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Date: July 3 - 8, 2023 Body of Water: Casco Bay - Maine Boat: amybaby22 We all took the holiday week off. Extended family was in town, my girls were sleeping in their rooms upstairs, and I approached the fishing with a low-key attitude. I still got out there plenty, I just wasn't going out of my way or suffering too much to make it happen. The week started and continued with a dismal, wet weather pattern, but this broke on the evening of Tuesday, July 5. Back on the water on July 6, I was greeted by clear skies, bright sunshine and heat! It was a perfect day to introduce the next generation to mackerel, noting every seal and bird along the way. If anything, the fishing improved with the weather, and I scored a Personal Best as well as a Top 3 fish on consecutive days. Even though I spent the week without electronics, I was generally on fish, and even introduced and expanded my "spot-lock chunking" program. Session 1: July 3, 2023 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 11 AM - 3:30 PM Moon Phase: Full plus one day Tide: Lows at about 5:30 AM and PM, High Tide at about 11:45 AM Conditions: Gray and rainy with light, winds from the south; clearing to partially sunny; 60 - 70 degrees. Water temperatures "low 60s". Still without electronics, I fished blindly off Clapboard and captured nine mackerel in about 45 minutes. All were scattered singles. With no fog, I decided to try Cow Island at the top of the tide, only to find a boat already working that water. I diverted to Crow, and that turned out to be okay. Drifting the north face with the current of the outgoing tide, I dropped the first bass that ate confidently just off a rocky point. It seemed like a good fish, but probably was similar to the four I'd catch in this game general area on my next pass. These ranged from 27 to 33 inches. I missed a couple, too, so soon enough I was making bait again off the tip of College Island. Here, I picked up another half dozen (singles) before I circum-trolled College Island without a bite. I then ran to Sturdivant where I also struck out. I ran to the west end of Clapboard to end my day. Right on cue, my bait woke up and led a bass on a long chase before being eaten. I tightened up to another nice fish and landed a fat 30-incher while I drifted away from the productive point. I ended the session with five bass, including four of 28 - 33 inches, and I missed a couple of chances, too. I was happy enough with these results as I had relaxed more than I had worked at it. Session 2: July 4, 2023 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 8:15 AM - 12:15 PM Moon Phase: Full plus two days Tide: Low at 6:16 AM, High Tide at about 12:30 PM Conditions: Gray, threatening rain and greasy calm; 60 - 70 degrees. Water temperatures "low 60s". Water along Falmouth shoreline is gross brown from all the rain and runoff. Still fishing "blind", I found some mackerel southeast of Clapboard. Most came in as singles, but a full string helped the cause and by 9 AM I was set up off Basket Island. I quickly hooked up by a shallow boulder and landed a feisty 24-incher. This established a pattern for the day; one bass per island point. I covered quite a bit of water at Sturdivant before eliciting a strike, but that hit produced the striper of the session at just shy of 28. Off to Clapboard's west end, my single bite along the weeds resulted in an ambitious 23. Clapboard's juicy east end yielded a 25. All in all, it was pretty slow. I never found a group of bass, and I ended up releasing most of my morning mackerel. Session 3: July 5, 2023 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: Afternoon Moon Phase: Full plus three days; waning gibbous Tide: Low at 7:08 AM, High Tide at about 1:25 PM Conditions: Clear and bright, light wind from the south, about 80 degrees. With the first nice day (weather-wise) in quite a while, the day's fishing consisted of wildlife tours and mackerel fishing with young, visiting great-nieces and nephew. Things really couldn't have gone better, as all got to see seals, birds and macks. Mackerel were a bit of a struggle off Clapboard, but we found an apparent concentration of them by markers close to Basket Island. I love W's expression in the picture, below! Session 4: July 6, 2023 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 8:15 AM - 12:15 PM Moon Phase: Full plus four days; waning gibbous moon Tide: Low at 8:00 AM, High Tide at 2:18 PM Conditions: Sun with thinning clouds, still and becoming a scorcher! Water temperatures probably in the high 60's. I was still fishing blind, but it was impossible not to notice the school of pogies milling on the surface at the edge of the harbor; four were quickly snagged and deposited into the livewell. From there, I beelined to the green can marking the Sturdivant - Basket Island Channel, where I'd found the mackerel the day before. I only caught a single in about 30 minutes of searching. Still, that was enough to try the east end of Chebeague at low tide. My single mack went unmolested during among swim here. It was sent back into the well while I back-tracked to the marker guarding the long point off Chebeague; I thought this pinch-point might concentrate any current and bait. I was a little right, catching two more mackerel in about 20 minutes. The east end of Littlejohn Island had caught my eye, but the shoreline leading to it had some moving water and interesting, varied cover. I set up well short of the point with a fresh mack. Finally, the first chase and strike of the day! But the bass plucked my bait off the hook, and so I circled around and re-deployed my original mack; the third one was too big! I quickly hooked up with a confident eater, and I knew it was a good fish; it went on a long, sustained run down the shoreline. The fight was unspectacular, but dogged. I caught a glimpse of her boat side, but she took off again on another long run. She was not ready yet! Even as I dipped the net under her, I didn't realize quite how large she was. As I lifted the net over the gunwale, the handle cracked; that was a clue! Laying her on deck beside the measuring board, she dwarfed 36 inches; she was also thick! I was looking at my Personal Best striper, and by a significant margin; 43 inches if not 44, and well over 30 pounds. All while blindly fishing