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Date: September 5, 2022 Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous Moon; Full Moon minus five days Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 6:15 AM - 10:30 AM Conditions: High tide at 6:36 AM. Clouds, drizzle and rain; ENE wind in excess of 10 mph and 60 degrees. Fishy! Water is clearing; water temperatures 60 degrees (+/-). I didn't want to fish in the rain, but that's what the weather gave me for the day. At least the great skies and low light conditions might help the bite. I headed straight to Hussey in pretty rough seas. I hoped to make quick work of bait and capitalize before the weather totally fell apart. Ninety-five feet in Hussey provided a steady supply of single macks, so long as I moved with the wind and kept the Sabiki moving through the 25 - 30 feet depths. By 7 AM, I was set up along the Long Island shoreline, drifting with the wind towards the College Island saddle. The first bite came quickly; too quickly, because I was arranging tools and cameras, with the rod in the holder. I missed this fish, but re-positioned along the deep grass line in about 20 feet of water and re-baited. Soon enough, I was tight to the first fish of the day, a 28-inch "keeper". The next drift resulted in a fat 27-incher. I expanded my range with each drift, and the next encounter was along the north side of College Island. The boat was in about 8 feet of water adjacent to the rocks, but my bait was frantically swimming in 15 feet or more, directly over a previous waypoint. This fish ate confidently and went on a long run. I thought I had this fish under control; but underestimated how far away it had gotten. Unfortunately and for the second straight trip, I lost a big fish to a lobster pot. Ouch! I continued drifting along the College Island contour, and after a prolonged period with a very nervous mackerel, I circled back around and hooked up with a fat 24-incher at the island's south-west corner. There are some sweet rocks here and I wasn't surprised they coughed up a bass. With my Striper Cup limit already photographed, the rest of the morning would be gravy. It was only about 8 AM and the weather was holding with a steady drizzle/sprinkle. I wanted to go across Hussey to Peaks Island, but thought the better of it with the strong easterly wind. Plus, I was on some fish; did it make sense to leave them? Probably not; but I fished all the way around College Island and through the saddle area and south to the secondary reef without raising another fish. It was time to move. My first stop was Cow Island. This produces best on the highest tides and with an easterly drift. The tide was now dropping fast and the strong easterly wind provided a nice drift along the south face, but in the wrong direction. I still marked some interesting fish, and my mack was just about scared to death; but still no bites. Recalling that Cow Island fishes well during the dropping tide, I relocated there. I noticed some pretty rough chop (for Casco Bay) at the island's northwest corner, where the strong wind and maximum tidal current opposed each other. Starting in about 30 feet of water and stepping my way up the rocks to the prominent point, my mack was thumped. Another big fish; after a nice fight and dance in which I luckily avoided both rocks and buoy lines, I finally lipped the fish of the day, a 32-incher. This busy water quickly yielded two more bass, a 20 and a 24. But the rough chop dissipated and moved into deeper water and I lost touch with any more fish here. I continued tracing Crow and finally got eaten for the last time of the day at the island's opposite corner (which also features a rocky ledge tumbling into deep water). This last bass taped out at 25 inches. I was down to my last mackerel, and I couldn't give it away. After a bit more time at Crow, I took it to Clapboard, where it went untouched despite an excellent drift over known bass residences. Oh well, it had been a very good morning, and there were chores to be done. By 10:30 AM, I was headed in. What do I have to say about this? The gray skies and unsettled weather had the bass biting! Despite the brevity, this was one of the most productive boat sessions of the season, and the stripers were taking the baits with certainty! I sometimes wonder if I am making the most of my opportunities or whether I am depending too much on the bait itself. Without piles of bait and the right conditions to safely control the boat while fishing, I have done precious little of casting the macks to specific suspected rocky lairs. But I am also doing less bump-trolling than last year, and I am trying to linger and milk specific spots in which I have confidence. I will say, I am choosing my locations with deliberate purpose, and my approach is not hap-hazard. Whether it is specific structure, cover, moving water or other observation, or simply historical on-the-water experience, I am trying to present my baits to high-percentage spots with vulnerable bass. By using a single hand-held rod I am also much more efficient in converting strikes into landed fish than with the "two-rods-in-holders" approach I'd become used to over the last couple of seasons. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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