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Date: July 5, 2020 Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: Full Moon Tides: Dead low at first, through and past high tide Boat: Landing float and then amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 4 AM - 7 AM; 10 AM - 1 PM Conditions: Foggy and misty! Cooling water temperatures down to 62-63 degrees F. Persistent southerly wind and the fog never relented. With another chance at a favorable tide, I was back on the landing, in the dark, at 4 AM. On the first drift, my lighted float slowly sank beneath the water's surface, extinguishing its red glow. Another early-bird striper in the 20-inch range had gotten the sand-worm. Soon thereafter, while still in full darkness, a very scrappy 22-inch bass inhaled my Kastmaster spoon. By the time I landed this fish, retied the leader out of an abundance of caution, and made my next cast, the light level had increased and the bite had shut down. Another hour or so later, a very small micro-bass (perhaps my smallest ever Maine striper) hit this same lure; once again, on the fall. Near the end of my session, at around 7 AM, with some current finally stirring after slack low, a long cast with the Kastmaster was violently intercepted at the surface. The fish immediately leapt clear of the water's surface; this was no striper. As it came closer, I noticed spots, and I was dumbfounded by the Salmo I had captured. It's intersection here, with me, was truly unlikely. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this spicy encounter, and the brown trout (or Atlantic salmon) was carefully released to a very uncertain future. Plans for the day became uncertain because of the dense fog. I still had sand-worms and some time, so after breakfast, coffee and gas, I hit the water in amybaby22. I plied some rocky shorelines near the landing with the coming tide, but the extreme tide heights and southerly wind made this entire area unfishable with floating weed. I relocated to Waites' Point. Throwing poppers and a white, 7-inch Hogy Original soft bait from the bow, I allowed a suspended sand-worm to trail the boat while I drifted around and across the reef complex. In addition to visible objects, kelp and color changes, I targeted any obvious current seams. I missed my first chance on the worm, but I now noticed the micro-rip in which my float had been presented. On the next cast with the worm, I watched the float go down before the fish took a searing run towards deeper water. Soon, I was pleased to land a fine 23-inch striped bass. That seam proved ephemeral (as so many of the Bay's opportunities are), and so I moved on to the next rocky point. Here, I received my first contact with the Hogy Original; but I failed to hook up. Still, that fish and the attraction of the cover and structure kept me in the area, and perhaps 10 minutes later, the float-with-worm jumped to life. After an excellent fight (during which I anticipated my first landed "keeper" in a couple of years), another surprisingly short fish (24 inches, but still the trip's largest) came aboard. That proved to be the last one, although I missed a showy strike on the popper presented over nearby open water. There were a lot of chores to be done; I was done fishing for the weekend. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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