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Finally, a week off to spend in Maine! With negative COVID test results in hand, we arrived in good spirits on the evening of August 21. Water temperatures were about 68 degrees F, not terribly over-heated for August. After a quick survey for life at the landing's float (none evident), I prepped tackle for a morning shore session. While my success on the float is very tide-dependent, with amybaby22 moored nearby, I expected to be able to explore lower Casco Bay, seeking favorable local conditions. But my first effort would be from the float, as pre-dawn and sunrise the next day fell in the second half of the ebb tide, which has historically offered a chance for good striper fishing from this spot. Plus, I'd been smart enough to secure some sand-worms at Arlington Bait and Tackle before leaving home, so I felt pretty good about my prospects to start the trip! Day 1 - (Saturday) Perseverance Date: August 22, 2020; Session One Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; New plus four days Tides: Low at 8 AM; Quadrant II (second half of ebb tide) Boat: Shore fishing from Landing Float With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 5 AM - 7:15 AM Conditions: Beautiful sunrise, clear skies and water temperatures about 67 degrees F Surprisingly, there was absolutely nothing going on; lots of weeds, and both lures and sand-worms were universally ignored. It was time to launch the boat! Date: August 22, 2020; Session Two Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; New plus four days Tides: Building flood Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Mackerel (for bait) Time: 11 AM - 12:30 PM Conditions: Bright and clear; 62 degree water in Hussey Sound Having learned that it is not possible to launch at either the Falmouth or Portland ramps at dead low negative tides, and having returned A and K to the float via sea, I attempted to make bait at Hussey Sound. Despite a lengthy effort, I found none! This was not the start I was hoping for! Date: August 22, 2020; Session Three Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; New plus four days Tides: Low at 8:29 PM; sunset at 7:30 PM; still clear and bright Boat: Shore fishing from Landing Float With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 6:45 PM - 8:15 PM Conditions: Still clear and bright; 68 degree water; Quadrant II and coinciding with dusk, so I had some hope for success. Conditions remained very quiet, but the single bite of the day came after sunset at about 7:45 PM. The fish had eaten a sand-worm beneath a float, and once I came tight, I knew immediately that it was a large fish; it ran powerfully to the mooring field. I was able to turn her, and a few minutes later I landed one of my three largest Maine stripers, ever, and my biggest on a worm. At 37 inches and around twenty pounds, she was a fine catch any day, anywhere; and especially sweet after such a difficult day. Whew! Unfortunately, mosquitos caused me to swat my glasses over the edge of the float, but I had kept an old pair in the truck for just such an event. The lost pair were never recovered. Day 2 - (Sunday) Finding a Groove Date: August 23, 2020; Session One Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; New plus five days Tides: Low at 8:55 AM Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 6 AM - 9 AM Conditions: Pretty clear and bright; 65 - 67 degree water; Quadrant II Exploring in the boat in the morning for the first time in a while, I focused on Prince Point at Waites' Landing, the mouth of Mussel Cove, and The Brothers. Each of these areas provides rock and weed cover; but other than a single, half-hearted miss of the popper, I encountered no fish. Towards the end of the session, I tried a tube-and-worm in deeper water along this stretch, to no avail. I noted lots of adult pogies, but nothing seemed to be harassing any of these schools. Still, I managed to waste a bunch of time fishing around the schools' edges. At The Tackle Shop later in the day, Dana reported some good fishing opportunities still existed, but that mackerel were extremely tough. He noted that when pogies invade the bay, mackerel generally push out. Of course, first and last light (as well as nighttime) presented the best opportunities. It was good to hear that my efforts were not necessarily futile! Date: August 23, 2020; Session Two Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; New plus five days Tides: High at 3:12 PM Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 1 PM - 4 PM Conditions: Clear and bright, but kind of windy I decided to take advantage of the wind and chop and fish fast and aggressively, covering water with a Hogy popper. Even if I didn't hook up, this popper is good at revealing the presence of bass, and I needed to start finding them! I covered the west end of Clapboard Island and the rocky reef there before heading over to Prince Point. Focusing on rock edges and flooded weeds, I'd worked all the day down to Bartlett Point at