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Date: July 24, 2021 Body of Water: Casco Bay, Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: Full Moon Tides: Low Tide at 5:38 AM Boat: First, shore-fishing from landing float; then amybaby22 With: Alone; but joined by A at about 3 PM Target: Striped Bass Time: 4:30 AM - 4 PM Conditions: Bright, clear and sunny; mild southeasterly breeze but with a summer afternoon chop; about 60 - 75 degrees F; water temperatures dropped to 63 (Falmouth shoreline in AM) and 58 - 60 (Hussey Sound) The clear and bright full moon lured me down Route 88. I was greeted at the float by a fair amount of obvious fish/bait activity, and I started my session in the clear moonlight by missing my only legitimate run on a suspended blood-worm. The rest of my time on the float was spent (surprisingly) donating worms to unseen bait-stealers. I fished through the end of Quadrant II and slack low without another shot at a bass. Given the previous day's results and my dwindling supply of worms, at 6 AM, I pulled the plug and switched my attention to amybaby22. I knew that bass were likely nearby, and thought that perhaps the extreme low tide, increasing sun and clear conditions had positioned the bass just out of reach of the float. I took amybaby22 a quarter of a mile to the west and started slow-trolling a tube tipped with remaining worm bits just outside the first line of moorings in about 11 - 13 feet of water. I was going light, and presented the worm simply on braided line. This line is dyed in a repeating pattern every 6 feet, and so I was able to calibrate the amount of line I had out from the rod tip. Trolling with the current, I went as slowly as possible and spent as much time drifting in neutral as in gear. I started with 6 "patterns" of line out (and so about 40 feet back, including leader) and I thought I saw my rod jump on my my first pass. I also determined that I had to be virtually motionless to reach bottom in about 10 feet. On the next pass, I adjusted to 8 patterns (line out just over 50 feet). I was in neutral, losing my momentum and virtually motionless, admiring an 18-foot Maritime on its mooring when the tube got hammered! I've rarely been so pleased to welcome a 21-inch striper aboard! Now instilled with a bit of confidence, I repeated this pass three more times, resulting in additional bass of 23 and 25 inches, as well as another bite that stole my last worm. Of course, this all took place near the float, because I suspected biting bass were nearby based on tidal conditions; this was Quadrant III, after all. So, slow is better; and then go even slower! But on the light gear and with the calibrated line, this was fun, and I think it will be a good technique to explore, find new areas, and keep guests interested and engaged in a low-key manner. By 7:30 AM, I was looking and working for mackerel off the east end of Clapboard Island. This was a tough bite, and with three big ones in the well, I hit some new water at the eastern end of Cow Island. Each one got eaten (one by a seal), and I was lucky to score a couple more macs on my first pass along a current seam in some nearby deep water. These were candy-sized, and when I returned to the northeast corner of Cow, my first bait was engulfed almost immediately by a bright 26-incher. (I found out after the act that the GoPro battery was dead; no picture.) Note to self, this looks like it might be a good area during high tide with poppers or Hogy soft baits. Out of bait again, I returned to Hussey in the vicinity of College Island. Here, dolphins tipped me off to the possible presence of bait. This was another slow pick, but I did have one fortunate drop where I loaded the string with half a dozen mackerel. By 11 AM or so, I was bump-trolling College Island at nearly full tide. Nothing happened as I fished my way around the island and further up the Long Island shoreline towards the mouth of Hussey. This area seemed to be holding some fish near bottom, but my baits remained untouched. At Noon, I arrived at Vaill Island, at just about high tide. With a decent swell from the south and limited bait, I chose to slow-troll my macs. Perhaps casting into the shoreline's whitewater would have been more productive; I had no touches or runs in my time here. With the tide having turned, I ran into Hussey and visited Cow Island. There was quite a lot of current here a couple of hours into the tide, and I enjoyed several encounters, including a fat 25-incher. Rocky points with current and nearby deep water revealed several bass hideouts. Not necessarily rocket science, but it was good to add to my collection of spots. Now approaching 3 PM, and still with several live baits in the well, I decided to give up on the traffic and wind in this somehow exposed-yet-tight spot and ran in to see if A wanted to join me for a quick excursion. She did, and so we went to my local money spot, the east end of Clapboard. We did well in the bright sunshine. After a half-hearted run on our first pass, I loitered in the vicinity of the deep drop at the eastern end. A's bait was clearly nervous, and I saw a half-dozen stripers gray hounding bait from the adjacent deep water. Shortly thereafter, I hooked up with a solid 24. Just a bit down the shoreline (and near the moorings that have produced so many bites), A connected with her fish, an even nicer 25. Dealing with this, my last mackerel (which I deployed even though I thought it was too big for the local bass) got hit, but the hook turned into the bait. I was hot and tired, and we were out of bait. We called it a (nice!) day. What do I have to say about this? Seven stripers in 11.5 hours of effort (what the heck, let's call it 12 with related chores) isn't the most productive day. But, I had bass reveal themselves in several new locations, successfully implemented a newish technique, I moved around to successfully find mackerel, I landed all the bass with which I connected, saw seals and dolphins, eagles and ospreys, shared time with A, and I didn't have much else demanding my time. Not only was this a good day, I think we're settling into this new situation nicely. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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