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Date: October 5, 2019 Body of Water: Woods Hole Pier Boat: none With: Alone, but with several familiar folks from 2018's Albie Chase Target: False Albacore Time: 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM Conditions: Bright and windy from the North. Some tidal movement, and reports of good fishing from this spot the previous morning. In two words; Bonus! Hope! After a Gale Day of chores, a fantastic group dinner to culminate the trip and reconnecting with A., I found myself in Woods Hole with a few hours to enjoy before I began the long journey back to Michigan. Why not take a final try for tuna from the pier? As I arrived, the word was that it had been a slow morning, but that Albies had presented themselves the day before at about 9 AM. There was a little bait present, the tidal currents seemed to be increasing, and a visible foam line was approaching from the hazards of Woods Hole, center. I took my place on the pier, hedging my bets between the tip and access to the wall behind me; last year, the most active tuna had been crashing bait against this wall. I rigged an epoxy jig and a swim bait. Between 9 and 9:30 or so, a fair number of tuna showed themselves in small, loose groups. Most were out of casting range, but I did get my lure into a few groups of fish. I tried both lures and a variety of retrieves, but never got touched. Neither did anybody else on the pier, nor anybody in the boats and kayaks that were chasing each group of visible fish. The action slowed considerably thereafter, and by 10:30, I knew it was time to go. I was in the game again; but the fish were picky. Someday I'll be there when the funny fish are more abundant, accessible and vulnerable. What do I have to say about this? At least I went down swinging! This session also let me get in quite a few casts with the new Diawa rod and reel, and I expect it will be an important addition to my saltwater arsenal. The reel is super smooth, seems to have a good drag system, and has ample line capacity. The rod slots nicely into the heavier side of my tackle selection and will see action in a variety of saltwater exploits. I also left town knowing that I was on the verge of big changes for the better, and those prospects included more saltwater fishing opportunities. So while I might have lost this Albacore Battle (again), I was not really defeated. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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![]() Date: October 3, 2019 Body of Water: Vineyard Sound, from Great Pond to Woods Hole Boat: Maritime Skiff 1480; now, officially named the "amybaby22" With: Alone Target: False Albacore, striped bass, blues Time: 7:30 AM - 3 PM Conditions: Overcast but sometimes clearing; about 55 degrees; anticipated North wind but with a much stronger easterly component, in the high teens for most of the day. Consequently, the Sound was quite a bit rougher than expected, but it was certainly fishable in Woods Hole and inside the ponds. My mind was on tuna, and I'd selected this port for proximity to Nobska Point in combination with an offshore wind at my back and calm, navigable seas in front of me. But even as I launched the boat in Falmouth Harbor, I could tell that the wind was more easterly than I had expected, and that could be a factor in the day's fishing. I was just about "out" of white swim baits, and so I had a pink one tied on. My first cast at a current seam just outside the outlet scored a familiar blue. It was good to know that the fish weren't overly finicky! But I was interested in tuna, and spent more time scanning the sky for active birds and the surface of the water for explosive eruptions than casting for blues. It was quite choppy, and I knew my ability to move quickly was limited; and so I cruised slowly while scanning and really focused my attention on areas within a quarter mile or so. When I noticed a group of birds change course, my interest perked; and soon they were diving on bait. I made my way to the east. The birds lingered, and I waited in the general area. Soon, the surface erupted within casting distance, and in one eruption, I clearly saw the dorsal fin and sickle tail of a tuna! I got two or three casts with my Hogy epoxy jig into the area before signs of life disappeared. I continued blind casting until well after the birds had left, too. I'd certainly been within range of my target species; but I'd been told they were finicky. Still, I knew that it really could happen! I decided to troll the Yozuri while scouting for another pod of tuna. In addition to bluefish, I saw no reason why an Albie or bonito would not eat the lure, and I was not really in a position to dictate exactly how I was going to catch my first Cape Cod tuna. The bluefish bite was pretty decent; going at speeds of 3 to 4.5 mph, I landed three more blues east and just west of the Falmouth