|
Date: October 14, 2023 Body of Water: Casco Bay - Maine Boat: None; shore fishing from landing float With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 4 PM - 5:45 PM Moon Phase: New Moon Tide: Low tide at 5:45 PM Conditions: Mostly sunshine but with some clouds, decreasing winds to calm, about 55 - 60 degrees. Quadrant II. Clear water, temperatures 55 - 58 degrees F (+/-) I had this tide marked on the calendar. I really didn't want to miss one of the major (and perhaps the last) Moon Tides of the season. The evening was open, I had frozen mackerel for bait, the rods were freshly rigged, and there really was no better use of my time. I headed down to the landing float to see if any stripers lingered. After completing a couple of quick chores, I was in place at 4 PM with my spread; a choice tail section free-lined to the bottom, and a mid-section chunk suspended under a float. The dock's cross-bar was just appearing at the water's surface, and so I knew I had the best portion of Quadrant II (second half of the falling tide) ahead of me. Almost immediately, my float jiggled and slipped under. I missed the fish and my bait seemed pristine, so I sent it back, wondering if I'd missed my last chance for the season. I had not; the float submerged again and I wound down to a small fish. It was a large mackerel that I had luckily hooked, and this improved my bait situation; frozen baits were quickly replaced with the freshest possible chunks. At 4:15, my float slipped under for real, and I connected with a small striper in the low-20s. Success! For the day, for the season, and as redemption for ending the previous session with a broken-off fish. I repeated this almost immediately with a similar fish, but then things went quiet. Still, I was more than happy with the session's outcome. There was still bait to be used and conditions were so pleasant, I stayed until slack low tide (and almost sunset). Floated chunks produced two more bites and resulted in two more bass of about 26 inches. The last one even came on a frozen bait! Meanwhile chunks and heads sent to the bottom attracted nothing but crabs. I hadn't deployed the float rod in quite a while, but this had been a perfect opportunity to do so! What do I have to say about this? With the boat out of the water, work schedules, impending fall weather, etc., this could certainly have been the end of my local striper season. But I'll continue to maintain some level of readiness, because... one never knows. I spent a portion of the evening rigging gear for freshwater trolling. Trout will have to replace stripers, at least at the margins of our open-water season. And I'll be pleased to catch any local trout that pulls drag like even today's smallest bass. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Steve LachanceRI --> NH --> MI-->MA-->ME Archives
June 2024
Categories
All
|
Proudly powered by Weebly