Century Mark!

I arrived in Maine with a simple fishing goal; to catch six more stripers during my relatively brief stay.  These six would bring me to The Century Mark, i.e., 100 Stripers caught for the season.  Not bad for a guy from Michigan!  And let's face it, I'm willing to recognize and celebrate just about any fun milestone, however artificial it might be.

Conditions upon our mid-day arrival were clear, bright and windy, and the tide was unfavorably high for good fishing.  But after a quick stop at The Tackle Shop for bait (sand-worms and frozen mackerel), I was down at the dock by 1:30 PM.

It was unusually windy in Portland, Maine on August 22, 2017.  The flags were stiff as I cast my lines.

Weeds made casting lures impossible, and bait fishing was difficult, at best.  By 2:30 PM and having encountered virtually no sign of sea life, I was smart enough to call it (temporarily) quits.  I snuck in a quick nap while awaiting more favorable conditions.

By 4 PM, at least the late, ebbing tide was more favorable, and the weeds were largely dissipated.  I caught two stripers (16 and 20 inches) on worms right away, and then I enjoyed a slow stream of steady action.  While most fish preferred the worms, a couple ate small chunks of mackerel off the bottom.  At about 6:50 PM, August 22, 2017, my float and worm went down, and Striper No. 100 for 2017 hit the deck!

Here's my Century Mark for the 2017 Striper Season!

Mission accomplished; but even better, I still had two or three full days of fishing ahead of me!

Maine Fun 2017.01

I was fortunate to have shared the week of July 4 with family in Maine.  It was a beautiful week filled with good food, celebrations and fishing.  My fishing approach here is simple; throw spoons for mackerel and provide some bait options for striped bass, but most importantly, be there when the fish are there!  My tackle and techniques have evolved over the course of almost 20 years; I think I've arrived at the proper balance of sport while providing for a chance at catching the largest available stripers.  In most years, I am amazed at how many bass there must be, because I will have a good number of chances while basically standing in a single spot.

This year was no exception.  There were many bass to be caught.  Mackerel were conspicuously absent, and the average bass was smaller than in most years.  I can't control those factors, all I can do is capitalize on the chances that are available.  Hopefully I do so while enjoying and appreciating the setting, scenery and wildlife.

A detailed log of the actual fishing can be found here; with this post, I would simply like to acknowledge the peaceful-yet-celebratory mood/theme of the week.

2017's First Striper!  I am always pleased to make their re-acquaintance!

One can get used to such sunrises.  Venus hangs over Casco Bay at about 4:15 AM, July 2, 2017.

Here I am converting a mackerel head into another nice striper on my first morning of fishing.

K is hooked up to a nice fish!

I brought the net for just such fish!

K's mid-day 28-incher was the biggest of the trip!

A nice evening fish; my largest of the trip.

Striper No. 50 for 2017

The hat says, "Live to Fish" and features a striped bass; a powerful combo!

Fish ... Eat ... Sleep.  Whenever one can!

Every day, every tide is different on the landing.  What will the next trip bring?

Maine Musings

I recently returned from a trip to Maine; all the fishing details are here.  I rushed through capturing those so as not to lose them, but having done so, I can can definitively say that while they might accurately capture the fishing events, they fall short in capturing the true essence of the trip.  And that's what this entire blogging endeavor is all about!

That is perhaps best captured in my youngest daughter's pride and happiness with her new home at the college of her choosing.  That's why we had made the trip.  But the importance of the trip to me was also captured by individual moments that deserve to be noted:

• Completing a couple of hot and dirty tasks for those whom I care about;
• Noticing the distinct phosphorescence of the bay's water as I retrieved my lure on the darkest of the New Moon mornings;
• Catching my first Birthday and September Stripers;
• Exploring some new areas and finding new favorites;
• Being proud to leave my youngest daughter in her new community at 2 PM, but having my oldest daughter fall asleep in my arms by 4 PM as we watched a Red Sox game on TV;
• Sharing simple meals in beautiful settings; 
• Sharing fishing time with friends, old and new; and
• Quietly holding hands with A as we covered a couple of thousand miles in our safe, reliable vehicle.

And of course there was the fishing!  

These travels marked the end of the Raising Kids at Home portion of our lives and the commencement of Our Future.  Getting there will also be a long haul, but the real importance of this new journey will be embodied by the things I notice and appreciate along the way.  Let there be many!

Casco Bay

Bucktail Bass -or- Hair Jig Payoff II

It took me over 30 years to catch my first striper, and it took almost another 20 for me to score one on the greatest, simplest and most versatile striper lure of all time; the humble, yet productive, bucktail.

4:30 AM EDT and all is well!

