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Date: October 2, 2021 Body of Water: Casco Bay, Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: New Moon minus four days; waning crescent moon Tides: High Tide at 8:38 AM; Low Tide at 2:30 PM Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 7:45 AM - 3:00 PM Conditions: Generally overcast with some light showers; about 55 degrees F; inconsequential wind; water temperatures 59 degrees +/- I have never fished for stripers in Maine in October. Since I'm now a local, I am going to ride the stripers as long as they are available. I was mildly concerned that mackerel would be absent or I wouldn't find any bass. But I made considerable bait off Clapboard's east end in the first 45 minutes, and the second bait I deployed got destroyed by a very hard-fighting 26-incher. So these concerns were unfounded; I was off to a good start! I probably spent too much time at Clapboard's east end; a number of runs and surface smashes kept me there. But I never hooked up, so at 10 AM or so, I headed to my favorite stretch of Cow Island. There was no evidence of bass, bait, or birds here, so I relocated to College Island. My first pass on the island's south side resulted in nervous baits, but nothing else. Moving to the north side, I marked a concentration of fish in the deeper water north of the saddle connecting the island to shore. On my second pass here, I got my first real run in a while; the hooks pulled. I could still feel the mackerel struggling, so I left it in place; and it got picked up again. After a strong run, the bait pulled out; when I retrieved it, the hook was buried deeply into the mackerel's side. I repositioned the boat to go through this water again. Going with the current, I passed over the saddle into some deeper water (14 feet or so). A surface chase commenced and culminated with a confident strike from a very strong fish; this 30-incher was the 500th Striper I've landed on amybaby22! I returned to the deeper water (16 feet of water) north of the saddle and found the marks again; a 27-incher smashed a bait and came to hand. The catching wasn't fast or furious, but the fish were high calibre! And that was pretty much it; I tried Vaill Island, marked some fish, had some nervous baits and had a striper chase and miss a fluke thrown towards the rocks; but had no legitimate strikes. A decent swell produced plenty of whitewater along the rocks, but I may have to admit that Vaill doesn't fish as well at lower tides. It's still a favored spot, though, and I might have to add a popper, large dog-walker or perhaps a fly to the mix the next time I visit! Approaching dead low, I ran to the mouth of Mussel Cove and trolled the Falmouth shoreline with a tube-and-worm. Covering about 8 to 15 feet of water, I had no further hits. What do I have to say about this? The mackerel came in singles; are they thinning out? Still, I ended my bait-making session with a steady pick during slack high tide, and at the end of the day I encountered a tight pod of them near the landing float at about slack low. Macs are seemingly still a viable bait of choice. Perhaps more-so than blood-worms! The tube-and-worm went untouched despite the favorable tidal conditions at the end of the session. Striper No. 500 aboard the skiff was special! A keeper, but also kind of predicted as I spoke with my youngest on the phone; and since I had her on the phone when I hooked up, I streamed it live for her. Fun and memorable! I'll try again tomorrow; will that be the season's end? Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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