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Date: July 27, 2021 Body of Water: Casco Bay, Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: Full Moon plus three days; waning gibbous moon Tides: High Tide at 2:33 PM; Low Tide at 8:30 PM Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 5 PM - 7:15 PM Conditions: Hazy and about 75 degrees F, but with NNE winds and a heavy shower developing and cooling to 60 degrees; water temperatures 66 - 68; falling tide through-out Blood-worms and tubes in tow, I had high confidence that I would be able to build on Saturday's brief tubing success. The forecast was dynamic and the weather was funky; A decided to stay home instead of joining me. She was smart to do so! My first pass was from the tip of Prince Point all the way to The Brothers. Much of this (west of Prince Point) is "newish" water for me. Going with the minimal current, I traced the shoreline as slowly as possibly from about 10 to 15 feet of water. Weeds (both rooted and floating) were a bit of a problem. With no hits, at 6 PM ( and now in an increasingly soaking rain), I relocated to the Falmouth shoreline at Town Landing to troll through my "home" waters. After all, had I not been in the boat, I'd have been floating worms from the landing, expecting good things. Including multiple passes through past waypoints, I trolled all the way to the mouth of Mussel Cove without a hit. Wet and with a lot ahead of me, I reluctantly called it quits. What do I have to say about this? One never knows for certain why one is "off" (tide? weather? depth? speed? color?), but I certainly was, this trip! I know I have to pay more attention to weeds, and to recognize the inefficiency they represent. Still, I know I have to simply put in the time to develop a full understanding of this technique, its strengths and limitations. Perhaps I learned at The Tackle Shop that worms are essential for this (not Gulp! or Otter Tails), and they also advocated using just a piece of worm (as opposed to the whole juicy thing, which is what I've always read). The silver lining for the session is that I still have eight or more worms in the fridge. I hope to put them to better use, if I can nurse them to my next session. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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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 Date: July 23, 2021 Body of Water: Casco Bay, Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: Full Moon minus one days; waxing gibbous moon but virtually Full Tides: Low Tide at 4:53 AM Boat: None With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 4:40 AM - 6:50 AM Conditions: Clear with a mild, northerly breeze; about 60 degrees F; water temperature 66; rising tide through-out, slack low into Quadrant III Based on the previous day's results, I expected good things from this session. This feeling was reinforced when I quickly connected with two stripers (<20 and 24 inches) within the first 10 or 15 minutes (slack low tide.) But then, things became inexplicably quiet. An hour later, at about 6 AM, my float went down for the last time. I landed this 20-incher. I thought it might be the harbinger of a nice bite in the second hour of Quadrant III, but I was mistaken! That was it! What do I have to say about this? Regression to the Mean is a real phenomenon; not every session can be above average! Still, what a pleasant way to spend some time before work! B.t.w., all action was on blood-worms suspended below slip floats. My swim-bait was, once again, universally ignored, as was a small Kastmaster spoon aimed at any mackerel in the vicinity. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: July 22, 2021 Body of Water: Casco Bay, Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: Full Moon minus two days; waxing gibbous moon Tides: Low Tide at 3:57 AM; Quadrant III Boat: None; shore-fishing from landing float With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 4:45 AM - 7 AM Conditions: Mild cold front after several days of heavy rain and thunderstorms; clear skies with a modest northerly breeze and no mosquitos! About 65 degrees; water was 66 degrees and flowing right to left (favorable!) Blood-worms made their first-ever appearance in my arsenal. Reportedly twice as tough and vigorous as sand-worms, consistently large and more hearty to boot, they might be worth their extra cost; I had an excellent session. Tide and weather had dictated my pre-work appearance at the float; the promise of Quadrant III awaited. The new worms provided action from my first cast through my last. I set my first bait at 4:45 AM, and by 4:46, I was hooked up! A nice 23-incher showed me that bass were present! After losing a few baits to unknown pests, I hooked one; a perfect-sized mackerel! I immediately put this under a float, and it was instantly