Harbor outlet. I trolled almost all the way to Nobska Point with a couple more hits but no fish landed. It was getting a bit rough at Nobska, but with the prospect of protected seas and Albies around the corner, I proceeded to the mouth of Woods Hole's Little Harbor. ![]() Here, I sat, watching for birds and bait. Bird life was sporadic and spread out, but probably more intense than at Falmouth. I was treated to a single, very brief frenzy within casting distance; once again, my two or three casts into the zone were ignored, as were subsequent blind casts. I finally admitted to myself that it was also too rough for me to comfortable fish here; especially given the lack of chances. I proceeded in to Woods Hole's Great Harbor. Here, conditions were flat and comfortable. But, it was also slack tide; there was no moving water and no sign of fish. A single fisherman posted as a quiet sentinel on the little pier I'd fished in 2018; and the only other fishing boat scouted around without fishing. My timing was wrong, and I had a couple of choices; look elsewhere, or wait it out for better prospects with moving water. Additionally, I had legitimate concerns about the wind and waves; if the seas between Little Harbor and Falmouth got any worse, I was going to get trapped in Woods Hole. That wouldn't have been the end of the world, but it would have been a logistical pain; and so I decided to test the waters outside Nobska. The skiff proved to handle the size and direction of the waves well, but at low speeds only. At a maximum speed of 8 miles per hour, I made it to Great Pond in about 45 minutes. With some relief, I entered Great Pond for the first time and decided to look for stripers. Entering the pond, I noticed an aluminum bass boat overloaded with four fishermen and camera equipment. As I passed this group (bundled up for winter!), I realized I recognized a million-plus-subscribed YouTube personality. More on that, perhaps, later! I noticed quite a bit of bird activity in the center of the pond near a "no wake" marker. But when I arrived, all activity had dispersed, so I continued on to a convenient shoreline. Nothing happened there, but when I crossed to the pond's east side, my first cast with the popper was trailed and then sucked in by a nice striper! Once again, it was nice to find fish in new water! I scraped out another one in short order, but when I noticed birds going crazy near the same marker in the center of the pond, I slowly motored over there. Bass were forcing tiny bait to the surface and popping all around; for a few casts, they couldn't resist my popper. When things quieted, I found an even steadier bite on slow-rolled swim baits. Staying in the vicinity of the marker and a grassy point to the northeast, alternately grinding it out and following birds and splashes, I soon found myself with a new goal for the day; 22 stripers. You might recall that my new skiff's first outing resulted in a surprising 22 stripers swung over the gunnel. I thought the season might be appropriately and symmetrically packaged if I could end her 2019 efforts with a matching catch. The first 20 accumulated pretty easily, and then there was a lull. But Numbers 21 and 22 eventually ate my popper, and I was satisfied. Moreover, my skiff had finally earned her name; in honor of my best friend, she is now the "amybaby22"! I'd not caught any tuna for the trip, but I'd had some experiences; and I'd developed some quality fishing during some tough, dynamic circumstances. A Gale Warning was developing and I had to put the amybaby22 away for the winter. The fishing part of this trip was (just about) over. Just to wrap up, the water near the no-wake marker was about 6 feet deep. About half of the day's stripers were caught on the popper, about half were taken on an 1/8-ounce jig adorned with Z-Man Diezel Minnowz in pearl/blue flake shad coloration. (I was very impressed with the behavior of these in the water, and they are much more durable than some other plastic baits. They definitely earned a spot in my tackle selection!). Low tide had occurred at about 10:30 AM, and I'd experienced the fastest fishing at about 12:30 PM (low + two hours.). There's quite a bit of fishable water in Great Pond, and it is easily accessible from any of the ramps I'd used this trip; I was glad to have chosen to spend my afternoon there! What do I have to say about this? "Plans are worthless, but planning is indispensable." General Eisenhower said something along these lines with respect to D-Day. Nothing that day had gone exactly according to plan, and yet the troops were prepared to perform, and overall goals were achieved. I've adopted that philosophy for work, life and fishing, and this trip provides an excellent example of how planning, in combination with flexibility, can be combined profitably. I'd not necessarily envisioned tailor blues and topwater bass, but that's where I could make some hay, and I had the gear and attitude to make these fun, worthy targets. With about 70 bass and blues (37 bass and 31 blues, according to my records) for the trip in less than four days of fishing (and also a couple of bonus fish, too), the fishing was way better than good! And, I'd not experienced a single fishing malfunction (with the noted exception of the lost rod and reel.) The boat and trailer had performed flawlessly, and other than the lack of tuna (for my second year in a row), I'd nothing to be remotely disappointed about. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: October 2, 2019 Body of Water: Waquoit Bay and nearby salt ponds and outlets Boat: Maritime Skiff 1480 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass and Bluefish Time: 7:30 AM - 4 PM Conditions: Just about all weather conditions. I'd expected to be held inside the bay by wind, but it was generally less than forecasted and so I was able to venture out along the Southside beaches and to other ponds. I started in the protected and familiar waters of Eel River, Waquoit Bay, targeting current seams. While a shore-bound angler was doing decently well with an aggressive topwater, I triggered more bites by slow-rolling small swimbaits. By this point, my supply had been demolished by blues, and so I was using whatever I had that was close; but all baits produced, whether they were white, natural, silver, Gulp!, shad- or fluke-style. If it was about 3.5 inches, it appealed! I quickly caught a couple of stripers and a surprise summer flounder. Things were off to a good start! The bite was not red-hot and I was losing my tide-driven current. The wind didn't seem that bad, so I headed down to the western outlet. I trolled just about the entire way without a tap. After a few casts with the popper in the area that had produced the previous day's blues, I headed out into Vineyard Sound. The water was absolutely fishable, and so I headed over to the main, eastern outlet of Waquoit Bay. I set the Yozuri plug out for a swim on the way there and scored a couple of blues before I reached the outlet. I jigged and swim-baited the outlet area with unremarkable luck and then switched to drifting the outside rocks of the eastern jetty. It looked like there was plenty of opportunity for bait and/or fish to hide along these nooks and crannies, but I only had a half-hearted bite from a blue in my first pass. The second pass featured a surprise Spanish Mackerel. At about 17 inches, it wasn't a giant, and it didn't fight any better than a bass or blue, but it was my first in Massachusetts (they are only a sporadic, seasonal visitor here) and completed a unique and First-time Slam for me; striper, bluefish, flounder and Spanish. I was hoping to encounter some Albies, but there was no sign of them. After a couple of trolling passes at the outlet (producing a couple of hard hits from blues), I noticed a bird-accompanied blitz taking place within the channel. I moved inside and got a couple of casts with the epoxy jig near the fray before it disappeared as quickly as it had emerged. These might have been Albies, but were likely blues. The tide was now flooding hard, and I picked up a couple more bluefish just inside the channel as I stemmed the tide (+ about 1 mph.) It was shaping up to be a fine day, but the surface blitz had me fired up; perhaps I'd been in the game? Or at least at the stadium where the game was being played? Regardless, I still had Albies on my mind, so I headed out of the channel to look for birds or other signs. Back at the Green Pond outlet, I came across what I was looking for; and I had a fish crash (but miss) my skipping Hogy jig. That hurt, but then I could clearly see that this commotion was caused by bluefish, not tuna. The miss still hurt, but not as badly. I spent the next hour or more looking for birds and bait. I found both, but no tuna. I did pluck another couple of blues from a blitz right along shore near Great Pond outlet. The biggest school of blues of the trip had bait trapped between shore and a short jetty. It was a cool sight, and both of my casts into the zone were rewarded with instant strikes. I ended the day by tucking into Green Pond and casting the popper into shallow water. The western side of the pond produced four stripers to 26 inches (the largest of the trip.) I had to tease several of these fish into striking, and that only added to the fun. What do I have to say about this? With the unique Slam, having covered a lot of water with a variety of baits to score a combined dozen stripers and blues, and the receipt of multiple job offers while out on the water (more about that, later!), Day 3 will long be remembered as a fine day. But with only one more day likely available for fishing, I knew that I wanted to target tuna, to the extent possible, the next day. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Part 1 of day Date: October 1, 2019 Body of Water: Green Pond and Outlet Boat: Maritime Skiff 1480 With: Uncle M. Target: Stripers and Blues Time: 7 AM - 11:30 AM Conditions: Gray and almost windy (SW at about 10 mph, with more forecast) Uncle M decided to join me for the morning based on Monday's success and a generally favorable weather forecast. It was, perhaps, a bit grayer and windier than had been expected, but it was still very fishable; that is, with the exception of the roguish wave that knocked us around and resulted in a rod-and-reel combo dropped overboard. Oh well, that stuff happens! I was determined to not let that affect our enthusiasm for chasing the fish at hand; but perhaps we'd stay a little closer to port than I had originally planned. We caught some outgoing tide and had some immediate luck with blues at Green Pond outlet; I caught another in the washing machine that was Bourne Pond outlet, just to the east. But the blues were slow, and I was encouraged when an oceanside striper ate my popper along the Green Pond outlet rocks. But we were truly just scraping by, and so we moved into Green Pond to look for stripers. We found a couple of groups of them, and we both caught schoolies on poppers and swim baits. Uncle M seemed most proud of his peanut bunker catch, and I was pleased to find that the bass liked my greenish popper that I used to replace my now-lost-but-never-forgotten Smack-It Jr. The tide had just not been favorably timed for us, but we still ended with two blues and six stripers for an easy morning's effort. Part 2 of day Date: October 1, 2019 Body of Water: White's Landing, Waquoit Bay Boat: Maritime Skiff 1480 With: alone Target: Stripers and Blues Time: 1 PM - 5 PM Conditions: Still mostly gray but now definitely windy (southerly at about 15 mph, with more forecast) I returned to the friendly and wind-protected confines of Waquoit Bay for the afternoon. I started by popping and probing the current breaks around my familiar spot on Eel River with a swimming jig. Despite a number of strikes, I was unable to hook up. When I finally did land a fish, it was a scup. That explained a lot, and I moved down to the Bay's western outlet. Here, the tide was beginning to flood. I found a couple of racing bluefish in very shallow water alongside Washburn Island. These provided cool, visible strikes on my popper. But the bite was still slow, and with the growing wind, I decided to cover water by trolling a Yozuri stick bait at 3 mph +/-, and then adding the approximate speed of the current. My first fish was a feisty, 25-inch bass, but the next couple were tailor blues. Each absolutely slammed the lure at high speed; this was both fun and productive. The wind continued to increase, and the bite got tougher. I ended with a total of four blues and the striper, giving me a combined Baker's Dozen for the day. ![]() What do I have to say about this? Day 2 was tough, and I expected Day 3 to be every bit as difficult, given the wind. I'd still not had a chance at any albacore, but it was turning out to be a good fishing trip. Given the variety of water, tackle, fish and conditions, I'd settled into a nice pattern of exploration and taking what I could find. That was satisfying enough! When Uncle M. presented me with a replacement for the lost rod and reel (a fine Diawa combo), I was both surprised and pleased. I could still keep five outfits appropriately rigged and ready, and the combo he had picked out with the help of staff at Falmouth Bait and Tackle quickly found a home in my tackle selection. Thanks! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: September 30, 2019 Body of Water: Green Pond Outlet, Falmouth, Massachusetts Boat: Maritime Skiff 1480 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass and Bluefish Time: 3 - 5 PM Conditions: Sunny, northerly wind, ongoing tide After a pleasant drive from Michigan and a weekend with A. in eastern Massachusetts, I headed up Route 95 towards my boat in Maine. Surprisingly, I encountered the worst traffic of the trip in Southern Maine, but by 9:30 AM or so, I was in Falmouth, Maine, collecting my skiff. After dusting her off, checking her road readiness and double-checking that I had everything I needed, I reversed course down Route 95, through Boston, to Falmouth, Massachusetts. By the time I arrived, I'd already had a full day! I chose to go to Green Pond for the first time because of limited time for fishing, and thinking that the pretty brisk northerly winds would be at my back, making access to the Cape's south side possible. The ramp was a dream, and by 3 PM, I was motoring towards the outlet. When I saw a couple of aggressive pops on the surface of the pond's southwest corner, I redirected my course and eased into the shallows. My first cast of the trip (with my trusty Smack-it Jr. popper) was engulfed by an aggressive striper! I caught a twin, topwater schoolie bass shortly thereafter, but with time short and the bite not exactly