Swamp Girl

@king fisher: You gave us way too much intel. "south of Lake Menderchuck" should make it a breeze to find!

I believe it based upon your telling me that it can produce a 35-pound bag in half an hour. I understand that this is not every half hour.

Then I would love it. If there's no wood for bass to snag my line or weeds for bass to burrow into, it's too easy-peasy!

I just Googled "Sanatee Cooper." Pat is right: You and me, brother. Open water fishing feels like cheating to me now. This is my Heaven:

I think you had pretty great fishing this year. You've boated some fine fish in the last couple weeks or so.

In case you're wondering how I know the dam is leaking, the swamp and lake went away in a couple weeks. I asked one of the recently former waterfront owners what happened and he said, "The dam sprung a leak." I plan to fish the clear, shallow river again this Friday, but the forecast is for sunny skies and the bite ended as soon as the cloud cover left, so I figure I'll have a shorter fishing session. I'm also going to launch right beside the broken dam so I won't have to struggle through the shallow upriver section. Here are my recent totals: 25, 20, 22, 19, and 52. Yesterday's session sure ended my string of quantity totals, but continued my string of catching solid bass.

Great attitude! I'll try to remember it and use it when I lose a monster.

I've fished streams, small rivers, big rivers, wilderness lakes and rivers, farm ponds, swamps, small lakes, reservoirs, and the biggest lakes, such as Superior and Michigan for bass, both largemouth and smallmouth. I haven't fished highland reservoirs or great impoundments, like you find in Texas. My favorite is swamps for largemouth, for swamps reward accurate casting and stealth. My second favorite is wilderness lakes for smallmouth, for the beauty and isolation, as well as the quality of fishing. What's your favorite kind of water to fish and why?

Like Alex and Pat, I've also caught them in cold water. In fact, I caught 51 on the surface this morning and one more on a spinnerbait.

You're still fishing, Alex, and so I show my admiration thusly:

Note: I took most of the stream and river pics on the way back, not when it was low light. Well, this morning's trip wasn't for sissies. You see, the dang dam broke and one of my beloved swamps is now just a clear, shallow river. I reached it dragging my canoe down a trickle. I had to exit the canoe and drag about a dozen times, going and returning. I felt like I was back in northwestern Ontario, struggling through the bush. Being wet and cold was the hardest part. The air was 48 degrees and the water was 54 degrees, so I had wet feet and pants legs all morning. The river slowly grew in size. And grew. Unfortunately, my beloved swamp was now just a mud field. Going down the little river, I could see the former banks. Even though I was fishing in a very unlargemouthy place, I still caught bass. 52 in all. They were chasing shad, so I used my Yo-Zuri popper to imitate a wounded shad. They were well fed. I caught some bigger ones too. Here are some lipped and gripped. And I put some on the bump board. Once again, my bag was over 16.5 pounds. I am proud of my consistency in very different environments. I was fishing shallow current today, but I do well in swamps and on ponds too. One more to say, "Thanks for paddling down the stream with me! Sorry your feet and rest of you got so cold on the way."

No slacking in Nebraska, I see. Yep, no slacking.

I also once heard the screams of a dying animal one night. Another night, my brother and I were fishing a river mouth in northwestern Ontario when a giant pike came out of the water like a Polaris missile. It was beyond anything we imagined and rather than cast, we started our engine and went back to our camp. During daytime, I was alone on a wilderness lake and I heard something massive coming through the forest. So many branches were breaking. I fled, even though I was safe in a boat.

Now remember there are anglers who have wizard boats that nearly teleport them and their boats have magic boxes that tell them where the bass are. For a shore angler, that's not apples and oranges. That's watermelons and cranberries. Your 2.5-pounder is their 5-pounder easy-peasy.

It'll be 5 mph when I launch at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. It doesn't sound like much, but when your canoe is 15' 6" long and only weighs 32 pounds, it works like a sail. So, I'm hoping for the reward that you mentioned!