harassed and jumped by a bass. After a few moments, things quieted down, and I put the rod down to tend to other things. Of course, that's when the bass ate with confidence; I was surprised that this hard-pulling bass was only 25 inches long. A smaller bass (21 inches) ate a worm shortly thereafter, and I'd had a good day in my first 45 minutes! At about 5:45, a worm nibble turned into a serious, 26-inch bass; and while I fought and landed that fish, my other worm was eaten by a smaller bass. Imagining the cool photo of a solo doubleheader, I dropped the smaller one off the float; still, I was happy with my 26! And, with 5 nice stripers in my first hour of effort. My second hour wasn't quite as active, but it did produce three more worm-eating bass, including a pair of 26-inchers. And a sure sign of a good session; I'd almost given up for the morning (it was getting bright, work was looming, and the landing's crossbar was now underwater with the flooding tide) when I got my last bite at 6:45 AM. At 27 inches, it was the longest fish of the day! I was home, showered and at my desk before 8 AM. And, I was feeling pretty good about things! What do I have to say about this? This was another good prediction on my part, and I am glad to have targeted this tide. Tides are still in my favor, I still have worms, and I will be back in position tomorrow! Same place, same time; same results? That's a big ask. But with slack low in play, perhaps I'll stumble across a larger fish. I was impressed with the blood-worms. They worked, and they are certainly no creepier than sand-worms (equally so, but in different manners.) This was no one-off; I am committed to taking advantage of my new home/work situation. For the price of a little sleep, I can live more fully. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: July 17, 2021 Body of Water: Casco Bay, Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: Full Moon minus six days; waxing gibbous moon Tides: High Tide at 4:58 AM; Low Tide at 11:11 AM Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 5:45 AM - 1:30 PM Conditions: Gray; just a touch of breeze; about 70 degrees F; water temperatures 64 - 67 (Clapboard and Prince Point) and about 60 (Hussey Sound and Vaill Island) I thought conditions would be perfect for visiting Prince Point with a popper; high tide, gray skies and still conditions. Thinking isn't knowing; even though there was a nice current running through and over this structure, I didn't raise a fish in 45 minutes. I even drifted a sand-worm and swam an Al Gag swim-bait without a touch. From here I went searching for mackerel by Clapboard's east end. I lucked into a couple of singles, but in addition to my slow start it was super weedy here, so I decided to head out to Hussey. Setting my line in 100 feet of water and going with the outgoing current, I immediately connected with another single. I was annoyed to flub it boat-side, but when I dropped my spoon-and-Sabiki down again, it was immediately covered by macs. A subsequent drop left me with 9 in the live well. When I lost my rig to a submerged lobster buoy, at least I was ready to really go fishing! It was now about 8 AM, and I motored to Vaill Island for the first time in 2021. I wanted to try new water, so I started at the northwest corner, but floating weeds made a clean presentation difficult. I wasted some time fighting this before finally presenting a pair of mackerel along the rocky south face. About midway down this side, a pair of large, barely submerged boulders provide a perfect ambush spot, and I was not surprised when a 23-inch striper confidently ate my mac in the shadow of the boulder. At 8:40 AM, I was finally on the board! This striper, while short, certainly was fit. I passed through this water again in the opposite direction without contact. I continued my clockwise circumnavifish of the island until I got to the sandy bar that connects Vaill to Long Island. This water was simply too shallow to navigate at this tide (although I noted a lot of healthy seagrass here, so it might be worth exploring at a higher tide), and I returned to Vaill's southwest point to do another pass along my favorite island's southern face. Between 10 and 11 AM, the fishing really picked up. Every mackerel I had aboard was eaten (7) or harassed to death (2). I landed two more bass (25 and 26 inches), missed a couple to turned hooks, had one bait simply plucked off the hook by a sudden, explosive hit, and (to my chagrin) broke off a nice bass. (To be fair, my leader parted mid-way and not at a connection; it must have been chafed during a previous encounter. This is still avoidable user error, but not self-inflicted). The best fishing was found near the previously aforementioned boulders, but also around the island's southeastern point, where the water drops fairly precipitously into more than 30 feet