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Date: April 19, 2021 Body of Water: Ashumet Pond - Falmouth/Mashpee, Massachusetts Moon Phase: Quarter Moon, waxing crescent Tides: N/A Boat: amybaby22 With: A! Target: Trout Time: 11 AM - 2 PM Conditions: About 60 degrees; clear and bright; calm, southerly winds developing to a southwest breeze; water was clear, green, 51 -53 degrees F A joined me on a pleasant Patriots Day excursion. We took things easy and achieved our goals of pleasant enjoyment, catching a fish, and catching multiple fish on top of our initial successes. The water was just a degree or two warmer than during my last visit, but I always get a bit nervous when chasing trout as temperatures edge into the 50s and towards 55. The fish can be anywhere, and the food sources can be more diverse. In fact, the apparent hatch of midges made me wonder if the trout might be overly selective or feeding elsewhere. Still, I set my spread of two S7 Rapalas (one black and gold, the other silver and blue, both set 70 - 80 feet behind the boat) and trolled down my favorite shoreline. Hugging the weed and bottom break at about 8 feet, the rod with the black-and-gold bait jumped and bounced hard in the first couple of hundred yards of trolling. While I missed the fish, this was a good sign! Yet, two more passes through this very productive stretch resulted in nothing. I expanded my trolling area, and across the pond, in about 10 or 11 feet, this same bait was hit hard. The drag slipped, and I was surprised to find that such a small trout had provided that much excitement! And, the skunk was gone for the day! I continued with this program for a while longer, but clearly it was not producing at the expected/required rate. I decided to trade out the blue S7 for a small, Michigan Stinger spoon, also in gold-and-black; served off two colors of lead core. I expected this bait to run 8 or 12 feet deep, and I adjusted my trolling path to cover more than 15 feet of water. For the first time all day, I marked a pile of fish in about 20 feet of water; I paused the boat's trolling momentum and allowed the baits to sink a bit. When I resumed my forward progress, the light rod with the lead-core-presented spoon doubled over. The trout didn't present much of a fight, but it represented success with a new tactic for me on this water, so I was happy enough. I ran upwind a bit to set up my next pass. Before I could deploy the lead, the Rapala was slammed by a nicer rainbow over 18 feet. I was onto something! Each presentation produced another fish in the next half hour, all in this same general area and all in about 20 feet (+/-) of water. What do I have to say about this? A bonus and trouble-free session on the water with my best friend; beautifully pleasant conditions; a 5-for-6 day on my targeted species, involving broadened techniques and experiences; this was a good day! While the individual trout were small (no more than 15 inches, this day), the benefit of this day off was large. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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