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Date: October 3, 2021 Body of Water: Casco Bay, Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: New Moon minus three days; waning crescent moon Tides: High Tide at 9:25 AM Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 7:30 AM - 1:15 PM Conditions: Overcast with occasional light showers; about 55 degrees F; mild east wind < 10 mph; water temperatures 58-59 degrees Making bait in about 55 feet of water off the east end of Clapboard was easy; a steady stream of singles put a couple of dozen mackerel in the well in just a half hour. The macs were stacked in the top 25 feet of water. About one third of these were tiny 5-inchers. I was hoping that these Fun-Sized baits might trigger some bites and hookups. My first stop was Clapboard's east end; nothing happened. I relocated to the island's west end; more nothing. Despite the abundance of excellent bait in my possession, I wasn't able to put it to good use. Still, I swam a pair of macs, large and small, with some confidence of raising something. With the flood tide, I visited Prince Point. A lively mackerel trailed the skiff as I casted the shallow rocks and weeds with a Hogy popper. Neither presentation moved anything. I ran up Mussel Cove/Mill Creek as far as I could at slack high tide. Setting a tube-and-worm in just a few feet of water, I was surprised to lose my worm to pesky taps almost immediately. I re-set, and with about 25 feet of line off the rod tip, finally caught the first bass of the day in about 4 feet of water. It wasn't a big one, but it sure was welcome! I caught two more small bass on the tube-and-worm in this tight water in the next half hour. When the bites dried up (too much engine noise in close quarters?), I set a drift with a Fun-Sized mackerel instead. This produced another bass in the 20-inch class, and so I repeated this drift. The next Fun-Sized mackerel deployed got nervous a few times, but was never attacked, even as I drifted through some deeper water below the old mill foundation. After a quick, unsuccessful pass by the rocks at the mouth of Mussel Cove with the tube-and-worm, I made a big move to Hussey Sound and College Island. Despite marking many fish in the area that had produced the previous day, no stripers ate my trailing mackerel. After a few unproductive drifts, I tried Cow Island's southern face and eastern point. Again, my baits revealed nothing. My last chance was Clapboard's east end. With little time left on the clock (for the day and for the Striper Season), my regular-sized mackerel suddenly got very nervous. But then the snack, Fun-Sized, bait got confidently plucked off the surface. The last bass of the day, a fine 26-incher, provided a great fight on the light rod presenting this tiny bait. Not a bad way to end the session; not a bad way to possibly end the season!?!?! What do I have to say about this? With shorter days, dropping water temperatures and conditions clearly changing (as expected and as inevitable), I've got to consider shifting gears and targeting trout. This day was a struggle, but I think I put together a pretty good session. If that were my last bass of the season, it really was a fun one! And the smaller bass in Mussel Cove gave me something to think about. It could be a long winter, I'll need some fodder to get through it. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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