furious, I abandoned the pond and exited with the outgoing tide. It didn't take long at all for a smallish, natural-colored Hogy epoxy jig to get intercepted. When the fish jumped, I knew it was my first blue of the season. As it turned out, the two-pound blues (tailors) were in pretty thick, and I enjoyed productive catch-and-release fishing for these feisty, yellow-eyed devils for 45 minutes or so. They seemed to prefer a slower cadence and often hit on the fall. They also seemed to like 1/8-ounce jigs with 3.5-inch, whitish paddle tail grubs, too. This was all fun, light-tackle fishing! With a bunch of fish under my belt and given good conditions for navigation, I decided to explore other water. The run east to Waquoit was only six minutes, and I found the blues to be just as willing to bite here as they were at Green Pond. I ended this short session with two bass and 15 blues. This was, in theory, Day 1 of a trip devoted to chasing false albacore, but I wanted to take advantage of any opportunities that presented themselves. With no birds or topwater frenzies noticed on the oceanside, I was very content to simply enjoy the beautiful afternoon and the welcomed company of the bass and blues. What do I have to say about this? This offered a great start to the trip. The day had gone virtually trouble-free, and I'd caught a bunch of fish, all of which pulled drag on my suitably light tackle. I still had several days to chase funny fish ahead of me; all was good! Simple observations had led me to the fish. Had I not been scouting for birds and/or surface activity, I could have easily driven past the bass. And by targeting foam lines, current seams and barely discernible surface disturbances during the outgoing tide, my bluefishing might not have been as productive. I'd visited new waters, paid attention, and enjoyed some modest success. It really was a good day; and an excellent steak dinner with a couple of cold ones still awaited me at Uncle M.'s house! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: September 16, 2019 Body of Water: Reeds Lake Boat: Numenon With: Alone Target: Largemouth Bass Time: 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM Conditions: Gray, humid and 70 degrees F; NE winds at less than 7 mph. It felt fishy! Water was brownish green with reduced visibility of about two feet. Water temperature was 70. I stuck with cranking on this weekday "flex" day. I contacted many fish, but most were small, and I had way too many misses. Along the way I landed a single legal-sized bass, weighing in at 1 pound, 10 ounces. A 23-inch pike also came aboard. I also tried drop-shotting, swim jigs, topwater and a chatter bait. These collectively produced only a single, small bass. What do I have to say about this? Mostly I stuck with the crank, but once again, I missed my groove. With the weight of limited time on my shoulders, I suspect I was simply fishing too fast and was not fully present. Still, despite the lack of positive feedback, it became more and more difficult to put the crank down; and I continued to speed up. I found myself caught in an unproductive, self-feeding cycle. It was, at least, weekday fishing! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways Date: September 8, 2019 Body of Water: Reeds Lake Boat: Numenon With: Alone Target: Largemouth Bass Time: 7:30 AM - 1:30 PM Conditions: Cloudy and 55 - 65 degrees F; water was stained with less than 3 feet of visibility; winds were calm to about 10 mph from all directions, but settling into easterlies Arriving just after 7 AM, I was surprised to find a number of bass rigs already on the water. It was Tournament Day, and I was going to be fishing behind them. Once I launched and jumped the starting battery from the trolling motor set (a switch had been flicked on and forgotten), I found that four boats were already sitting on the main hump, including two angling for the juicy spots; and another couple of boats were on the secondary hump. Other boats were scattered about, too, but they were occupying all of my seasonally favored spots. Oh well, I picked up the weed edge along the lake's north side and started cranking. Pretty quickly, a small bass jumped my DT10; at least there was some life! A couple of hundred yards further, I doubled back on a set of docks. A 14-inch, 1.25-pound bass ate my tail-weighted, Texas-rigged Senko; I was on the board! Returning to the crank, I was able to scratch out a few decent bass at 16, 18 and 15 inches. This brought my sack to about 9 pounds, with room for another and culling a definite possibility. But that never happened; surprisingly, I didn't get another quality bite for the remainder of my time. What do I have to say about this? I'd have not done too well in the day's tournament; I simply ate the humble pie that I deserved. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways |
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