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Part 1 Date: April 9, 2022 Body of Water: Crystal Lake - Gray, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing quarter moon Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Trout Time: 8:30 AM - 11:45 AM Conditions: 40 - 45 degrees F, lifting fog, gray skies with sprinkles and intermittent rain; inconsequential wind. Water temperatures 40- 42 degrees F; water clarity about 5 feet with a tannic stain. A week or so after ice-out, I finally hit the water in search of some trout. This was my first trip to this lake. I just knew it had a ramp, was stocked with a variety of trout, and was popular at ice-out. There were already four or five boats out trolling. In a matter of minutes, I was trolling a pair of S7 Rapalas along the 10-foot breakline. I marked a fair number of fish, and I was optimistic! After 15 minutes, based on the tannic-stained water, I changed my silver S7 out with an orange-brown Scatter Rap. An hour in, I dragged my baits across a shallow, rocky point, and finally, this rod jumped. My first open-water fish of the season came aboard; this was just a stocker brown trout, but I'd accomplished my primary goal for the day. I'd avoided the skunk, and I was, after all, fishing for trout! I continued my trolling efforts, now hedging my bets shallower as opposed to deeper. I mixed in floating Rapalas, and when they didn't produce, I tried a traditional Maine trolling technique. I presented a Green Wonder tandem trolling streamer with a sinking-tipped fly line. I imparted action to the pulsing fly by stripping line and letting the fly fall back. It looked good to me, and this soon got hit over a shallow point! Unfortunately, I flubbed this fish (which felt a bit more substantial than the earlier brown) as I tried to get this fish on the reel. (Note to self; keep the motor engaged and the boat moving forward until I am tight to the fish when trolling flies!) The strike was encouraging, but after another hour of trolling without another hit, I decided to invest my time and effort elsewhere. The day was still young, and there are a lot of local lakes to learn. I pulled the skiff and headed to Trickey Pond. Part 2 Date: April 9, 2022 Body of Water: Trickey Pond - Naples, Maine Moon Phase: Waxing quarter moon Boat: amybaby22 With: Alone Target: Trout (Splake?) or Landlocked Salmon Time: 1 PM - 3 PM Conditions: 45 degrees F, gray skies with sprinkles and intermittent (but sometimes heavy) rain; inconsequential wind. Water temperatures 40- 41 degrees F; water clarity in excess of 10 feet. While the catching here turned out to be nil, this lake offers a potentially higher quality experience. With lots of undeveloped shoreline, no jet skies, a good ramp and plenty of bassy-looking cover, I look forward to unlocking this two-story lake. Unfortunately, I did not on this day. I used all seven rigged rods in my time here, concentrating on the shoreline shallows and also the structure- and boulder-filled north end. I spent some time in the deeper main basin, too, but my variety of Rapalas, spoons, and tandem trolling fly all went untouched. The sole other boat on the lake stayed in the main basin depths. While I covered the top 10 or 12 feet of water, perhaps they focused on the depths with their downriggers. What do I have to say about this? While I hope for more from my fishing, I enjoyed both of these new-to-my-boating-experience lakes. Trickey is more aesthetically pleasing, but Crystal is more convenient (and, at least on this day, fishier!). Both featured loons and other waterfowl, and the howling wolves of the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray added a cool, unique touch to Crystal. I encountered only a couple of minor boating gremlins on this year's native voyage, and with each of these quickly identified and resolved, it was a good first day on the water. Now, I am looking forward to the next (long) weekend. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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