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Date: August 26, 2023 Body of Water: Casco Bay - Maine Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 8 AM - Noon Moon Phase: Waxing quarter moon Tide: High tide at 6:55 AM; ebb throughout Conditions: Fog at first but becoming mostly clear, light wind, about 60 - 75 degrees. Water temperatures 60 - 63 degrees F (+/-) With a small Striper Cup Limit for the week in hand and an entire weekend ahead of me, a goal for the day was to upgrade my entry with some larger fish. Once again, Crow Island produced as the outgoing current pushing along her north face concentrated a group of fish for me. But first, there was bait to make! With the fog still pretty heavy, I tried a pass or two near Clapboard's east end; I saw a surface ripple to two and a seal working here, but found no macks. The fog was lifting, and so I headed toward Hussey Sound. I encountered several seals and a pod of porpoise along the way. I always take these as encouraging signs. There were more seals and porpoise in Hussey, and I trolled my Sabiki with the current, north of College Island. I scratched a couple of singles, and thought I'd found the motherload when I pulled a triple from just up-current of the submerged bar. But then it got tough and I found no more, so by 9:30 AM, I was setting up along Crow. I started along the southern exposure, as the swell was moving lots of whitewater here. Just as I set up, another boat pulled in front and grabbed the best spot; they caught a fish on casted lures before moving off. Meanwhile, I drifted and bump-trolled a lively mack about half-way around the island without a touch. I repositioned to the northeast corner, where I found exactly the conditions I wanted. The strong outgoing current swept along the face until sweeping past a steep, rocky point tumbling into deep water. Recalling how productive this spot had been in the past helped my confidence, too. I landed stripers on three consecutive passes through this water. These measured 29, 31 and 23 inches, and so I'd added quite a few inches to my potential Striper Cup entry. I was surprised at how hard these fish fought, too, but perhaps they were simply taking full advantage of the invigorating 60-degree water, the current, and access to 40-foot depths as they struggled to avoid the boat. I got hit on pass number four, too, but the hook turned and I reeled in just a dead mackerel. With my only remaining bait consisting of two dead-but-sizable macks, I decided to try to supplement my supply. But I also decided to not invest too much time; I knew I could return to this area and perhaps chunk up a bass or two. I returned to College and trolled across and over the likely bar and adjacent deeper areas. Once again, I found nothing and so I quickly returned to Crow and set up in about 12 feet of water with Spot-Lock. From here, I estimated my chunks would drift with the diminishing current into 17 or 20 feet of water, and with a little luck, land right next to the end of the boulder pile. Retaining the choice tail sections as my hook baits, I supplied a slow but steady trickle of chum bits behind the boat while repeatedly drifting my hooked chunks through the same water. I was just out of chum and down to my last bait when a bass arrived after about 30 minutes of effort here. A nice 26-inch bass came to the net and provided a secondary upgrade for the day. I chose to keep myself fresh and called it a day. I was off the water by Noon, even though it was a beautiful (and productive) day. What do I have to say about this? I don't know if I am getting smart, content, or exhausted, but a late start and an early finish just made sense, and how could I really ask for more from a few simple hours of effort? I can always choose to hit it harder and/or longer the next day, which will be my last fishing session of my 50s. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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