am dreaming of black sea bass. I was wrong about them being ugly, too. The males, especially, are decorated with beautifully iridescent blue highlights, and they all feature interesting fins and filaments. They are heavily scaled and will make a fantastic subject for some gyotaku! I understand they taste very good, and I suspect they can pull just fine, especially if my bait or jig is presented on light spinning gear. If my timing is right, their seasonal abundance will provide lots of action. If my timing is really on, then they will provide a fun, day-time break from pursuing shy, shallow-water stripers during low-light periods. So, much has changed since my Rhode Island youth! It's kind of cool to be reminded that change is not necessarily a bad thing! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways |
Steve LachanceVia Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Michigan and now, back to New England! Archives
June 2024
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