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Date: October 2, 2022 Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing Quarter Moon Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 8 AM - 10:30 AM Conditions: Low tide at 10:15 AM. Mixed skies and "breezy" with northeasterly winds sustained at 20+ mph and gusting well beyond. Water temperature 55 degrees (+/-) and Casco Bay was rough! This was about as different a session from yesterday as possible. It's often difficult to sustain a good thing. Hurricane Ian caused a lot of problems over a large area, and my small associated problem was simply too much wind for comfort and effective boat control this day. I was drawn to Hussey Sound based on the previous day's bait success; given the degrading conditions, this was perhaps a mistake. The wind had a lot of fetch here, and water was rough. Still, trolling with the wind, I connected with a mack quickly and I thought I was on the right path. But 20 minutes later, I still had just the single bait. I took it to the Long Island shoreline and started a slow troll with the wind. Staying on touch with the bait was difficult, and it wasn't until I was in the lee of College Island that I developed any confidence that I wasn't simply fishing blind. Here, I picked up the grass edge in about 13 feet of water and marked a couple of likely targets. Soon enough, my bait was smashed on the surface. It took a moment for the fish to move, but I came tight to a pretty nice fish! I got most of the fun from this fish, but the hook pulled before I could bring her to hand. Had I blown the day's only chance? Since conditions here seemed fishy, I picked up the rod rigged with a 1/2-ounce Al Gag Whip It swim-bait. I do, after all, have one tied on all season, for exactly these sorts of situations. Casting the the lee shore of College Island and swimming the bait back over the grass, my third cast was intercepted with a solid thump. Soon I was happy to land a 26-inch striper under these tough conditions. I casted this area and near the College-Long saddle with no further contact. I thought to make bait, but when I was greeted by the conditions outside of College's protection, I decided it was best to head upwind and closer to safe harbor. My initial thought was to try to make bait around Clapboard, but with the Bay as angry as I've experienced, I simply returned to the landing and called it a day. What do I have to say about this? This was a tough day, and I made it even tougher by heading down-wind across one of the most open portions of Casco Bay. I simply miscalculated the strength and direction of the wind. Still, after such a good day yesterday, is it a surprise that I tried to replicate that success? I was never in danger, and my gear kept me pretty dry, so other than opportunity, not much was lost. It was nice to catch a swim-bait fish, and this was the first striper landed on the "new" Ocean Master jigging rod. It's no longer just a bunker rod! I liked how it handled the fish, and its ability throw larger lures will keep it rigged and ready on the boat! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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