Of course, I just threw one for the first time while targeting stripers, and it really only took a few dozen casts for me to get bit.  I wish I could say this personally momentous event took place on one of the hair jigs I had crafted over the winter; but instead, I have to admit that I was throwing a nicely tied custom jig from The Tackle Shop in Portland, Maine.

This particular bass will forever remain etched in my memory for the cool, visual strike it provided.  I am accustomed to watching for my lure in the water during the retrieve, and soon after my slowly swimming jig came into view in the low morning light, this bass flashed up from the bottom and annihilated the bait.  She was probably within a rod's length when we connected, and I got to watch the entire strike and fight sequence unfold.  This healthy 26-incher was a perfect match for my gear in hand, too, and it was a pleasure to catch such a fish on a beautiful Maine morning!

5 AM and all is even better!

She might have thought it was a peanut bunker, or perhaps a finger-sized mackerel.  She hit hard, right at my feet.  All of the weekend's bass were thick and adorned with sea lice.

So, I somewhat successfully deployed a "new-to-me-in-this-place" tactic in a truly peaceful setting.  I had carefully selected, quality gear *** in hand, and I even caught a few other fish on this morning.  Some were larger, but none were quite as interesting or as satisfying as this particular bass.  What else could one ask for from a given morning, a long weekend road trip, or a winter spent daydreaming of (and preparing for) such things?


*** One of the pleasures (and potential frustrations) of fishing this spot is matching my tackle to the available bass.  While they have probably averaged about 24 or 25 inches (probably about six pounds) over the years, on any given day, the bites can come from micro-schoolies weighing in at a pound, or from unstoppable freight trains of unconfirmed size.  Moreover, my available tackle in Maine has always been a little limited and make-shift.  But with my increased saltwater fishing interests and participation over the last few years, I have purchased some high-quality saltwater reels and a couple of travel rods.  This day's set-up: the newest version of Shimano's Stradic 4000, spooled with 30-pound Momoi Diamond Braid; a heavy action, 7-foot Cabela's Fish Eagle 50 rod; 25-pound Seagar fluorocarbon leader;  and the 3/8-ounce sparse bucktail tipped with a 3-inch Lunker City shad body.  This was a fine delivery system that just felt good, at least to me!

Resolutions II

Resolutions II (on Thanksgiving Day)

Resolutions don’t mean much if you don’t check in on your progress every so often.  I’ve got a hint of a breather here between the boating season’s end and Black Friday, so I thought I’d review the list I’d prepared for myself with respect to this year’s fishing.  While I published some thoughts on this last January, I’ve also maintained a running list of ideas for experiences that I thought would enhance my season.  Here I think I’ll address some of my stated resolutions that I’ve successfully acted upon.

·       I resurrected an old rod.  My 6.5-foot Shimano Aero from about 1990 is a fine rod but is generally just a little too soft and slow for soft plastics and top-waters.  By switching from mono to Nanofil, this rod has become a staple for my bassing.  I’m a big fan of Nanofil.  It handles great on light spinning gear, casts long, and doesn’t stretch.  It seems to last forever, too, and its presence on my roster of spinning reels is expanding.

·       I successfully trolled over 3.5 mph.  Trolling is occassionally simply about covering water and finding fish.  Going faster means doing more of both, and sometimes speed kills.  I’m much more comfortable at faster trolling speeds (up to at least 4.5 mph) as now I’ve taken Great Lakes salmon and multiple muskies at these speeds.

·       I released a 5-pound bass.  I was especially pleased when I landed a tank of a bass on Reeds Lake on November 16, because then I did not have to rely on the previous “Palm Beach Release” of my largest ever Connecticut River bass.  At over 21 inches and undoubtedly over 6 pounds, fat and bug-eyed, she was the largest bass I’ve caught in years.  I was pleased to watch her swim back into the local depths after a little photo session and some recovery time in Numenon’s live-well.

Bucket-mouth!

The picture does no justice to this bass...

·       I netted a legal muskie.  Muskies received much of my attention this year, and the season would have been less meaningful without a legal muskie in the boat.  Fortunately, I got mine on July 12.  I had others to the boat and either chose not to net them or they slipped away while boatside.  This included the biggest one of the season, estimated at about 46 inches.  All this happened while I was alone, so I’ve still not netted one of these for somebody else, nor have I gotten pictures that do these fish justice.  But I’ll keep trying, and I’ve decided that these fish are definitely worth travelling for.  So maybe there will be some new scenery in the background of the picture with my first 50-incher.

Muskies in the 'hood!

Legal, netted, released.

·       I released a Master Angler fish.  Certainly each legal muskie qualifies for this, and that November bass might have too, although she was short for her weight.  There were many Master Angler salmon to be had this year, too, but somehow I missed that season; let’s hope for more of the same opportunity next year.

