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Date: May 27, 2020 Body of Water: Buzzards Bay - Bourne, Massachusetts Moon Phase: New Moon + 5 days Tides: Dead low at first, through and past high tide Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass and Sea Bass Time: 8:15 AM - 1:45 PM Conditions: Inland scorcher, but with cold water temperatures, and that meant morning fog on The Cape. Fog burned off by about 10:30 AM, leaving clear bright skies and 10 mph SW winds; but temperatures in the low 70s! Expecting more big fish to have arrived, and anticipating the availability of sea bass, I wanted to use my day's leave for good purpose; and I was leaning towards the unfamiliar waters of Buzzards Bay, as opposed to my comfortable south-side haunts. I knew fog might be an issue, too, so I kept my mind open as I picked up the amybaby22 and hauled her into Falmouth to grab some bait (squid for sea bass; sandworms for trolling for cow stripers with a tube-and-worm.) Tackle Shop No.1; closed, opening at 8 AM Tackle Shop No.2; closed, opening at 8 AM Oh well, I figured I could forgo bait; I had plenty of lures to choose from! On I went to the West Falmouth Harbor Boat Ramp. On the internet, it was described as a gem as often as folks called out the faults with this facility. I arrived and quickly decided that alone, during low water, this was NOT the time to try to launch here. I decided to go Taylor's Point Marina at the head of Buzzards Bay. This would be all new water, but the generally incoming tide should be favorable for the fishing; plus, I had the Garmin chartplotter temporarily rigged but fully functional, and that would keep me safe and oriented. Guess what? Taylor's Point Marina (including launch, per their signage); closed, opening at 8 AM After last year's $100 bonus launch fee at Monument Beach for not following (unposted) regulations, and given the fog, I decided to drag my feet until that local magic hour, 8 AM. I grabbed some ice and gas, and thought I'd hit Red Top Sporting Goods for some bait. Guess what time they open? 8 AM! I prepped the boat and launched right at 8, when the attendant, now on duty, told me that I could have launched early, they would just collect the fee when I left; no hidden charges! I'd seen others doing that, but hadn't felt comfortable doing so; now I know better and will be eager to do so, because while this is a very nice facility, it does get crowded! I poked out to the Canal slowly and carefully. It was still very foggy. Once I got oriented in the Canal, I ran west to the Bay, hopscotching different areas that looked good. There was a nice rip forming at the point of Hog Neck, but a few drifts with the A27 sand eel tin produced nothing but weed. I relocated to the boulder-strewn point guarding The Widow's Cove, but a dozen casts with the popper moved nothing. My next stop was along the barren beach along Great Neck/Stoney Point Dike. Wind and current were pushing along/against this, and the bottom had lush weeds and occasional boulders. It didn't take long for a nice, 21-incher to find my Hogy Popper about 10 yards off the beach! After a few more casts, I moved down to a prominent rock pile, and an ambitious 14-incher engulfed the same popper. I thought I was onto something, but the next 15 minutes produced nothing; this was not the big group of fish I was seeking. From here, I ran across the Canal over to the southwest corner of Mashnee Island, where boulder fields were obvious. I found some nice water movement over and through these rocks. After a few casts with the popper, I decided that the current was too great and the water too confused for a topwater presentation, so I clipped on a 10-inch Hogy Original soft bait, rigged on a stout, 3/4-ounce jig head. I have long loved Sluggo-type lures for bass (and I was close to being on the original bandwagon for this style of baits in the 1990s), but I'd yet to cast a heavy one to stripers in big water. I presented my first cast with a rather slow, darting retrieve and thought I felt a touch. Same on the next cast, but after the touch I sped up my retrieve and my rod loaded. It wasn't the 24-pounder I'd imagined, but rather was still a very healthy 24-incher. Nice! Once again, I thought I might be on to something, but that was it for me with stripers. I did another half-dozen drifts here, expanding my water each time, but didn't move another fish as far as I could tell. I moved up the Canal to the point of Hog Island, where current, depth and the cover of boulders combined to scream the probable presence of stripers, but I found nothing in several drifts through this appealing water. By now it was 10:30 AM and the sun had burnt through the fog; I decided to switch to sea bass. I relocated to the Old Cape Cod Canal channel, near Red Nun 6. From here to the southwest, I enjoyed a pleasant 90 minutes of fishing for sea bass. Even though I was fishing blind (without sonar), so long as I stayed in the deeper water of the channel, bites were frequent. Still, bites were more frequent in a couple of isolated spots, so waypoints were acquired for future investigation. I started with a large Hogy Epoxy Jig in green with a single hook, and I caught a few smallish sea bass (marginal keepers at 15 inches), but I missed and lost a few, too. So I switched to a Hogy Heavy Jig in pink, and this caught the rest of my fish for the day. I ended with about 15 sea bass to only 17 inches, a pair of sea robins, and a single, tiny scup. I'd hoped to get a big specimen or two for gyotaku, but that just didn't pan out. It was fun though, and since this was a baitless effort, I convinced myself that these fish are readily catchable on sand-eel type jigs. I still wanted a big bass, though, and with the cleared skies and intense sun, I decided that slow-trolling a tube-and-worm was my best effort. I didn't have sand-worms, so I tipped my mustard-colored Santini tube with a pink Gulp! mullet and crossed my fingers. I focused on the deeper waters of the Old Canal and the edges of Mashnee and Hog Islands. I presented the tube on up to five colors of lead core based on depth, and I donated a half-dozen Gulp! baits to smaller pests. This will be a good technique to learn and develop confidence in. At about 1:45 PM, I realized that my smart move would be to get off the water before I ran out of steam. The boat was parked and covered by 3 PM; I took a call for work; and I was back home by 5 PM. I was in much better condition than I'd been after the weekend's efforts, and I was functional! I am not used to leaving fishing time on the table, but I think I made the right call, especially because the day's heat was brutally actualized in Arlington. ! What do I have to say about this? As pleasant and moderately productive as the day was, it was still even more important as an investment. I learned a lot about a big stretch of new water, the logistics involved, and some new-to-me techniques. It was well worth my time away from work! I'd explored just a tiny corner of Buzzards Bay, but that exploration had revealed plenty of fishing opportunity. I could have pushed farther south or west to other, new waters. I'll likely do that in the future. The late start did not reflect my style, and I took other obstacles (ramps, lack of bait, heavy fog) in stride. I'm learning to actually enjoy myself! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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