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Date: October 9, 2021 Body of Water: Casco Bay, Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: New Moon plus three days; waxing crescent moon Tides: Low Tide at 7:29 AM; High Tide at 1:42 PM Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 7:30 AM - 2:30 PM Conditions: Generally overcast, but trying to clear later in the day; about 55 - 60 degrees F; persistent southeasterly wind > 10 mph; water temperatures 58 +/- degrees I wasn't sure what to expect. The week's weather had been pretty mild, with no real change in water temperature. I didn't want to leave any striped bass chances on the table, though, so I gave it a shot. Bait was spotty east of Clapboard, but with a half dozen in the well, I tried Clapboard's eastern point. Two passes revealed absolutely nothing, so I headed to Hussey Sound and College Island. I stopped a bit short of College Island, along Long Island, to set up. A single striper revealed itself pretty quickly with a surface chase of my mackerel, but after one "pop", it disappeared. I continued towards College Island and the saddle connecting it to Long. Almost there but with nothing to show for my efforts, I decided to circle around to the spot revealed by the single active striper. Off the edge of a grassy flat, the depth dropped from about 10 to about 20 feet of water pretty quickly. As I deployed a bait, I felt it get smacked; I tightened up, and landed a nice 26-incher! I circled around again, and repeated my good luck; this time, it was only a 23-incher, but from the same type of water; near the grassy shallows, off the edge, but not too deep. I tried the College Island saddle area with no luck. The mid-tide current was picking up and I was down to my last bait; The deep, west end of College Island provided a dozen mackerel in short order. I ran out of Hussey with the intent of fishing Vaill Island; but the wind and swell made things uncomfortable, and I really didn't want any problems on this lonely day; there weren't too many folks out to provide assistance if need be. So I turned back and went to Crow; I found nothing there, but had a double run off a rocky point on nearby Little Diamond Island. One bait got dropped, and the other got plucked off the hook as I came tight. And that was it; I spent another hour or more searching Little Diamond and then Clapboard for any active bass. Approaching slack high tide, I ran up Mill Creek and Mussel Cove. I casted my new 9-weight fly rod with a homemade Clouser for another hour without a sign of a fish. Just to keep them honest, I made a dozen or more casts with a swim-bait, and I finished by swimming a live mackerel in this skinny water. Nothing moved. This was the end of the line for my 2021 Striper Season (at least here in Maine, on my boat). I'd squeezed out what I could, but other it was clear to me, I should be investing my time in other pursuits. What do I have to say about this? I knew this was coming, but it still hurts a bit; I didn't want this fine season to end (at least without an exclamation point of some sort.) Still, there are worse things than ending a season with a trouble-free session, a couple of fish and a new wand in hand. I was decently pleased with my casting, and I've got plenty to look forward to, in both short- (trout!) and longer terms. P.S. amybaby22 and the dinghy were pulled from the water on Monday, October 11. This really was the last hoorah for my local boat/striper season. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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