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Date: May 31, 2020 Body of Water: Waquoit Bay - Falmouth, Massachusetts Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; Full - five days Tides: Just about High at first, falling throughout Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 7 AM - 12:30 PM Conditions: Crisp and clear with NW winds to 15 mph or so; about 60-65 degrees F; quiet start, but finishing with a True Cluster situation at the White's Landing ramp After a stretch of hot, humid days with southwesterly winds, the forecast called for substantial winds from the north. I knew I'd have to fish the Cape's south side, and I thought the wind my keep me "inside" Waquoit Bay and nearby salt ponds, so I launched from the familiarity of White's Landing. I wanted to find some bigger fish (they should be showing up!), but it's difficult to ignore water that you suspect is holding fish. I decided to fish the junction of Eel and Child Rivers quickly. The slack high tide wasn't offering much water movement, but it was offering flooded cover. After a few unanswered casts with the Z-Man swim-bait, I picked up the Jumpin' Minnow and re-located to a flooded, rocky edge. The first couple of bass were welcome, but small. However, I enjoyed a tremendous, missed explosion on my bait, and that kept me interested in the area. As I approached the tip of the rocks, I could see some surface action right up on shore, and sure enough, the day's first "nice" bass of the day responded properly. She wasn't a giant, but she was certainly a quality fish, and so I gave this area some more time. I scratched out another small one, another "nice" 24-incher, and enjoyed some additional, explosive bites. Before I left this area for good, I swam the Z-Man through some deeper water, now with a little current with the falling tide. Three casts; three fish. But two were micro schoolies, and the last was literally a "fluke" flounder of about 14 inches. With outgoing flow increasing, I decided to try the little outlet behind Menauhant Yacht Club. I had an image of riverine stripers thumping my 1-ounce Crippled Herring tin jig as it bounced along the bottom. I trolled a swimming plug to get there; a single "tick" along the way was the only "action" I had. I beached the skiff at the outlet and cast, quartering upstream. Just after my lure hit bottom, I felt a distinct tap and set the hook. This was the first of 15 stripers I would take here with this technique. Most were very small, and only one approached 20 inches. I dropped a couple of heavier fish and put on a decent show for the parade of boats coming and going through this narrow inlet. When the boat traffic cleared, I decided to go try the larger, main outlet. Here I managed just a single, modest bass, again on the drifting Crippled Herring. I also tried poppers and sand-eel jigs here. I had no other touches, nor was I observing fish, bait or birds. By now, the wind was more westerly and seemingly building. I had planned to go to Succonnessett Shoal, but the only boats I could see in that direction were seemingly very distant. (In hindsight and reviewing my maps, these boats were likely on other, distant shoals; Succonnessett was just east of me). Anyway, I decided that this was not the day to push any of my luck, and so turned to my Garmin mapping system; the western end of L'Hommedieu Shoal was directly in front of Great Pond Outlet and within reach. It was a bit of a slog out to Green Can 15, but I got there safe and dry. I'd intended to troll with my tune-and-worm, tipped with a real sandworm. Unfortunately, I discovered that the current and wind were working against each other, and the water was infested with mung. I referred to the mapping system again and picked out a wreck in about 20 feet of water outside of Falmouth Harbor. I'd still be fishing blind (without sonar; I've yet to install the transducer), but I thought this might be a good test of the accuracy and utility of my new mapping toy. Sure enough, in a half dozen drifts, I caught a similar number of porgies (scup) and sea robins on jigging tins. I missed at least that many bites, too. These were not giants, but this part of the mission had still been successfully completed; I think this tool will keep me both safe and on fish! What do I have to say about this? Continuous exposure to new water and conditions, accompanied by refinement of techniques that I've successfully employed so far have made amybaby22 and Cape Cod a refreshing and challenging combination. That was one of the goals with her acquisition! As for the new Grand Slam, I am pretty sure that this was my first day ever with stripers, flounder, scup and sea robins. Not necessarily what I'd planned for, but I'll take it, and use it as a tool to remember this pretty fine day! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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