the mouth of Mussel Cove before a fish exploded on the popper right next to shore at virtual high tide. It was only 22 inches, but any daytime striper on a top-water bait is welcome, and it was my first bass of the trip on amybaby22. Date: August 23, 2020; Session Three Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; New plus five days Tides: Second half of ebb, Low at 9:24 PM Boat: Shore fishing from Landing Float With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 6:30 PM - 8 PM Conditions: Quadrant II; sunset scheduled for 7:32 PM; still clear and bright; water 70 degrees F Encouraged by the tide schedule and hopeful for a shot at some dusk fish, I hit the float for the evening. The session started ominously, when I fumbled and then punted my GoPro action camera off the edge of the float. It sank like a rock, and I hoped it maintained its position on the sea floor. I figured the best opportunity for recovery would be at dead low the next morning. My float went down almost immediately, and I soon had a small striper in hand. This humble 17-incher was celebrated as Striper No. 100 for 2020! I added sand-worm-eating bass of 24 and 22 inches at 7 and 8 PM, respectively. This was a solid session and a good way to wrap up a couple of tough days of fishing. Day Three - (Monday) Exploration and Home Comfort Date: August 24, 2020; Session One Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; New plus six days Tides: High at 3:39 AM; Low at 9:47 AM Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone, but joined by A at about 10 AM for an adventure cruise Target: Striped Bass Time: 6 AM - 12:30 PM Conditions: The morning started with fog and 68 degree F water; bright sun and clear skies dominated after 8 AM or so Prince Point/Waites' Landing and environs provided three bites between 6 and 7 AM. Two fish fell for poppers along rock/weed edges, and one ate a sand-worm suspended beneath a float. Each was between 22 and 23 inches. After the initial action, I struggled in the sunshine. One takeaway from the week was that fishing got tough once the sun was up and the skies were clear! I was almost glad to return to the dock to try to recover my GoPro. With amybaby22 tied to the float, the camera clearly rested on the bottom under her shadow, just about 6.5-feet down at dead low tide. But I still needed K's assistance to recover the camera. Getting old is tough! The picture of the Day 2 popper fish, above, is from this recovered camera, so all turned out well. At about 10, I left the dock with A aboard. The weather was perfect in A's opinion, and it certainly was suitable for cruising as opposed to fishing. So, we did a little scouting and orienteering. We checked out Sturdivant, Basket and Little Chebeague Islands before entering Chandler Cove and exploring to its mouth at Hope and Cliff Islands. Here, we attempted to catch some mackerel with a Sabiki by trolling with the current. We converted our single strike into a single bait. I decided to deploy this mackerel on a live-line at the west end of Clapboard Island, where some deep water encroaches the rocky and weedy reef. It didn't take long for the bait-runner's drag to start singing in about 20 feet of water; but when I came tight, my connection was momentary as the mackerel slid out of the bass' mouth. The circle hook had turned into the bait and penetrated its skull instead of the bass. Unfortunately, this is part of the price to pay in such fishing. When bait's abundant, these misses aren't a big deal; but when each bait is precious, these failures (if one can call getting the intended quarry to eat your bait a failure of any kind) can sting. Date: August 24, 2020; Session Two Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; New plus six days Tides: High at 4:06 PM; Boat: Shore fishing from Landing Float With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 6:30 PM - 7:35 PM Conditions: Gray; not an exceptionally favorable tide, but sunset fell within Quadrant II, and evenings had fished pretty well I converted two bites into two fine bass! At about 7 PM, a 27-incher picked my mackerel tail-meat off the bottom. Right at sunset, a 29-incher ate a floating sand-worm. This was my first "legal" fish in a few years, but she was still released to continue growing. Unfortunately, a crack of lightning as I was handling this last fish called for an early halt to my evening. Day Four - (Tuesday) Tough! Date: August 25, 2020; Session One Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; Quarter Moon Tides: High at 4:38 AM; Low at 10:43 AM Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 5:45 AM - 12:30 PM Conditions: Strong storms were predicted for the afternoon/evening, and so I headed off the float provisioned for as long a day as possible, but knowing that I had to keep an eye on conditions. Despite the fog, poppers and sand-worms produced nothing for the first couple of hours. I started at Prince Point/Waites' Landing, but expanded my search to The Brothers and Clapboard Island points. Around 8 