·       I caught a new species and so therefore captured a personal best.  Kind of.  I’d caught a few incidental, smaller muskies while bass fishing in the past, but now I’ve successfully targeted them.  And while that 46-incher was right there for the taking, I’ll consider my current personal best to be the netted, measured and documented 43-incher.  I should also remember the 37-inch striper I took on August 1, because that’s the biggest I’ve ever landed from shore.

This striper ate a fresh mackerel head, and I was lucky to land her.

·       I switched targeted species to save the day.  Switching from muskies to pike on November 16 turned a skunk into a show-worthy hound.  When I suddenly lost confidence in muskies, I took advantage of the remainder of the day by targeting pike.  It turned out that they were snapping, and I took a “season’s best” specimen among the five I landed that afternoon.

·       I pond-hopped on that same day.  I launched Numenon on multiple bodies of water on November 16 to maximize my effectiveness.  Drastically switching locations let me deal with fishing/weather conditions, and after a slow start, I had a nice window of activity including “season’s best” bass and pike, on the same lure and within about 100 yards.

This Rapala DT20 was hot for a couple of trips!

·       I used heads as bait.  The mackerel that were available to me from shore this season were generally too large to use as live bait, but it’s probably not a coincidence that my largest stripers of the year fell to fresh mackerel heads.  At the same time, sandworms and chunks just weren’t working.

·       I caught the end of pike season.  Just locally, but it was my best, most dependable piking of the year.  Other lakes beckon, but it’s often difficult to drive past Reeds Lake.

Weather like this can turn Reeds Lake into a private pond.

KS was ready for ice fishing, but had to settle for a trip on Numenon.

Likely the last open-water fish of the season, this 30-incher ate a Purpledescent Rapala TailDancer.

·       Ollie came fishing with me.  I try to be careful about when to take him.  It can’t be too long, hot, cold or sunny of a trip.  But he’s a good companion when he comes along, he enjoys it, and I have to remember to include him when it makes sense to do so.

·       I took a special trip with Marie.  When I first conceived this resolution, I was thinking of a fishing trip, but our quick, Labor-Day trip to Florida was fun, if not surreal.  She’s something really special, and I’m glad we shared this trip.  She deserved it, I provided it, but mostly I need to recognize just how unlikely a trip of this nature was to me.  And yet it was all good.

Lazy River snorkeling.

Walking around the Sea's Bottom, Hermit Crab in hand.

·       I shared time in my boat with loved ones and expressed my feelings to them.  In a literal thanksgiving, I recognize and thank each of you.   I hope you enjoyed your time with me. 

There are still plenty of ideas to act on, and I’ve left many unarticulated.   Fortunately, ice season approaches. 

Worst-to-First!

It's late August and the Sox are still in First Place.  I'm starting to contemplate the growing of a 2013 Playoff Beard (so successful in 2004 and 2007) to help their quest from last year's Worst Place finish to this year's targeted First Place finish. Good luck to all involved!

I've been back from our New Hampshire/Maine vacation for a few weeks now, and I've been either too busy or too brain-dead to report on it.  But I was reminded of Worst-to-First turnarounds while fishing.

Maine has been very generous to me over the last decade-plus of striper fishing, and so when I received negative reports for the season from my local contacts upon arrival, I wasn't all that worried.  I've always caught some stripers.  I know from experience that I may have to suffer through a few consecutive slow tides, but sooner or later, the stripers and I will intersect.  But conditions felt inexplicably dead for the first few sessions, and with vacation time dwindling, I started to wonder if it would be my Worst Season Ever.  This was a short-term vacation and probably my only chance for the season; I was on the verge of blanking, and I knew it.

The only sign of a striper (or even suitable bait) in three days had been the mid-day sighting of a single (but very sizable) striper swimming under the dock.  With the belief that a chance at such a fish was better than throwing in the towel, I tried some pleasant, relaxed, sun-lit, tide-centered fishing one afternoon.  Mackerel made a sudden appearance to break up a slow start.  Since the first one landed was too large to free-line, I chunked it and set it on the bottom.  I was soon surprised by a confident take and run by what turned out to be a fine, 31-inch striper.  The skunk was out of the box, and to be honest, Striper Quest 2013 was a success!

Rarely have I been more pleased to catch a fish... a long-anticipated 2013 Striper!

Soon thereafter, another chunked bait (this time the mackerel's head) zipped out and I was tight to what I knew to be a very nice bass. She turned out to be 37 inches long, the biggest one I've ever taken from shore! In just a short time, I'd averted my worst striper season with a best-ever catch.

37 inches of bulldogging stubbornness...my largest ever shore-bound striper.

The good fishing held up through the evening.  Marie joined me for a bit the next day and took care of the first fish all by herself.  Her techniques were a little rusty, but losing the fish was worth it, just to experience her reaction to a fresh mackerel head being unexpectedly tossed at her face.

