Swamp Girl

Al, how often do you get stuck on a stump? And how often do you lose a lure to a stump?

I'm so glad you mentioned this short story, Al. I have loved it for half a century.

Tyler Brinks contributes so much to Bass Resource. If he reads this post, THANKS!!!

They are fun. I know that bass anglers who boat both brown and green fish commonly say that smallmouth are better fighters. Having caught thousands of each, I disagree. I think they fight differently. Hooking an lmb is like hooking a three-quarter ton pickup. Lots of low end torque for pulling power. Hooking a smallie is like hooking a mid-engine vette. Lots of high end rpms and the ability to corner like it's on rails. Different. Both fun.

^Al^ posts pics of his weedy honey hole and the big bass he pulls from it, often festooned with weeds. Listen to Al. I've been fishing the weeds this summer and for whatever reason, there are days the bass respond to a weighted, rapidly falling soft plastic and days they ONLY hit an unweighted soft plastic. I've just started using the Yamamoto Nukibug and their poop bait. I have some Deps poop baits on their way. These three baits are all chunky baits that let you cast without weights. So, as you punch like @gim suggested, you might want to have some unweighted, heavy soft plastics to chuck too. I'm also have good luck with Deps Sakamatashad, which are thick, heavy flukes. I use 5/0 to 7/0 hooks and I cast them right into heavy weeds. They're almost like fishing live bait in that you cast them and let them sloooowwwwwly sink. They mimic dying shad and your seven-pounders might love to hit the eight-inchers that I sometimes toss (I use the six and seven-inchers too.). I just reel a little to stay in contact with my lure and when the line tightens because a bass has it, I reel until I feel the fish and set the hook. @scaleface said what I said, but without all my jibber-jabber. So did Tackleholic.

That's a lot. Many lakefront homes have only 50'-100'.

I caught 31 this morning at my pond, giving me 1,259 for the year. I'm either improving as an angler or learning more and more about my pond. Probably both. I say this because 31 bass is an excellent catch for me in mid-July. I didn't catch a single bass off the shoreline and didn't even bother casting to the shore except for one cast at an abandoned beaver lodge, which didn't produce. I'm fishing mid-pond because that's where the bigger bass are. I couldn't find my first Pondweed patch because it was too dark, so I paddled to the my second set of weedbeds. I caught them with a wacky-rigged Senko with a jig for my hook, a trick I learned from @Glenn. As always, they were healthy bass: What was different was more smallies than normal. I think this is because I'm fishing mid-pond. A smaller one: A bigger brown: Perhaps my three biggest green bass: About mid-way through my morning, the jig and Senko stopped working and I switched to a 6", 7", and 8" Deps Sakamatashad, which is a thick fluke. I first I cast along the edges of the weeds and into the openings, but discovered I could cast into the thickets. At one point, I landed three bass in three casts. Here's my biggest smallie: And here's the prettiest corner of my pond, where I cast at an abandoned beaver lodge: I also caught a few bass trolling a Zoom Speed Worm that I T-rigged and casting a T-rigged Yamamoto Nuki Bug. The Nuki Bug is a great lure for casting weightless into heavy cover because it's chunky and doesn't need a weight to chuck it. I caught lots of other fine fish: I hope to reach 1,300 by the end of July and then catch another 800 by the end of October to give me 2,100 for the year, which would be my Maine PB in quantity. I'm quite happy with the quality of my bass. I catch few small ones.

Yoo-hoo, @casts_by_fly!!!

Have a great trip!

^This!^ I have a lot of walking baits (because they're fun to fish and pretty), but I lean on my Duo Realis baits because they chirp like a bird and my local bass seem to like that sound. My walking baits by other makers don't chirp.

Bob, I will tell you this: You'll see no kayaks in the bush lakes of northwestern Ontario. There are reasons it's called Canoe Country, one of which you'll understand on your first portage.

Eh, I don't know. I try different colors and whereas I usually chuck black in fog and white in bright light, I've never discerned a pattern. Sometimes I think anglers like to believe that if they do X, bass will strike, but bass are mysteries to me.

Me too!

Funny! Also funny! I catch old, beat-up bass too, but I also catch four, five, and six-pounders that look daisy fresh. It mystifies me. Thanks, @FryDog62, for this thread. Over the years, I've started a couple threads about how slowly northern bass grow, which is why I keep them out of the water as briefly as possible.

Me too. A kayak paddle takes up too much room, so I paddle my kayak with a canoe paddle and my backup paddle is runt paddle, a paddle with a shortened shaft. That's all I need to retrieve my lost paddle.

Professor @Pat Brown says they do and there's no finer mind, bass-wise. Your lucky t-shirt is back! Sorry about the rude boys.

You just did. Here:

You're Bass Resource's Patrick McManus!

I once spoke to a Field & Stream editor who said that they wished they could still write those classic articles, but that their readership preferred "25 Surefire Ways to Catch Big Bass."

Back when I fished only muskies, I went north with 19 musky anglers, all men and a few quite accomplished. For anglers other than @T-Billy who launches and catches multiple muskies, you can launch and not catch a single musky, but you're likely to see some, as they're curious and fearless and will follow lures. So, when we all gathered in the evening, we'd tell stories of fish boated and fish that followed and the latter stories were nearly as exciting as the former. I was the only professional angler and storyteller in the group, but several of the guys told stories on a professional-grade level. I think this was because successful musky anglers have to be oh-so-observant and successful writers have to be the same. Of course, you can steadily catch fine bass and be bereft of writing skill, but good catching and good writing are sometimes paired. For example, Glenn's videos showcase both his angling acumen and his precision and concision with words (So many of the YouTube angling videos strike me as fatty.). I enjoy @pdxfisher's witty titles and marvel at his detailed recountings. @Lottabass also entices us with his titles and Clayton also has a writer's muscular memory. Russ's powers of observation come through in his photos. In your angling lives, have you met, either in person or on paper, skilled bass wrasslers who could also wrangle words? If so, do tell!

You write well, EnglishBen. Good storytelling! Next time you come to Maine, give me a shout and I'll guide you. Here's a Maine bass caught by the last angler I guided: He's just a kid, which is why I covered his face.

Mid lake is where I've been finding bass too.

Safe travels, Brian.

We're happy you're here. Do you fish from a boat?

It's so beautiful, Russ. One morning in northwestern Ontario, I caught a 20-lb. plus bag of smallies, but when I remember that morning, I remember this more: And I remember the wolves on both shores singing to each other and the bear swimming across the strait and the geese so low overhead that I could hear their wings beating. I still can hear those wings beating. Your river is as beautiful as the lake above.