of water. Out of bait, I half-heartedly tried to catch some more in Hussey around Noon. The tide here was slack, there was no bird or porpoise activity, and I didn't waste too much time trying at this point. I tried swim-baits around College Island, but there was too much floating weed to make this effective or enjoyable. I left Hussey to try to make bait around Clapboard; there was still time to hit the east end on my way home. About halfway between Hussey and Clapboard, I noticed a dimple on the surface; I dropped my Sabiki and started trolling. Another single mackerel came aboard, but that was my last of the day. As I continued to troll towards Clapboard, I noticed the water had turned brown and warm; now up to 67 degrees. The same brown, warm water held at Clapboard's east end; but that's where I was, and I was going to use that mackerel! It took a few passes, but at 1:20 PM, a long, drawn-out dance between predator and prey culminated in a fine surface strike over about 15 feet of water; and I ended my day with another 26-inch striper. What do I have to say about this? When every bait gets attacked by the targeted species; that's a good day! But I am still mildly haunted by the missed fish and (ugh!) the one I broke off. But, I think the positives certainly outweighed the negatives for the day. I didn't get to explore as much new water as I'd hoped, but I did expand my knowledge of Vaill Island; and I definitely saw some features that will need to be explored further. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: July 13, 2021 Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: New Moon plus 4 days; waxing crescent Tides: Low Tide at about 8:17 PM; falling throughout, Quadrant II Boat: None; shore-fishing from Landing float With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 6:30 PM - 8:15 PM Conditions: About 65 degrees; full clouds; mild southerly breeze to calm; water was about 67 degrees F; no bugs! With a dozen sand-worms in the fridge and favorable conditions, flush off some success and with an open schedule, it only made good sense to go fishing again! I dragged my feet a little bit after dinner to delay my arrival, which was greeted with the promising emergence of the dock's cross-bar as the ebb proceeded. The current flow from right to left was present, but weak. I expected a slow start, but also good things after 7 PM. When I'd not had a single bite at 7:30, I was starting to doubt myself. Fortunately, action picked up dramatically between 7:45 and 8 PM. The first bass was a micro, but still important; I'd beaten the skunk. This was followed almost immediately with a strong (confirmed) 26-incher; and I finished the catching with a solid (estimated) 23. Thereafter, I had a few nibbles and pulls, but failed to hook up. Perhaps it was my failing ability to see clearly, or perhaps it was the bent hook; I'd used pliers to twist the hook from the 26's upper jaw, and had mangled it without noticing. Oh well, details do matter! What do I have to say about this? I am satisfied with these modest results. After all, it wasn't too much work to place myself on the float for a relaxing, enjoyable evening. And, a 26-inch striper on light tackle is always welcome! I spoke with some young neighbors on my way out. They, too, are struggling to catch local bass on lures. They nominated the Rapala Twitchin' Rap as their most reliable 2021 lure in addition to topwaters and bucktails. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: July 12, 2021 Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: New Moon plus three days; waxing crescent Tides: Low Tide at about 7:34 PM; predominantly ebb and Quadrant II Boat: None; fishing from the Landing's float With: A Target: Striped Bass Time: 6 PM - 8 PM Conditions: Hazy sun, about 73 degrees and mild SW breeze; no bugs; water temperature about 66 degrees What better way to spend a lunch break than picking up some bait? And what better way to spend my after-work time than fishing? With Quadrants II and III beckoning, I took my sand-worms to the float with A. We were in position just after 6, the current was favorably right-to-left, and the cross-bar on the dock was just starting to show itself. I predicted a slow start but expected good things develop over the course of the session. I floated a sand-worm while casting a small swim-bait with another rod. When my first two worms were stolen by undetected thieves, I put down the second rod for good and paid close attention to my float. Either macs, pogies, or herring were definitely chewing my worms down to the hook; but about an hour before predicted low tide, my float was pulled down and I connected with a good bass. This guy pulled long and hard. I handed the rod to A, who got to enjoy the fight for a couple of moments before the hook inexplicably pulled. I didn't stew on that for too