Fish on for Marie!

Head-shake!

The bait is thrown...

...and narrowly misses Marie!

What a face!

The evening continued with more opportunities, but few landed fish.  The fish were simply too big and too wily to land from my shore-bound location on my light tackle of choice.  While the season's final tally of fish landed was unusually low, their size made up for the lack of action.  And I'll never complain about Personal Bests.

But perhaps the most memorable fishing of the week took place with my oldest daughter on the Connecticut River, while my other girls canoed nearby.  Again, the fishing wasn't great, but I was able to share some fine memories and experiences.  We also got a good view of what should have been my largest Connecticut River largemouth bass ever (over five pounds, easily), just before it threw my popper at the side of the canoe.  The best part; I'd just told her the tale of my largest Connecticut River largemouth bass; caught 30 years ago or so, probably from within 10 feet from where I'd just encountered this lost fish.  Ahhhhhh, fishing!

My next cast produced an acrobatic smallie.  It was big enough to interesting, caught on a top-water from one of favorite bodies of water, with all my favorite girls.  Giant Bass, Personal Bests and so forth are nice, but it doesn't really take too much to make me truly happy.  And I'm glad I can recognize that.

Air-borne smallie!

Boat-side antics!

Numenon in hand; in many ways.

Prizes!

Prizes!

I’m fairly amazed at the motivational influence of an offered prize.  We recently demonstrated this with the promise of smart tablet devices for the members of the winning “team” among the young swimmers on our local age-group swim team.  The assigned task was to raise funds through swimming; and the kids out-did themselves and more than doubled our normal fund-raising efforts.  Those few tablets were an excellent investment for the club.  I shouldn’t be surprised at this outcome; I once heard an interview on NPR with a former professional party-thrower for a well-known brand of alcohol.  This pro, in his experience, admitted that there are few boundaries to what a young adult will NOT do for a free T-shirt.  Are T-shirts all that motivating?  Not for me; but prizes are, generally.

I’m subject to this, too.  A favorite movie of mine is A Christmas Story, and I can relate to the father.  He’s distracted and consumed by his puzzles and sweepstakes, but when his “Fragile” prize arrives, you can feel his palpable excitement.  Whatever this prize is, it seems like it will have to be a let-down; but in fact, it’s even better than imagined!  It’s glorious!  

From the web!

And so I recently dove into Maine’s Casco Bay and swam out to claim “My Prize” of a free-floating lobster buoy.  Okay, when I captured it, it wasn’t quite as cool as it had previously seemed.  But it did offer a bit of momentary fun and the promise of being an appropriate commemorative trophy.  For the same reasons I’m currently participating in On the Water’s “Striper Cup”.  I want My Prize, and irrationally (given my location in Michigan for the remainder of the striper season, to say nothing of my inexperience or access to fish, even when I’m in New England), I think I can (will?) win!  My twin entries in the photo contest are of barely eligible fish, and my photography is nothing special.  And yet I’m driven to follow their published results and trust in the “chance” part of the contest to overcome any of my fishing and photographic deficiencies.

Yea!  Broken Lobster Pot Buoy!

Casco Bay - 36 inches, caught and released

Narragansett Bay - 36 inches, caught and released

The Feng Shui god(s) must cringe at my home’s opening hallway, but by gosh, I’m proud of my two salmon tournament victories, and what better place is there to display my plaques?  I’ll admit, they’re not attractive; they’re not great decorations, and they’re probably undeserving of their occupancy of this place in my home.  But they are a reminder that, in a small inconsequential way, I was special a couple of times; my Partner Charlie Sheen and I were "Winning!" and I like the reminders and all the associated fond memories.  I think it’s the potential for such future reminders, as much as the immediate fun, that drives my quest for a prize. 

Rationally, I know that one shouldn’t invest more into an endeavor than one can probably get in return.   So it doesn’t make a lot of sense for me to care about my results in the Striper Cup or to fish in too many tournaments.  But I have to recognize the alluring power of The Traveling Office Trophy, or the pride I feel in having won the 2001 Grand River Hand-line Contest.  Last year's fine 4-pound smallmouth would be just a regular memory for me, except it secured the Office Trophy for 2011's largest smallmouth bass.  This year's species is brown trout, and I remember April's 6-pounder (which just happens to lead the 2012 contest) more vividly and more fondly than a typical April Brown.  And why would I recall the specific fishing conditions and close calls I endured (suffered?) in a hand-line contest over a decade ago?  Because these little, meaningless pieces of plastic are motivating, and maybe I tried a little harder than usual. But the effort is not directed at the prize itself, but rather for the promise of crisp memories of the associated events.

Ned Flanders represents Fishing Superiority in my office.

This hand-lining hobo has resided in my office for over a decade.