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Date: November 4, 2023 Body of Water: Sebago Lake - Maine Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Lake Trout (Togue) Time: 9:30 AM - 4:45 PM Moon Phase: Waning Third Quarter Moon Conditions: Mostly cloudy to overcast, persistent southwesterly wind over 10 mph but calming in late afternoon, about 50 degrees. Water temperature 52 degrees F (+/-) One would think that the Northwest River would be in the lake's northwest corner, correct? But no, this is not a reference to the Muddy River, but rather to a separate drainage system. When the overall fishiest guy I've met in Maine mentioned launching from there and fishing some nearby humps for quality lakers, I listened. I refocused my thoughts on the western portion of the Big Basin of Sebago. One look at my GPS mapping showed the humps in question, and these looked closer to the state park launch and more protected from the westerly wind than the Frye Island waters. Of course, I was going to start my day in this new-to-me area! I was now also equipped with a downrigger, salvaged from the original Numenon. This gave me another method of presenting a spoon to deep fish, if need be. Despite the wind and chop, it was a dry ride to these new grounds, and I was setting lines in about 80 feet of water south of these humps by 9:45 AM. My initial spread was the productive white spoon off ten colors of lead, paired with a clean "Easter Egg Glow" spoon off the downrigger. I rode the waves to the north and east as I began my search for fish. I had a lot of faith in 75 -100 feet, but I also knew that the week's cold weather and wind had likely eroded the thermocline and mixed things up. I hadn't moved far at all when the full core of lead bent over in about 75 feet of water; I used the trolling motor to maintain control of the boat as I put the main motor in neutral to fight the fish. At almost 20 inches, this first fish of the day was bright, fresh, active and strong. I was off to a good start! Things normalized, and I'd gone quite a distance without a hit while covering water from 55 to 110 feet of water. I had circled back to this same area before I got my next hit on the same presentation. This was a fat 23-inch laker, also in about 75 feet of water. A pattern was slowly developing. While these two fish were associated with the same slight hump on a a deeper flat, the next fish came from a similar depth, but at the edge of a flat plunging into much deeper water. Once again the full core of lead got hit aggressively, and I landed a nice 24-incher. I continued my troll to the north, now focusing on 75-foot flats and the break-line into the depths. This worked too, but I farmed out two fish in a row after long fights on the full core before I connected again, this time with a seemingly solid fish. Alas, I lost this one, too, but this time to a worn leader. I'd been pretty good about checking this and retying as needed, but perhaps 8-pound leader is just too light for the bigger fish. They have pretty abrasive teeth, and sometimes roll themselves up in the leader, which can put some odd-angled pressure on the line during the fight. It hurt to have lost this spoon, but I have plenty of white spoons, so I started to swim another. Meanwhile, I was working the downrigger hard, frequently changing depths, lead lengths off the ball, and spoons. So far, I'd had a few releases, but these might have been the spoon grabbing bottom as I slowed down, turned, etc. I'd seen several fish rise to the ball but then sink away without eating. The latter part of the afternoon calmed and the rigger bite really woke up. Generally staying 8 -10 feet off bottom in 70-80 feet of water with a 25-foot lead off the ball started producing. All my rigger fish came on an old lake trout favorite, the White Ghost (Glow). These ranged from tiny to about 22 inches. At 4:43 PM, the rigger went for the last time, and I ended my day at 9 togue-for-12 real chances. Not bad, for new water! What do I have to say about this? Using the trolling motor while fighting fish or setting the second line was a real boon for boat control! A couple of the rigger trout spit out tiny alewife (less than two inches). I doubt they would find a small spoon at such depths, but it was interesting to confirm the bait. I think these are the "clouds" of bait I see near bottom, and when/if I jig for these lakers, I will keep a small bait in mind and available to match the hatch. I suspect the thermocline is largely dissolved, but at 52 degrees, the water is still too warm to expect the lakers to have moved very shallow. As I recall from Michigan's Crystal Lake, 48 degrees was the magic number, and 46 was even better for hungry shallow lakers. Had I not lost my spoon, and had I landed that heavier fish, it would have been quite the day! Instead, I'll just admit that it was a really fine day on the water! As an added bonus, I fell asleep to the ongoing hum of the downrigger cables; something I haven't done in quite a while! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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