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Date: February 6, 2022 Body of Water: Sebago Lake (Station Landing at south end), Maine Moon Phase: New Moon plus five days; waxing crescent moon Boat: None, Ice-fishing With: Alone Target: Lakers (Togue) Time: 6:30 AM - 1:00 PM Conditions: Clear, calm and bright; about -1 to 20 degrees F; just over one foot of ice I confirmed at Sebago Bait and Tackle that suckers were the bait of choice for Sebago Lake togue, and that the Station Landing at the lake's south end was a decent place to try. This was the best access point for the lake, but it was still a haul out to the preferred depths (seemingly over 100 feet and well beyond). My Humminbird portable GPS led me to my water of choice; about as far out as anybody would be willing to walk, along a drop from 80 feet of water into about 140 feet to the east, at the boundary of the Portland Drinking Water District's exclusion zone. My first four holes received tip-ups stretching from 80 feet of water to 131 feet. Each had a sucker suspended about 3 feet of bottom. After these were set, I scanned each location with sonar. The two deepest sets seemed to have the "most" life, and so I drilled my fifth hole to start jigging in 117 feet. I tipped a perch-colored bucktail with a slice of sucker meat and sent it down. I was fishing to the maximum extent allowed, and I was filled with optimism. It seemed like it would be just a matter of time before something good happened. After 5 or 10 minutes, I was inclined to move to another jigging location when a market moved off bottom to inspect my bait. I toyed with this fish (or it toyed with me) for several minutes. I was able to pull the fish well off the bottom (usually a sign that it is interested in eating) before it faded off the graph. That kept me at this hole for a bit longer, but nothing came back. After checking my traps, I moved to a new jigging hole in 109 feet. I switched to a white, 4-inch swim-bait. Once again, I moved several fish on the screen, but none touched my lure. I wasn't seeing much life, and what I was seeing, was not hungry! Over the course of the next few hours, I moved my quiet traps to increasingly deep water and drilled more prospecting holes for jigging. I became somewhat constrained by too-shallow depths of water (west), crowds (north), and the exclusion zone (east). I had a few more refusals, and flags never flew. When the wind just barely picked up at about 12:30, I suddenly lost my hopeful gas; and I pulled my lines, uncharacteristically early. What do I have to say about this? I hate getting skunked, but it was a beautiful morning with plenty of fresh air and exercise. Nobody else seemed to be catching anything, either, and so maybe it wasn't my location or my presentations, but rather just the conditions and the mood of the trout. Folks are either unaware of the exclusion zone or don't care; there were a couple of dozen groups clearly fishing within. Maybe it's not enforced. Oh well, I will always choose to follow the rules. The performance of the new Ion G2 (electric) ice auger was impressive, and I now feel a bit sheepish for having not gotten one years ago. I didn't move around much this day, but it wasn't because I was exhausted by the mere prospect of cutting holes; it was the cold and extreme depths I was working that prevented efficient mobility. This lake is so big! It's going to take a lot of time and accumulated experience for me to figure out how best to spend my limited time on the ice. My next exploration is likely to be at a smaller, more manageable body of water. Trickey Pond, perhaps? Since I came off the ice a bit earlier than I expected, I scouted out access at Harmon's Beach, just north and on Sebago's west side. While I'd heard good things about this area, it does not look friendly or convenient for the ice-fisherman on foot, but rather for those with snow machines. I'll pass on this opportunity. P.S. After reading a recent article from On the Water magazine focusing on Sebago's lakers and cross-referencing with an active local Facebook group, it seems as if the lakers here can be "on" and "off" on a day-to-day basis. It also seems that perhaps I was a bit too shallow (150 - 180 feet of water specifically mentioned for alewife-chasing togue), and perhaps too focused on traps. Perhaps my next attempt here will involve more mobility, sonar scanning and jigging, and then setting up traps, including at mid-range within the water column. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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