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Date: September 24, 2023 Body of Water: Casco Bay - Maine Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 6:30 AM - 11:30 AM Moon Phase: Full minus six days; waxing gibbous moon Tide: High tide at 6:38 AM, low tide at 12:33 PM Conditions: Overcast, NE wind about 10 mph, about 55 - 65 degrees. Water temperatures 59 - 60 degrees F (+/-) My first thought was to try some high-tide popper fish along the local shoreline. Not a bad idea; sunrise, slack tide and my first misses of the day coincided after just a few casts. This fish came in hot; it missed explosively, twice. This was all visible, and this was a much larger than average fish. I continued down the shoreline, with hope but not moving much. I did raise another bass a few hundred yards down the shoreline, but this one also missed, badly. After 50 minutes of skunk, I decided to make bait and look locally for some more stripers. Mackerel were still home, in the upper 15 feet of water over 60 foot depths off Clapboard Island's eastern end. It wasn't quite as easy as the previous day, but soon enough and by 7:45 AM, I was presenting a lively mack along Clapboard's steep and rocky eastern shore. In what was threatening to become a theme for the day, a bass soon crashed on my bait twice without finding it. I quickly flipped my scared mack back out, and after another miss, finally it was taken with a confident surface swirl. This fish fought deep and well, and it took some maneuvering to keep it out of a lobster pot. When I finally turned this fish and slipped the net under it, I was surprised to find that it was only a 30-incher. I continued down the shore, with the wind-born current, and slid around the corner. I extended my pass a little bit because my mackerel was acting scared; this paid off with a solid strike. I wound down, but this fish didn't even know it was hooked. It swam below the boat before suddenly taking off on a nice run. I plunged my rod into the water to keep the line off the hull, but still, the hook popped free. I returned to repeat this entire pass and flipped my bait along the steep, rocky, weedy shoreline. My bait raced away but got intercepted by another nice bass; this was a super fit 29-incher that also fought above its size class. After a couple of unsuccessful passes through this same water, I turned my attention to the northeast corner of Clapboard. Here, I scored a feisty 27-incher before I ran to Clapboard's west end. After a long swim but as if on cue, a bass hit my mackerel over an existing waypoint at the very western extent of this reefy complex. It was almost nice to see a "small" 23-incher. It was now about 9:45 AM, and I had planned to finish the session by chunking. I decided to return to Clapboard's east end. By 10, I was set up with Spot-lock and dribbling bits of fresh mackerel to drift into a cluster of waypoints. But I was in 24 feet of water and losing touch with my bait before I knew it reached bottom. After 15 minutes or so, I allowed the boat to drift about 30 feet with the existing chum slick and locked down again. Now I was in more familiar depths (12 feet or so), and my first presentation with a fresh chunk was taken enthusiastically by a nice 26-incher. I kept the rain of free food going while drifting hooked choice tail cuts. Ten minutes later, a 24-incher came to hand. As the wind and current decreased, I had a final bite, and enjoyed the fight of an angry 28-incher. This fish bought me another 10 minutes, but I was about out of time and with things to do. That was okay, I'd lost the current and depth, and it certainly had been a better-than-average day! What do I have to say about this? I know this, but hadn't prepared; have a follow-up bait (fluke, small swim-bait, etc.) ready to go when top-water fishing! I might have been able to convert my misses into hooked fish had I been adequately prepared. But when I am throwing top-waters, I tend to be stubborn. I want to to throw them. I'll even go almost an hour without a fish, happily, if conditions are right and I've had a hint of a fish's interest. I couldn't have asked much more from the rest of the morning; seven bass, including three "keepers" over 28 inches, from my eight chances. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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