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Date: October 22, 2023 Body of Water: Lake Sebago Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Lake Trout (Togue) Time: 9:30 AM - 4 PM Moon Phase: Full minus six days; waxing gibbous moon Conditions: Rain, overcast with a few patches of sun, and then fully cloudy with more rain starting at 2 PM and getting heavier; northwesterly wind to about 10 mph, 50 degrees. Water temperatures 57 degrees F (+/-) The weather (and especially the wind) was not nearly as bad as had been forecast. A lot of my gear was still pretty wet, so I grabbed my vintage neoprene waders, my modern StormR neoprene jacket, and headed out to Sebago again. I figured that Full Neoprene Mode would keep me warm and dry; and with the day's cooler air temperatures, such a drastic move was not out of bounds. Clearly, the full core (ten colors of lead) had earned a slot in the spread; and I complemented this with a dark spoon off two colors. My first spot was the submerged bar extending southwest from the channel into 120 feet of stare or more. I'd seen a kayak fisherman jigging the end the previous day, and it looked fishy on the map and on the graph! But when nothing materialized here, I continued along the break towards the northwest portion of the lake, bouncing between about 55 and 100 feet along the way. I'd made it all the way to the north bar off Outer Island before my first contact for the day. My deepest spoon got eaten by perhaps my smallest lake trout, ever, over about 50 feet of water or so. Once again, I was fortunate to have seen the strike, because it would have been all too easy to simply drag this parr-marked sub-footer until I eventually checked lines. I set up for another pass, but now with seven colors in addition to the full core. I traced my way around the edge of Outer Island and continued down the bar extending to the southwest, through a couple of waypoints from previous trips. It had been a slow morning; I had to make a decision. Should I be happy with what I knew, or should I try to force the issue and look for something better? It was still very calm, and I'd heard (somewhere, sometime), that the north end of Frye Island is a spawning/congregation area for togue. Six miles and 15 minutes later, I was resetting lines in 120 feet of water while I approached this new-to-me area for the season. I found the break and turned north. The map showed an extended sloping point from the island, eventually dropping to 110 feet of water before plunging into the depths. It looked appealing, as did the bait and the occasional suspended fish on the graph. I had just come through some bait at High Noon when the full core got tight in 75 feet; this felt like a pretty good fish, too! Unfortunately, I farmed this fish out, sight unseen, just ten feet below the surface. Perhaps I had played it too cautiously, but I'd missed a pretty good chance! I motored back upwind and reset lines for another pass. There were still plenty of active targets in this area. I'd gone through the 75-foot waypoint and was over 88 feet of water when the same line tightened again. As I played this fish, bumping the boat in and out of gear, another fish hammered the white "Easter Egg" spoon presented off the seven-color line. After a long hiatus, this unexpected double turned the day. The togue were only 21 and 22 inches, but each was fit and pretty. With three hits in half an hour or so, I convinced myself to stay and explore this general area. I probably stayed too long, though, as the wind picked up and took advantage of the long fetch. I was losing control of the boat and suffered a couple of minor tangles. I knew I was being inefficient, so by 2 PM I had relocated to the more protected northern shoreline. I set the same spread in 100 feet of water off the rocky point just east of the state park and took a moment to enjoy the calm waters here. I really wanted another fish (or two, or three), if only to push the boundary on my expectations for a day on this lake. Plus, I was on no specific time schedule, and I will always hold out for the possibility (even if remote!) of a big fish. There was plenty of life on the graph and pretty quickly, another togue grabbed the deep, white spoon over 75 feet of water. Once again, I flubbed the fish close to the boat; it seemed as if the hooks simply pulled after a long and slow fight. Ugh! I had drifted out over deeper water during the fight and quickly reset lines to repeat this pass. Boom! Another quick connection on the same presentation; and, unbelievably, another lost fish with the leader on the reel! WTF? I hadn't stayed in the rain to not catch fish, and so I deployed the baits once more and worked my way over to the area of the previous day's mild success. I focused on 70 - 90 feet of water (that's where they seemed to be hitting), and just as I passed a waypoint from the day before, I was on another fish. This one, a pretty 18-incher, stayed buttoned and came aboard. I worked my way south, where a broad flat with high spots extended well offshore. Right on top of one the shallowest points (about 65 feet deep), my rod dipped for the last time of the day; Togue No. 5 for the day was just under 19 inches long. What do I have to say about this? This was an excellent "bonus" day of fishing; I really had expected the weather to be much less hospitable. I am pleased to have built on my experience from the day before. I need to get additional deep options; whether it's rehabilitating a downrigger or an additional full core or Copper line; the fish really seem to be keyed on the deeper presentations. The thermocline was a little less evident on the graph this trip, and it might dissolve with the next big wind, but while it is in place, it is certainly positioning the lakers deep. I caught fish in several new spots this day (Frye Island, just east of the state park, and offshore from the northeastern islands). Three new spots revealed is a good day, as is any day one can come close to patterning the bites; full cores over 75-90 foot flats seemed to be the ticket, today. I miss the violence of Lake Michigan fishing, but if I have to tune in to subtleties and light bites, I guess I will have to do so. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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