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Date: August 14, 2022 Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous Moon; Full plus two days Boat: amybaby22 With: Niece L, her twins, A Target: Striped Bass Time: 10 AM - 3 PM Conditions: High tide at 1:40 PM. Super clear; mild SW wind, 70 - 75 degrees. Water was green; water temperatures 59 - 65 degrees (+/-). Perfect conditions greeted us at the dock at 10 AM. I welcomed my niece, L, and her twin daughters aboard and we set off in search of seals, porpoises and mackerel. We encountered a seal within the anchorage, and a couple of surprise porpoises just outside. We were off to a good start! The "seal rocks" behind Clapboard were barren as we passed, and so we continued to Hussey Sound. My timing was right, and we arrived to find good current and a nice rip off the west end of College Island. Our first drift over the submerged ledge yielded twin pollock for each twin. Success! We had something in the live-well to admire. After another drift (nada), we switched to trolling a single Sabiki, with the other rig ready to deploy once we hooked up. This worked like a charm, and we put a good number of mackerel into the well in pretty short order. Only two were "regular" sized, the rest were spike/finger macks. They were all equally fun and welcome aboard. We kept an eye out for seals (one seen?) and ferry wakes. With the action slowing, we took a tour over to the green bell buoy and watched that in action from up close. We debated what to do next. Both girls wanted to see a bigger bass, but it was a split decision on using the mackerel as bait. We decided to toss a fluke around the rocks of Crow Island. After all, Bass Love Them! It says so right on the package! Here, we watched the active osprey nest, but didn't raise any bass. The Portland Fire Department boat tossed a bit of wake over our bow, but that barely hampered the girls' spirit. We decided we would try one mackerel for bass, and so we went to the west end of Clapboard Island. I tended the single bait, and told the girls that "something good was going to happen, soon" based on the nervous and frantic actions of my bait. Sure enough, a surface chase ensued, but after at least four top-water crashes without engulfing this large bait, the bass gave up and ghosted us. Oh well, we'd gotten a lot of the fun out of that fish, anyway, and it was now time to return to the dock. It had been a good trip, and we were all happily satisfied. After goodbyes, and a quick sandwich and hydration, A and I decided to take advantage of the loaded live-well and returned to the west end of Clapboard. The wind and current were now opposed, and boat control was difficult, but this also allowed us to linger in productive areas for longer periods. Our largest mack was taken quickly and confidently; A finally netted a spunky, 29-incher for me. After missing another take (the last good-sized mack was swiped off the hook by the violent hit), I scored an additional pair of mid-20-inch bass on the smaller, spike mackerel. I like using these smaller baits because of the increased certainty of a hook-up. Note to self, though, all the hits came on a clean live-line. Our similar baits deployed below a float were ignored. All the action came from deeper water, too, away from the rocks and first break. We were back at the dock by 3 PM or so. I'd provided two nice trips in a single day. I was happy and satisfied, although admittedly, bushed! What do I have to say about this? L and A are both awesome mothers and pleasant company, and it was my pleasure to have all aboard. I enjoyed the enthusiasm and sparks of deep interest from the twins, and I do hope the outdoors become a real part of their background and experience. This was fun, but it will be more fun to watch them and their interests grow over the years. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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