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Date: May 19, 2023 Body of Water: Scarborough Marsh - Scarborough, Maine Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Moon: New Moon Tide: High at Noon (+/-) Time: 10:45 AM - 1:30 PM Conditions: Clear and bright; persistent southerly wind in the teens and gusting over 25 mph; and about 60 degrees. Water temperatures 48 -50 degrees (+/-). I launched on Casco Bay's largest estuary system for the first time. The first wave of stripers should seek out the rivers, and five feed into Scarborough Marsh. I also intended to find some opportunities to try to catch some on the fly, and I expected to find some current seems to swing an olive-over-white Clouser through. I had my trusty tube-and-worm setup as well as a variety of swim-baits and top-waters. The water might be new to me, but I expected to find plenty of opportunities. They just did not develop. As I launched from the Pine Point/Jones Creek ramp, I could see a "tern-nadoe" of birds diving on bait over a submerged sandbar just a couple of hundred yards away. A group of cormorants were there, too. It looked promising! As I approached, I didn't see any active fish, and I let the stiff wind push me through the area as I fan-casted a small swim-bait. This reminded me of my September 2021 trip to Plymouth Harbor, and I alternated "low and slow" with a frantic "Bayman Bounce" retrieve. But nothing responded; I never identified the bait and the birds dispersed. I worked my way up the Nonesuch River, which I cross twice a week on my commute to Boston. It always looks fishy from the train, but it seemed barren from today's perspective. I continued to scout with the swim-bait to no avail. I hooked a sand-worm onto my red tube and proceeded upstream with the wind and tide, almost all the way to the railroad trestle. I continued to be surprised by the lack of action. I enjoyed a turkey sandwich at slack high; but my trolling motor battery gave out. I knew boat control was going to be an issue in the wind, and so I started my way slowly back downstream, alternating trolling the tube with casting likely areas with a swim-bait. Nothing happened! There just weren't too many bass in the estuary, this day. I did get tricked into fishing under two more groups of active terns; these were just dipping and occasionally skimming the surface. The tide was now firmly outbound; were they on grass shrimp? I couldn't see anything, and there were no signs of any active fish. What do I have to say about this? Oh well, any trip to new water without any problems is always a good session. It was certainly interesting! Perhaps the water is just a little too cold for the invasion I imagined; and perhaps I should have targeted more effort on the ebb, as clearly the incoming ocean waters suppressed temperatures. But it was a trip I could do safely in the wind, and I did have a cool encounter with a bald eagle as it swooped overhead on it's way to harass some Canada geese and their fresh goslings. There was lots of other bird life to appreciate, too. With the slow fishing (and seriously beaten up by the wind), I headed home early, where I enjoyed a short but intensely deep nap. There's always tomorrow to look forward to and prepare for! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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