AM, now with clear skies, I switched tactics and started trolling a Santini Perfect Tube (tipped with a sand-worm, of course) with lead core line. I scored a fine 26-incher off the east end of Clapboard from about 28 feet of water. This was my first with this venerable technique. However, I was unable to replicate this success in a series of subsequent passes. At about 9 AM, I was searching for mackerel in Chandler Cove. I was able to put a single specimen in the livewell. Returning to the cover-filled area around Clapboard's west end, this bait provided the same results as the previous day; the hook turned into the bait and the willing bass swam off, untouched. I returned to tubing, and expanded my search area to include the channels and reefs around Sturdivant and Basket Islands. I tricked nothing, and by Noon, the wind had picked up to a level that I decided to call it a day. And while it took a while for the storms to arrive in full force, they did; leaving at this point had been the right decision. Date: August 25, 2020; Session Two Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; Quarter Moon Tides: High at 5:03 PM and so Quadrant I Boat: Shore fishing from Landing Float With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 6:45 PM - 8 PM Conditions: Post-storm; gray skies; 65 degree water; dreaded Quadrant I; but I still had a "fresh" mackerel from the AM (as well as a snagged bunker), and so I hit the dock. I started with a bunker chunk on the bottom while I floated a worm with the other rod. When my bunker line started to peel out, I expected to come tight to a bass. Instead, I was met with a frantic but weak reaction on the other end. A cannibalistic pogie had eaten my chunk, a certain first for me. As a bonus, this fish also tangled with my other line, so I had some down time as I re-rigged both rods. I then switched to a mackerel chunk on the bottom. At some point, a bass picked it up and swam under the dock without pulling drag. I'd brought only sunglasses, which I had removed in the growing darkness. I was late to sense the line's movement. I came tight to the bass, but it was wrapped around an anchoring line. A couple of times, I thought I'd freed the bass by alternately free-lining it and then applying pressure, but I was mistaken, and eventually the leader wore through, my first break-off of the trip. I went home, in the darkness, a bit dejected from the evening's results. Day Five - (Wednesday) Even Tougher! Date: August 26, 2020; Session One Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; Full minus seven days Tides: Just about High at first, falling throughout Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 5:45 AM - 11 AM Conditions: Clear and bright; 64 degree water; calm but building into a strong northerly wind This beautiful morning started out with promise when a bass revealed itself chasing peanut bunker in the weedy shallows at Prince Point. My next cast with a popper resulted in an aggressive chase and strike. I had the 23-incher in the boat before 6 AM. From here, I explored The Brothers and Mackworth Island. Despite their fishiness, I could move nothing, and by 8 AM, I had navigated the channel to the Route 1 Bridge over the Presumpscot River outlet. I'd timed my arrival for the increasing ebb and the resultant current. I motored upriver past the bridge and set the tube-and-worm out with three colors of lead. On my first pass, right before the bridge, I hooked up. At about 21 inches, this bass was shorter than my bait! I made several more passes here in the building current without success (other than successfully retrieving my tube each time it snagged bottom). I crossed the bay to the area around Fort Gorges. When I got there, though, I realized the wind was now too strong to control the boat in open water, especially in such a treacherous area. I made the long haul back to the float. I stayed safe and dry, but amybaby22 can only make about 8 mph in a stiff head-wind, and so this took a bit longer than expected. Date: August 26, 2020; Session Two Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; Full minus seven days Tides: Just about Low; Quadrant II Boat: Shore fishing from Landing Float With: A and K Target: Striped Bass Time: 11 AM - Noon Conditions: Bright and sunny, 65 degree F water, and the tide was right; with the girls already at the float, why not relax with them and maybe catch a fish? I arrived back at the dock at about 11 AM. Low tide was scheduled for 11:42 AM. With my girls already hanging out at the dock, I decided to float a sand-worm right here despite the sunny conditions. I'd caught the very end of the productive portion of Quadrant II, and my float was pulled under almost immediately. Striper No. 3 of the day was only about 19 inches long, but still welcomed! The rest of the day was lost to the wind, and so we made good use of it by visiting relatives, tackling chores and other good things. Day Six - (Thursday) Fast Start, Then Fizzle Date: August 27, 2020; Session One Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; Full minus six days Tides: Just about High at first (6:49 AM local High tide) Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 5:45 AM - 9 AM Conditions: Clear and fresh, 49-degree air temperatures to start; strong west wind, but developing some clouds, raising into the low 60s, and wind becoming NW I tried the reef at Clapboard's west end for the early-morning popper bite, and a 23-inch striper ate before 6 AM. Like many of its compatriots over the week, it was positioned near cover and ready to eat, early! Otherwise, the fishing was slow. I worked hard with sand-worms, tubes, Hogy Originals and jigging spoons all around Clapboard's west end and Prince Point and associated reef. Despite the slow morning, it was wonderful to be out among the pogies, seals, ospreys and loons. But, I chose to tackle some more chores as opposed to pounding the water, fruitlessly. Date: August 27, 2020; Session Two Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; Full minus six days Tides: Flooding tide, High at 7:09 PM Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Mackerel and Striped Bass Time: 2:30 PM - 6:30 PM Conditions: Generally gray and calm; 62 degree water I hit the water in a poor frame of mind, having lost my phone in the nasty crawl space beneath our house. But, with winds having diminished, I felt free to move about, and I had a good chunk of time ahead of me. I decided to try Hussey Sound for mackerel, but after an hour or more without contact, I took the outside route to Chandler Cove. In fact, one can point the boat right at the prominent red-roofed building at the tip of Hope Island and be there in a matter of minutes! The mackerel fishing was a bit stronger here, as I connected with four between Hope Island and Deer Point on Great Chebeague Island. Unfortunately, I flubbed two of these boat side, and so only two mackerel accompanied me to the east point of Clapboard Island. My first mackerel was taken pretty quickly. After a short run and drop, it got hit hard again and knocked clean off the hook. My last mackerel was a scooch too large for my taste, but it swam hardily for quite a while. It was repeatedly harassed, chased and smashed, and it ended up dying on my hook. I decided to use it as fresh chunks in this same area. My first free-lined chunk got taken over deeper water (25 feet plus), and I wound down to a tight line and a fish with some weight! But just as we settled in for the fight, the hook popped free. I replaced the sand-worm with another fresh chunk and set it out under a float, rod in a holder, while I continued to free-line a chunk with my rod in hand. The next bite came on the floated chunk. Once again, I was tight to a nice fish, but my leader parted when I inadvertently pointed the rod at the fish while I switched my hand-held rod to the holder. Too much going on, and my fourth missed fish in a half hour! Ugh! I'd finally found some active fish, and I was unable to capitalize. Day Seven (Friday) - With K! Date: August 28, 2020; Session One and Only Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; Full Moon minus five days Tides: Just about centered around High Tide Boat: amybaby22 With: K Target: Striped Bass Time: 5:45 AM - 9:45 AM Conditions: Beautiful; calm and bright, water temperatures around 62 degrees F I knew it would be tough; and it was; but I was still chagrined to produce no action with K aboard. She free-lined chunks of leftover mackerel while I explored rock and weed edges with the Hogy popper. We started at the west end of Clapboard Island, but then went to Prince Point/Waites Landing. I had an explosive miss on the popper, and that was the extent of action for the day! But we weren't done; we completed several trolling passes with the tube-and-worm at the east end of Clapboard. With no action there, we ran to Diamond Pass between Peaks and Great Diamond Islands. We trolled the length of the pass with the tube-and-worm without a hit; but I did run across Captain Ben of Go Fish Charters; I'd lost track of him on the internet and he was a new boat, but he was chunking the southwest corner of Great Diamond Island. It was great to see him again, he had been a pleasure to fish with in the early 2000's. The fishing was not productive, but it was a great day with K aboard! Day Eight (Saturday) - Rain! Date: August 29, 2020; Session One Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; Full Moon minus four days Tides: Flood through High Tide Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 6:45 AM - 9:15 AM Conditions: East wind, gray skies, and heavy rain starting at 8:45 AM or so; water temps outside at 59 degrees F, 61 degrees at Clapboard. Based on the forecast, I knew my time was limited; I decided get an extra hour of sleep and then catch the incoming tide in Chandler Cove for a mackerel test. If successful, I'd have a few baits for the morning and a good starting point for my last day, the next day; if unsuccessful with the favorable tide, I knew I'd have to look elsewhere on