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Date: May 29, 2022 Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: New Moon minus one day; waning crescent moon Boat: amybaby22 - after an early shore-fishing session from Landing float With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 4:15 AM - 1:30 PM Conditions: Low tide at 5:22 AM; Quadrants II and III from the float, and then using the boat for mobility. High tide at 11:33 AM. Very clear skies and 50 -70 degrees; SW wind calm to over 10 mph after about Noon. and 55. Water was clear but green; water temperatures 55 - 60 depending on location and tide. I got a little antsy after my first cast; my blood-worm had been ignored! I was relieved to have a confident pull-down on the next drift, and I broke the day's ice with a teenager bass. By dead low tide, I had landed a couple more, including a 26-incher. The bites disappeared as the tide reversed, but resumed in a short spurt at about 6 AM, one-half hour or so after the turn. I landed number four for the session and fished until about 7 AM before deciding to board amybaby22. With no real sign of bait or groups of bass, I decided to slowly cover water with the tube-and-worm. After a pass along my familiar stretch of Falmouth shoreline (I got absolutely hammered right in front of the landing but failed to hook up), I mostly covered new water, especially in the vicinity of Sturdivant Island. I didn't generate any further action here. Still, I'll have to return because a deeper channel sweeps from my mackerel grounds right along the north side of this island, on its way into Broad Cove. With nothing going on, I decided to catch the last 1.5 hours of incoming tide at the mouth of the Presumpscot. After the 15-minute run, I did several passes along the channel behind Mackworth Island, under the Route 1 Bridge and a bit further upstream. Several other boats were working this broad area, but I didn't see anybody with any action. My single bite consisted of another explosive hit immediately upstream of the bridge, which somehow (again!) failed to result in a hook-up. I then ran to Mussel Cove, arriving at slack high tide. I worked my way up as far as possible, exploring and casting a tan/white Clouser Minnow on my 9-weight fly rod. I found a single bass in a deep pocket way upstream and landed the first fly-rod bass aboard amybaby22! I couldn't replicate that fish, and with the tide now starting to fall, turned to the tube-and-worm as I exited the upper portion of Mussel Cove. With just about 25 feet of line out, I hooked up with a surprisingly strong fish near the old mill dam ruins. That fish pulled some serious drag as it fought in the shallow water, but the hook pulled and I never saw it. I continued my tube-and-worm troll back to the landing. With about 50 or 55 feet of line out and going as slowly as possible in about 13 feet of water, my tube got hammered one last time. I finally converted a bite into a solid hookup and landed a fat 26-incher. Given the high skies and bright conditions, this was a beautiful, mid-day bonus fish. What to I have to say about this? This was quite the effort for half a dozen stripers. But it included several nice fish, my first on the fly, and I covered some new, intriguing water. Plus, with the holiday weekend, I could look forward to doing it again the next day! Before I forget to mention; my time on the water is sprinkled with plenty of wildlife. I am sharing the water with seals (sparse so far, but they will return), bald eagles, ospreys and loons... not to mention eider ducks, herons, terns, etc. I am fortunate to have this restorative time and place at my convenience now. I have to periodically remind myself that I do, indeed, live here and I am not simply visiting. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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