NUMENON |
PONDERING CORE ESSENCE
NUMENON |
After almost 35 years in The Great Lakes State (Michigan), in late 2019 I moved back "home" to New England. Born, raised and schooled here, I'd taken my nascent fishing skills out west in 1985. Now, I had the opportunity to bring my full-grown passion for fishing and accumulated experience to bear on New England's fish in both fresh and salt water! The landscape looked different and more promising to me upon my return. First and foremost, I now had more resources available to me than I'd had as a teenager; but I also had new perspectives on geography and the opportunities available to me. It had taken several decades, but the colloquialism of my Rhode Island youth had given way to a broader view of possibility. It's now okay to choose to travel three or four hours each way for a day's fishing; even longer for a weekend. It's reasonable to hold licenses from multiple states. It's acceptable to "Go Big", try something new, and come home skunked. And it's easier to be aware of all this, simply because of the internet! The resources seemed to have improved in my absence, too. Clean air and water regulations have been effective, in the main, in restoring and protecting the environment. Public access to many waters has been enhanced. Five-pound largemouth bass are legitimately possible as opposed to being an object of dreams. Black sea bass and scup have been recognized as sporting fish, and appear to be more available and much larger than I recall. Northern pike have extended their range. Quality catches in pleasant settings are no longer a simple matter of luck, but can be planned for and executed. And now there are stripers! Numbers may be down compared to a decade or two ago, and their presence should not ever again be taken for granted, but stripers are way more numerous and accessible than they were when I left. In fact, I had never encountered one before I left New England in 1985. Big, gator blues were the saltwater sportfish of my youth. True to their mysterious and nomadic ways, large bluefish are currently locally scarce and unpredictable. That's a current loss compared to 35 years ago, but there's at least hope that this is part of a natural cycle and that big bluefish will be part of the future. So, I arrived back "home" (albeit now as a resident of The Bay State) to a better place, and armed with the knowledge, equipment and motivation to make my 2020 Fishing Season truly epic. From trout to false albacore, I had big plans for 2020. And then, of course, everything changed with the arrival of Coronavirus. This is my first Pandemic, and so I doubt that I've done everything exactly correctly or with complete grace. But, I've managed to keep myself healthy and employed, as has my family circle. So, I am lucky, and in The Pandemic Sense of Things, very well off! But the situation has put various crimps in my plans and dreams, including my 2020 fishing. I never launched my Lund freshwater boat; she remains in extended hibernation on her trailer. Other than casting for stocked trout, I didn't even fish in freshwater in 2020. In my opinion, a freshwater season without bass is not even a season. I'll not write further of my season's freshwater exploits; let's just say I am thankful that I had access to the salt in 2020. While I didn't moor my Maritime saltwater skiff in Maine, as planned, I was able to responsibly access her on a frequent-enough basis without interacting with others outside my bubble. From May through October, I was able to explore a good chunk of Cape Cod and Maine's Casco Bay with her. This 14-foot platform became something like a therapist's couch for me in 2020. With frequent visits to her, I was able to effectively (?) deal with the other aspects of my life. But this is about the fishing and the gifts it bestowed upon me in 2020. There were many, and just about all of them involved stripers or their pursuit. The sunrises, sunsets and solitude might have been enough solace by themselves; but the fishing was pretty darn good, too. While I landed no monstrously large fish in 2020 (my biggest striped bass measured in at 37 inches; I am still seeking a verified 40-incher), I did set a few Personal Bests along the way. But these were either incidental or accidental, and so were more or less just part of the enjoyment, and not meaningful in the long run. Still, it's fun to recognize your largest Hickory Shad, Sea Robin and sea-run Brown Trout. Each fish should be appreciated for what it has to offer, and these provided exclamation points on three different sessions that might otherwise have been forgotten. I visited several new ports and navigated many new waters. I pushed my Casco Bay explorations further east and north, found some new bait stops, productive rocks, and I placed piles of new waypoints on the new Garmin GPS. I live-lined, tube-and-wormed and raised fish on topwater baits from more new spots on Casco Bay than I had accumulated in the previous, mostly shore-bound, 19 years. I was fortunate to spend the July 4th Weekend and a week's respite from work here, not only exploring, but catching! I was doubly fortunate to not only land a beautiful sea-run brown on a small Kastmaster intended for mackerel, but to also catch, photograph and release a 2020 Striper Cup-winning striper on this same bait. I was triply fortunate to have done so from my retirement property! I've got a lot to look forward to, here! On the Cape, I added Upper Buzzards Bay, Sandwich, Barnstable, the entirety of Waquoit Bay's watershed and some of the Vineyard Sound shoals to my list of familiar waters. I was able to employ tactics both trusted and new. The stripers just about always found me, and in the newness of it all, I learned from just about each one. I am more prepared for future seasons than ever before, and if I choose to be the only person in the fleet utilizing Ben Parker Magnum Flutter Spoons, so be it! The best part of the Pandemic for me has been telecommuting. And if one is telecommuting, why not choose to do so from a rented house on the shores of Waquoit Bay? We did so for a week in September, during which I was blessed with the best, consistent topwater action of the year, as well as my rediscovery of fluke-style baits. Despite the persistent and powerful wind, the fishing and on-the-water experience was so good that week, I almost didn't mind having to work during the day! I expect to do the same in 2021, and possibly beyond! Almost 200 stripers came over the Maritime's gunwales, and another couple dozen or so were landed from shore. Of course, I missed and flubbed many other opportunities, but I don't think I lost any truly large stripers. Additionally, a bunch of sea bass, scup and blues, and even a few fluke visited me, too. I experienced no real on-the-water problems, and sometimes I was even able to forget about my lack of freshwater opportunities or the other, real problems posed by 2020. As I write this in January of 2021, the Coronavirus situation remains dark. I don't know what to realistically expect for 2021. I don't know what I can plan for, I don't even know if I dare dream about certain things. But I do know that I will (at least and likely) find safe harbor with my skiff, my light tackle and the striped bass of New England's coastal waters. This comfort is enough, for now. It's good to be home. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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Steve LachanceVia Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Michigan and now, back to New England! Archives
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