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Date: June 14, 2022 Body of Water: Casco Bay - Falmouth, Maine Moon Phase: Full Moon Boat: None, shore fishing from landing float. With: A Target: Striped Bass Time: 4:10 AM - 6:10 AM Conditions: Low tide at 5:15 AM; Quadrants II and III. Clear; calm; 55 - 60 degrees. In sum, absolutely beautiful! Water was clear but green; water temperatures around 60 - 61 degrees. This was a mark-the-calendar, can't miss tide. But somehow, it turned out to be a flop and I didn't touch a fish all session. I won't be wrong when I admit; this was a big surprise to me! My simple approach was to suspend blood-worms under sliding floats for whatever time I could manage before my regular work day. I was mildly surprised when my first drift went untouched, and I was very surprised by the lack of action in the first half hour. Still, I figured the bass would arrive at some point during the tide. I'd started with tending just a single rod, but as the light progressed and the action remained slow, I added a second rod to cover more water. At just about sunrise/ 5 AM this second float got pulled under, but the fish dropped the bait before I got tight. I thought that would be the start of the morning's action, but it was an isolated incident. My next bite took place about ten minutes later at the other extent of my drift. This time I connected with the bass, but ever-so-briefly. The hook pulled and I retrieved half my worm. The wind really got knocked out of my sails when my float got pulled under the third time at 5:35 AM. This time, my connection to the bass was broken immediately. My leader had parted mid-way. A month of hard fishing had literally taken its toll. I gave it another half hour, but the bite never materialized. We chose to go home and get ready for work. I left, skunked on the Full Moon of June! WTF? What do I have to say about this? Both rods were taken home for full rigging replacement. Of course, this should have happened before I lost a fish, but I'm not that disciplined, I guess. At least, not all the time. In a weird sense, this was motivating. What is it that I don't understand? What was I missing this morning? Did I break off on my chance at a 40-inch bass? Trying to figure it all out in both particular and broad senses is a large part of what makes this so interesting to me. A mentor's mother used to use "WTF" in a unique manner. To this kind-hearted soul, "WTF" clearly meant "Why, that's fabulous!" And so I'll declare "WTF" for today. It was a beautiful morning, I was with A, who grounds me and is my best friend, there was plenty of avian wildlife to watch, mosquitos remain curiously absent, and these were likely the best two hours of my day. Who could argue with the assessment, "WTF"!?!?!?!???? Post Script A few days later, I wasn't fishing; I was painting the porch and cutting the grass. I took a break to check on the boats and headed to the float. Neighbor and friend D had already caught a nice bass when his float was pulled down again. It was an over-slot beast of a shore fish! It was another example of what I don't know. The tide was "wrong" (in the sense that Quadrant III, the beginning of the flood was late in the morning) and the skies were blue. It was mid-day! Obviously, the best time to fish is whenever you can. That's when you catch them. As I said above, trying to figure it all out in both particular and broad senses is a large part of what makes this so interesting to me. I'll just use this incident as further motivation to gain that understanding while also giving myself a break if fish and schedules do not align. Post-Post Script Right tide; wrong time of day. Still, it's always worth trying and the possibility of such an outcome is truly motivating. And let's face it, most of my boat fishing is during the bright (if not height) of day. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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