Sunday. I headed to the mouth of Chandler Cove, past Hope Island. Trolling a Sabiki Rig with a Crocodile Spoon with the current, I quickly scored a tinker mack. A few minutes later, between Hope Island and Deer Point on Great Chebeaugue Island, a triple came aboard! But that was it for the next half hour, so I headed towards Clapboard Island to search for bass as skies darkened and the wind increased. I deployed the first mackerel at the east end of Clapboard, over a ton of marks. But boat control here was super difficult and so I slid the boat in a bit shallower and slowly drifted along the island's rocky, weedy edge in about 12 feet of water. The free-lined mackerel worked hard for me, and about 100 yards into the drift, just before scheduled high tide, the mackerel was confidently taken. The 23-inch striper fought well; almost at the end of vacation, I'd finally landed a bass on a live mackerel! I stayed for another half hour; the rain arrived in earnest; and I got no more takes. Still, it was good to have finally put a program together, even on such a small scale. Date: August 29, 2020; Session Two Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; Full Moon minus four days Tides: High at 9:15 PM Boat: Shore fishing from Landing Float With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 6:30 PM - 8 PM Conditions: Cloudy, quiet and 64 degree F water; Quadrant IV I liked the gray skies and dusk, I hated fishing in Quadrant IV (the second half of the flood tide.) Oh well, I was running out of time and I still had bait! Unfortunately, nothing happened during this session. Day Nine (Sunday) - Poppers and Wind! Date: August 30, 2020; Session One Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth Foreside, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous; Full Moon minus three days Tides: Low at 3:44 AM; and so I fished the Flood through High Tide; but within Quadrant III to start! Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 5:45 AM - 10 AM Conditions: Thin fog and calm until 6:30 or so, but then clearing and a stiff NW wind developing by 7 AM; and increasing and sustaining throughout the day. Water temps outside at 58 degrees F, 62 degrees at the Madokawando shoreline. Finally, the progression of tides allowed for an overlap of favorable, locally low tide with the first navigable light. I knew it would become windy, so I wanted to take advantage of the time I had available; and that meant staying close (at first) and throwing poppers to local fish in the calm and low-light conditions. I motored just a few hundred yards down the shoreline, near the "Baumann" mooring buoy. For whatever reason, this area has produced solid fishing for me near the bottom of the tide. I set a "fresh" chunk of mackerel under a slip float as I slowly drifted. Meanwhile, I casted the Hogy popper to shoreline rocks and in all directions out to 14 feet of water or so. It didn't take long at all for the first bass to announce itself over about 10 feet of water. It confidently crashed the popper and fought well; 24 inches of top-water Birthday Striper came aboard. Given the tough fishing, my day was already made; before 6 AM and before sunrise! I was triply fortunate to have two more bass (24 and 22 inches) join the party, as well as enticing a splashy miss from a somewhat interested fish, But, by 6:15, this bite was over and the skies seemed too bright. I decided to try to make bait in Chandler Cove one more time. By the time I got there, the wind was starting to honk. Chandler was totally fishable, and the incoming tide seemed conducive to mackerel. I tried for about 1.5 hours, only to get a pair of baits. Still, I hoped these would give me a chance at a bass or two under the bright sky conditions. I crashed across Casco Bay to Clapboard Island; I tried the east end, but boat control here was impossible in my favored areas. Instead, I slid around the island tip and drifted along the island's south side, bump-trolling when necessary to keep my bait in 10-25 feet of water. I swam my baits for about an hour without a bump, despite their nervousness. The wind was now over 20 mph, sustained. I had a lot of chores ahead of me; my fishing was done. While the fishing was consistently tough throughout the week, this was still a good vacation. Of course it was simply good to get away from work and the busyness of home, as well as to reconnect with relatives, but the tough fishing provided multiple learning opportunities. I explored new water, found new spots, and had success with some new-to-me techniques. Plus, I was simply able to enjoy fishing so much with a popper. Finally, even though it seems like such a long time ago, I did catch that 37-incher! And while I know that's not a tremendously large striped bass, it's certainly a memorable and worthwhile catch for me. I do hope for larger; but if I have to wade through a pile of 20's to get my next 30, I'll be happy to do so. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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