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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
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