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Date: October 17, 2021 Body of Water: Casco Bay, Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: Full Moon minus three days; waxing gibbous moon Tides: Low Tide at 3:41 PM Boat: None, shore fishing from landing float With: Alone Target: Striped Bass Time: 2:40 PM - 5 PM Conditions: Clear and brisk; about 60 degrees F; northwesterly wind > 10 mph; water temperatures unknown but suspected to be low 60's With amybaby22 now fully secured for the winter and the landing's float still in place, a favorable tide and a cooler of frozen mackerel drew me to the water's edge for a potential shot at a striper or two. Once again, I wasn't sure what to expect, but the week's weather had been mild, with no real change in water temperatures. Social media posts indicated the presence of nice bass both east and west of me; it seemed like a no-brainer to give this a try. I started an hour before predicted low (Quadrant II), and things were unusually subdued. There was no sign of fish activity. A single cormorant was posted on my mooring, and just a few gulls were evident down the shoreline. The ospreys were silent, if not absent. Even the crabs were slow to find my mackerel chunks. I used three lines, each with a chunk. Two were free-lined to the bottom, one with a head, the other with a piece of tail meat. The third rod presented a center chunk under a float. After a quiet hour, something picked up, moved and dropped a bottom bait. It seemed as though somebody might be home, after all. About 15 minutes after slack low (starting Quadrant III), my float quietly disappeared. I wound down and tightened into a good fish! After a dogged fight, I managed to land a 27- or 28-inch fish. My day was made! Fifteen or so minutes later, a bottom chunk started to slowly creep away. I picked up the rod just in time for the run to start, and I quickly tightened up to another fine fish. This fish didn't fight quite as desperately, but it still showed determination and used its weight. It was a solid keeper at an easy 30 inches. Once again, Quadrant III had produced. I stayed another 45 minutes or so, and my float got pulled down twice, but in neither case did the fish run nor did I connect with anything. I left with some bait, but if this is the end of my local salt season, I know I ended with a couple of the right fish! What do I have to say about this? Most folks quit before all the fish have left, and while I was not surprised at these results, I was still happy to encounter these two fine fish! It would have been easy to skunk and/or quit, but now, if I truly have run out of season, I've ended on a high note. And that's so much better than wondering about that last missed run from last week... or any of the other "misses" over the course of the season. Strangely enough, my favored heads and tails did not get eaten this session. Rather, each fish took a body chunk, and in each case, it was fresh (i.e., recently deployed). I probably won't get to 300 stripers for the season, but I am close enough to know that's a reasonable starting goal for me in 2022. ![]() Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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