a new location without electronics on a bright, sunny day. Fishing is a very strange endeavor. You might think you know what's going on, but you really don't! I returned to the area where I'd taken both hits and spot-locked. I swam a pogie and then the giant mackerel. Bass continued to show themselves here while I also chunked another pogie. I missed a chunk fish and landed another, a more familiar 25-incher. Still a little stunned, I returned to the dock a bit early to hang with the family. It had been a good morning! Session 5: July 7, 2023 With: K! Target: Striped Bass Time: 9 AM - 11:30 AM and about 1 PM - 2:30 PM Moon Phase: Full plus five days; waning gibbous moon Tide: Low at 8:53 AM, High Tide at 3:13 PM Conditions: Sun, southerly wind at about 10 mph, and another scorcher! Water temperatures probably in the high 60's. After a late and false start, we went directly to Hussey Sound to try to make bait and catch a bass, fast! I was unable to snag any of the bunker from the sparse and deep school we encountered on the way, but made up for that setback by making quick work of macks off the end of College Island. At just about slack low tide, I decided to hit Crow Island, which seems to produce during all tides. As we approached from the south, I set out a bait and explained the mechanics to K. Before I was back at the helm, she was hooked up over deep water! K enjoyed the power of a really nice fish; I kept the boat off the rocks while she kept tight and finally started to make some progress. This fish measured 38 inches, was K's largest striper ever, and was the third "big" fish of the week. What a start to our session! But we still had plenty of bait and time to spare, so I circled around and set another bait. Within a minute, K was tight again, this time with a fat and spunky 32-incher. This fish, too, came from deep water off the south side of Crow Island. K was definitely getting into a groove and did a great job of predicting the next strike based on her mackerel's behavior. We were now on the north side of Crow, and her bait was right against the rocks. The bait got excited, K got excited, and the bass exploded on the surface. K quickly and expertly wound down and got to experience a "normal" fish of about 25 or 26 inches. With time running out, we hit Clapboard W on our way back to the landing. I finally deployed a bait for myself, choosing an outsized mackerel in search of a large bass. K's good luck ran out as she missed a strike for the first time; but my good fortune arrived with a lot minute hit on the giant mack. I wound down expecting great things, only to get tight to a 25-incher. Back at the landing, I kept the livewell running to preserve the last few mackerel. There was too. such fun to be had there, so I went back out, alone, for a short session. I bump-trolled a new stretch of Clapboard's northern flank, and found my last fish of the day, another 25, off some deeper water near a prominent dock. Session 6: July 8, 2023 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 6 AM - 11 AM Moon Phase: Full plus six days; waning gibbous moon Tide: Low at 9:47 AM Conditions: Fog, always thick and sometimes thicker; mild southeast wind about 65 degrees. Water temperatures probably in the high 60's. Navigating carefully from point to point only, navigation chart on my lap and referring to my phone's navigation app a couple of times, I found only a few scattered mackerel from the S1 can and along Clapboard's east end. These were enough to start fishing though! When "Clapboard E" yielded nothing even though it looked and felt fishy, I motored over to "Clapboard W". A bass almost immediately jumped on my live mack; after a nice fight, the hook simply pulled from a mid-20-inch fish. I deployed a second bait and quickly redeemed myself with a 24-incher that ate over shallow water. Since the last mackerel in the well was dead after its long swim at Clapboard E, I decided to fly fish over the flats as the tide continued to recede. Using a small olive Clouser in the somewhat dingy water, I revealed nothing in about about an hour of effort, despite improved casting and line control. I spot-locked near a recent hot-spot and chunked the dead mackerel. Two more 25-inchers came aboard! 9 AM and out of bait, with a limited range due to fog; I had a choice. I could either go in and call it a day or try for some more mackerel. I went to the nearby channel marker and fortunately, picked off a series of singles and a double. By 9:30 AM I was on my way to Sturdivant with a half-dozen lively baits. Setting up mid-island, I slowly bump-trolled an active mackerel through some attractive water through dead-low tide. When I'd reached the island's complex end without so much as a touch, I switched to spot-lock and chunking (while also free-lining a livie). Because I still had four or five macks in the well, I was able to throw some extra bloody chunks into the flow behind the boat. That seemed to wake up the bass as my first bait was almost immediately taken. Using my finest equipment, I was able to enjoy a nice fight on light tackle and released another 25-incher. At 10:30, I was contemplating calling it a day, but a 28-incher ate next. On light tackle and from a parked boat, this was a nice battle. I decided I really like chunking from such a platform! That fish kept me there for another half hour, but nothing materialized as the flood kicked into gear. What do I have to say about this? What a week of fishing! And without 4 AM starts, mosquitos, or electronics! More importantly, what a week of family! There was always a lot (too much?) going on, and this week is our annual chance to get together to the largest extent. Sometimes, striper fishing seems impossible. Other times, it can be dopey easy. While the bites this week were not as frequent as last, they were frequent enough, and from many of the "right" fish, too. I was simply fortunate to have been able to have experienced this. What will the new Personal Best be, and when will I get my next chance? It doesn't really matter; nothing changed in life with any of these big fish, and each bite shows promise. I'll continue to enjoy them all. But perhaps a little more deeply, with all these experiences in my back pocket. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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