long, though, because my next drift was almost immediately intercepted by another strong fish. This solid 26-incher was a fine fish, but still didn't feel as big as the one we lost. I earned my badge of dishonor next when my hook explosively pulled from another sizable bass upon initial contact. But when the next 20 minutes or so were filled with lots of action and three more stripers landed (19, 24 and 25 inches), I didn't feel so bad. This period from about 30 - 60 minutes before predicted low tide (and about 60 - 90 minutes before sunset) had been hot, as predicted! After a short hiatus, the biggest fish for the evening at 27 inches, was landed about 15 minutes before predicted low. We stayed for another 45 minutes, through the turn of the tide, hoping for a big bite but without any further action. We left in time to beat the mosquitos and got home before dark. This was a pleasant and excellent post-work session! What do I have to say about this? Five-for-seven with some really nice fish (especially from the dock); good company, pleasant conditions, no bugs and no real problems; I'll take this any day of the week, but especially on a work day! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: July 11, 2021 Body of Water: Casco Bay, Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: New Moon plus two days; waxing crescent Tides: Low Tide at 6:55 AM; High Tide at 1:11 PM (flood, throughout) Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 7:45 AM - 12:15 PM Conditions: Hazy Sun, a breath of southerly breeze; about 70 degrees F; water temperatures 62 - 64 (Clapboard) and 59 - 60 (Hussey Sound); rising tide through-out Another day, another way; kind of. When mackerel once again proved to be scarce off Clapboard (although I picked up five in 45 minutes of effort, with a bit of luck), I relocated my striper efforts to Hussey Sound. I first visited College Island. While my first set of passes went untouched, my baits seemed nervous enough to warrant another. A large boulder on the island's northern mid-section produced a fat and spunky 25-incher at about 9:15 AM. I checked the developing rip off the west end of this island, where water drops quickly into 90 feet of water and more. Three passes with the current produced no macs, though, and so I zipped across to Great Diamond Island. I deployed baits near the rock-guarded sandy cove, and a smallish bass instantly ascended to intercept my largish bait. The bass never successfully ate this bait, but harassed it and smashed it on top until it played possum well enough to fool me. I replaced it with another livie and continued my hunt as I progressed along the eastern tip of Great Diamond. Nothing happed and so I recycled my baits into the live well and set up on new-to-me water; Crow Island. I've navigated past this dozens of times, but had never fished here. On closer inspection, it offered rocky points plunging into pretty deep water. With the incoming tide pushing against and along the rocks, I set my baits out again. Right beneath Marker 9 and the osprey living there, a bass smashed my largest mackerel on the surface over about 30 feet of water at about 10:15 AM. After a tense fight, I slid the net under my second "keepah" in two days; Crow had made a nice first impression. I was down to my last bait, and it only made sense to circle back and try to find another quality Crow Island striper. Nothing happened at my first waypoint, but I continued along with the current. A rocky point or two down the shoreline, in perhaps 18 feet of water, a 23-inch striper ate my last bait in the well. The next 30 or 40 minutes were spent trying to find more mackerel. I was lucky, again, to secure two; both of which were eaten by bass (just about simultaneously) along Clapboard's steep northeastern ledge. Unfortunately, the hook turned into the bait on each of these, and I never touched these two bass. I made another pass, casting a Hogy Original, but apparently these bass have no interest in artificials. What do I have to say about this? My first three chances had gone so smoothly; but reality returned with the final two misses. Such events are simply a cost associated with fishing these live baits, and a 60% conversion of bites to fish landed sounds about right. But the live mackerel do seem to lower the stripers' guard, because it has been difficult to garner bites otherwise, especially during bright mid-day conditions. And, there's no doubt, the macs are selecting for larger bass. I'll keep at it as long as they remain available. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: July 13, 2021 Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: New Moon plus four days; waxing crescent Tides: Low Tide at about 8:17 PM; Quadrant II Boat: None - shore fishing from Landing float With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 6:30 PM - 8:15 PM Conditions: Gray and calm; water temperature about 67 degrees; little right-to-left current; but no bugs! With a dozen sand-worms in the fridge and another potentially favorable set of conditions, it only made sense to have another workday evening session. I dragged my feet a bit after dinner, and arrived on the float just as the crossbar began to reveal itself with the continuing ebb. I was okay with the slow start, but by 7:30, I was getting antsy. There was little indication of nearby life, and my baits had not yet been touched. At about 7:45, my float finally dipped beneath the surface and I tightened up on a fish. It was a tiny striper, but at least I'd not been skunked. The next 15 minutes (now within 30 minutes of predicted low) were pretty active. I landed a verified 26-incher and an estimated 23, and just about every cast featured a nibble or pull to keep things interesting. But poor eyesight and an unnoticed bent hook (I'd used pliers to turn the hook out of the 26's upper jaw) prevented me from connecting again. Everything was on worms-under-floats, but I'd casted the swim-bait less than 20 times, total, for the evening. What do I have to say about this? I am perfectly satisfied with these modest results. After all, it wasn't too difficult to put myself in position to catch some fish, relax, and enjoy myself. I spoke with some young neighbors on my way out, and they too reported difficulty catching local stripers on lures, although they've taken kindly to Rapala Twitchin' Mullets as an alternative to topwaters and bucktails. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: July 10, 2021 Body of Water: Casco Bay, Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: New Moon plus one day; waxing crescent Tides: High Tide at 12:33 PM; Low Tide at 6:14 PM Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone until 5 PM, but then joined by A Target: Striped Bass Time: 12:45 PM - 7:45 PM Conditions: Sunny, 75, South wind, day after a tropical storm with tons of rain While conditions were wonderfully comfortable for me, this was a tough bite! It took 45 minutes to collect a half dozen mackerel in 60 feet of water off Clapboard Island, and these came in singles only. Fortunately, I was able to jig some followers with successive drops of the Sabiki, or my bait-making would have been even more of a struggle. Of course, the nearby eastern end of Clapboard beckoned, and even though I had the entire day and bay in front of me, I settled into exploring this rocky area with a pair of trailing Scombrids. While the rocks and deeper water did not produce, the nearby sandy flats produced an explosive miss (I was dealing with a tangle at the time) and a few cases of harassment, where the bass were interested, the macs were scared, but the stripers just could not eat. Still after a fair amount of effort, and when I'd realized that the bite really was off, I did have a chase that resulted in the bass eating almost at my rod tip; and I caught my first Maine "keeper" striper of the year! When I was down to my last mackerel, I relocated tp the opposite/western end of Clapboard. It took a while, but finally a bass pinned my Mac to the surface and confidently engulfed it. I was surprised to find that a 22-inch bass had so efficiently eaten an approximate 9-inch mackerel. But it had! My other mackerel had been donated to bass harassment, including a couple of legitimate runs that didn't materialized into hooked fish. So while my landing numbers aren't so hot, even a two-fish session can still have a lot of positive experience behind it. A now met me at the dock with sandwiches for dinner, so we circumnavigated Clapboard to look at the seals. Dozens were beached on the ephemeral island south of Clapboard during this low tide. We managed to catch a single mackerel which we live-lined first at Clapboard's eastern end, and then off the western end. None of my usual locations produced, but as I continued along Clapboard's nothern shoreline, finally we had a run on the mac. A bass had intercepted the bait near a boulder that was contributing to a noticeable current seam, now that the tide had started rising in earnest. Unfortunately, the hook again failed to find the bass. Oh well, it was time to head in, anyway. What do I have to say about this? This was a long day with little to show for it, other than my "biggest" Maine striper in a couple/few years. Still, it was both satisfying and enjoyable. Despite my inefficiencies (finding bait and converting those baits into hooked bass), this style of fishing offers a lot of interaction and anticipation; and, the fish I'm on, while not quite the "right" ones, are larger than my typical lure and worm fish. Plus, getting to see seals and eagles with A; pretty nice! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways |
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