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Date: September 11, 2022 Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent Moon; Full Moon plus one day Boat: Shore fishing from landing float and then amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 5:10 AM - 10 AM Conditions: Low tide at 6:13 AM. Overcast and calm; 65 - 75 degrees. Water temperatures 60 - 63 degrees (+/-). I started from the float, hoping to make productive use of Quadrant II before daylight. After two quick worm-eating bass in the 20-inch range landed, there was a short lull. But at 5:45 (one-half hour before predicted low tide), I connected with a much heavier and stronger fish. A 29-incher hit the deck; it was nice to see a bigger fish in the mix. Another 20-incher soon followed. I'd now converted 11 consecutive chances into landed fish, but would soon start to pay the price for this run of recent success. My next bite came unbuttoned halfway to the float, and the morning's action suddenly ceased. I stayed on the float for another half-hour or so, but convinced myself to leave and look for greener pastures, even though Quad III lay ahead. By 6:45 I was in amybaby22, happily fly-casting a foam popper along the Falmouth shoreline. I was hoping to take advantage of the gray skies, but it was pretty obviously "dead" here, and so after about 20 minutes of casting practice, I stored the long wand and headed out to Hussey. The tide was starting to flood, and I rode the current along historically productive seams and edges, searching for mackerel with my Sabiki-and-spoon. After several re-locations, I finally found a pod in the deep water below Soldiers Ledge, and I put a dozen prime baits into the well in pretty short order. My first stop was the "new", favored stretch of rocky shoreline on Peaks. There was quite a bit of whitewash from the ocean swell, and with the wash, plenty of weeds. I moved through my "prime" stretch and continued with the current. Moving just past the eddy that had first attracted me here, I maneuvered my bait close to the rocks and finally got crunched. (It had been perhaps 15 minutes of fishing without any action, something I had not yet experienced here). Striper No. 5 of the morning was a real nice 26-incher. Continuing and focusing close to rocks with active wash, I had the chance to expand my known productive range along this shoreline. I missed a run or two and then had the hook simply pull from a good fish. This was still fun and informative, if not exactly productive. By now I'd worked almost all they way down to The Pumpkin, and I was tempted to move over to the rip forming along its upstream edge when another boat pulled in to fish there. (I would later see this same boat working Cow Island, albeit at the wrong tidal stage in my opinion). I decided to try some additional new-to-me water; there was plenty of whitewater along Peaks Island to explore. I moved to near the end of Hussey and picked up the rocky and battered shoreline. Priority One was to stay off the rocks. Priority Two was to keep my mackerel close to these rocks. I quickly had a savage hit; after a pretty good run, the hook pulled. Oh well, I re-baited and hooked up again just a bit further down. The 24-incher was quickly landed and released. I was in a hurry to get my next bait out! I ran through the last of my bait, landing another 24 but pulling hooks from a couple of others. It had been a good day! But with a little better luck, it could have been better! What do I have to say about this? I'm doing bad science again. During today's run of pulled hooks, I was using some different hooks while also dealing with boat control along the rocks. The hooks were extreme circles. I like the way they hold the baits, they seem to hook the bass reliably in the jaw, but... were they involved in the dropped fish? Meanwhile, the conditions along the rocks were pretty extreme, too. Boat control was always in my mind, even when fighting fish, and I was actively engaged in handling the boat when at least a couple of the fish dropped off. Hooks or distraction? Or simply bad luck? I don't know. I'll have to try to figure this out. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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