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Date: September 23, 2023 Body of Water: Casco Bay - Maine Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 7:45 AM - 2 PM Moon Phase: Waxing quarter moon Tide: Low tide at 11:28 AM Conditions: Hazy sunshine giving way to clouds, persistent but light southerly wind, about 50 - 60 degrees. Water temperatures 58 - 61 degrees F (+/-) Hurricane/Tropical Storm Lee paused my season, but we suffered no real harm and were back in business this following weekend. Conditions had changed mightily since my last trip. Summer was gone and Fall had arrived! I was starting from scratch, but with the hunch that once I found the proper conditions, the fishing would be good! And I thought I'd landed on my feet almost immediately. Leave the dock at 7:45, fill the well with fresh mackerel by 8, and miss the first bass of the day at 8:12 AM. Things were looking, and feeling, good! That first, clean miss along Crow Island's northern shoreline was almost immediately followed by another due to a turned hook. After fishing around the entire island without another chance, I relocated to Peaks Island. I had a surface chase in some serious white water, but that was it. I went looking for more concentrated bass; I was curious about Broad Cove at low tide, but decided to stop at Clapboard (west) along the way. I found nothing there, and arrived at Broad Cove just before predicted dead low tide. There was bait here; it looked like mackerel. A couple of seals harassed these schools. I drifted and bumped along in the deep channel, waiting for some active fish but also constantly scanning for active birds or bait. These didn't materialize, and so at 12:15 or so, I made the decision to return to the Falmouth shoreline and fish Quadrant III, the beginning of the flood. I had a well of lively baits, and I figured I would Spot-Lock and chunk. I selected my location based on just a little extra depth at the inside of the mooring line. The wind and a little current would (theoretically) take my chum and bait towards an historically productive rock ledge. There wasn't a lot of current, but I countered that with a generous supply of mackerel bits behind the boat. It took over half an hour to build the action and get the first bite, but just before 1 PM, I hooked up and landed a very athletic and determined 25-inch striper. Whew, I'd avoided the skunk! The next hour was busy; I landed an additional seven stripers to 28 inches and lost an apparently big fish to a nearby mooring. Most came on tail chunks, but a meaty head produced several bites, too. All were great fun on the selected light tackle, and all showed themselves to be in prime condition for their fall run. The secret seemed to be the steady rain of free bits, and I would always surround my bait with a couple of freebies when I started a new drift. I enjoyed one of the cooler bites of the season when a 26-inch bass appeared behind the boat, chasing down and eating these drifting bits. I immediately presented a hooked bait to it and watched it dart towards and eat my bait a few feet below the surface. I tightened up and the fight was on, all in view. This bass might as well have been a mahi or a big snapper or jack in a Florida chum slick. It was a neat experience to see it play out behind the stern. The bite slowed down as the tide moved out of the favorable portion of Quadrant III. I was close to the landing and called it (another, good) day! What do I have to say about this? Another win for Spot-Lock! But I'll give an assist to my growing awareness of conditions and options. Especially when confronted with tough conditions, the Falmouth shoreline, the first two-thirds of Quadrant III, and an abundance of fresh bait can be a favorable equation. What a Fall day! With our first overnight temperatures in the mid-40s in quite a while, I encountered more seals, loons and osprey than I did boats. And since it appears that the vast majority of lobster pots have been pulled, it looks like it will stay that way for the season's remainder. Now, if I can just continue to locate active fish each trip, I know they'll eat! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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