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Date: July 2, 2022 Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent Moon; New + four days Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 1:30 PM - 5 PM Conditions: High Tide at 2:26 PM. Super clear; SW wind in excess of 15 mph and about 75 degrees. Water was green and stained; water temperature 63 degrees (+/-). After catching just a single mackerel, I positioned myself off the eastern point of Clapboard Island. Wind and current were pounding into the face of the island here, and I gave myself extra room to set up and deploy my lone bait. The Maritime behaves well when drifting with a broadside wind, and I established a path tracing the island's drop into deeper water. I had just marked a couple of likely targets in about 20 feet when my mack suddenly got very nervous; and then it was confidently taken. I knew this was a better fish when I first came tight and she took an impressive run against a pretty tight drag. Fortunately, this fish sought deeper water instead of the cover of rocks and weeds, and my primary concern during the fight was avoiding lines to the abundant lobster pots. Steady pressure, patience and a bit of boat maneuvering worked. Despite the bright sun, high skies and mid-day start, I landed my largest striper of the season about 15 minutes before predicted high tide. This fish was fat, 36 inches long, and my first "over-slot" fish (> 35 inches) of 2022. It was also the largest ever landed on amybaby22, and an approximate "Top 5" striper for me when not fishing with a guide. It's a 99.7-percentile fish, for me! I returned to the mackerel grounds, but instead of returning to the unproductive area I'd already experienced, I focused on the deep-water slot almost adjacent to this end of Clapboard. I encountered a couple of pods of macks pretty quickly, and after landing strings of 3 and 5 baits in succession (are the macks starting to group up?), I attempted to repeat my successful drift. While the big girl had come from beyond the edge of my familiar water, I was in a well-known productive spot (I love boulders, weeds and drop-offs into deep water) when my mackerel was smashed on top. This was a visually stunning hit, and literally stunning hit to my bait. I let the mack drift lifelessly for a bit, but the bass didn't return. I repositioned with a new bait, but drifted and trolled all the way through my confidence water without another sign of a striped bass. I motored over to the west end of Clapboard, laboring into the stiff head wind. Once again, I positioned myself in deeper water upwind of my targeted water to drift and present a new, lively mack. I had an aggressive run-and-drop along the 15-foot breakline. As I retrieved the bait, I saw a nice bass take it again. I dropped and waited to come tight, but the hook pulled, buried into the side of the mackerel. I repeated my drift a couple of times with no further action, and returned to the dock for some birthday cake. It had been a nice afternoon! What do I have to say about this? One never knows what might happen on the water. The conditions (other than the wind and current pounding into the island rocks) didn't favor action from crepuscular stripers. And they weren't very active, but the right one was, and I'm just glad I was out there. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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