Swamp Girl

I caught a couple four-pounders my first time out, but was skunked the second time from the same spot on the shore. They had moseyed. I'm about to launch for the first time, so I can go find 'em!

86 fish.

I love when you post, Alex.

@BluegillsTightlines: It's okay to move to other things. All the best to you. I returned to shore fish my pond again. Yesterday, I was the windshield. Today, I was the bug. There just wasn't enough wind in my face. I didn't even get a bite, but I did prepare my boat for tomorrow's launch. Hopefully I can find them tomorrow! 2026 total catch: 7

I spend a lot of time watching the hourly weather before I launch. For example, I shore fished yesterday because the wind was double-digit and coming from the south. I launch from the north shore, so I hoped that the steady south wind and the warmer temps of the last few days would stack bass on the north shore. It did. I'm returning today to fish the same way (north shore from the shore) this afternoon because the wind is still blowing from the south. I'm just waiting until two or three so the water can keep warming. However, tomorrow the wind will drop, so I'll launch and fish a rocky flat, a ledge/drop-off, two stream mouths, a ridge, and the north shore. Here's why: @Lottabass has been landing both quantity and quality of bass in two feet of water, so I'll fish the shallow, rocky flat to see if my bass are orienting in a similar place. @Hartwood71 had a couple 50 bass sessions fishing a ledge with a jerkbait, so I'm following his lead. I figure warmer water might be issuing out of the stream mouths, so I'm paddling to those. Last summer when the water was low, I saw crawdad claws in the ridge. I marked the ridge with a tree on the shore. I'm hoping smallmouth will be hunting there tomorrow. I'm going to cast a surface Rapala on the ridge and twitch it. If that doesn't work, I'll try a T-Rigged crawdad. I'll fish the north shore too hoping that some of the bass stacked there now because of the South wind will still be there. When I'm paddling from one spot to another, I'll be trolling an A-Rig, as suggested by @Glenn. I share all this to illustrate how I have a plan every time I launch. All my plans are shaped by the weather. My plans often produce bass, but when they don't, I fish on the fly, meaning I cover a lot of water looking for them. That''s the advantage of small water: If you guess wrong about where they are, you can go looking for them. Then when you catch one, that's your new plan. For example, if I catch a bass in Eel Grass, then I pound Eel Grass. If I catch a bass in Pond Weed, I keep fishing Pond Weed. And so on. Absolutely not. I'm always fishing heavier line with MH or H rods. Smaller water doesn't necessarily mean smaller bass. I average 17, 18, and 19-pound bags. I'll lose them to weeds if my equipment isn't stout. I have days like that, for sure, but I do begin with a plan determined by wind speed, wind direction, temp, and light. I prefer the single hooks of soft plastic lures, but topwater is fun and once it warms a little more, I'll always launch with at least one topwater lure. Fish with your head on a swivel. The bass will often reveal themselves. Again, in a smaller body of water, they can only hide so many places and because the water tends to be shallow, their ripples and whatnot are easier to spot. You know I fish with a teenage boy I call The Kid. The Kid outfishes all the local adults except for me and I credit his alertness for his success. I'll say, "Did you see that?" And he can always honestly answer, "Yes." His head is on a swivel too. Also, use Bass Resource as a resource. You can see from my post that I rely on the Bass Resource brain trust to guide my boat. I ask questions and the guys are always helpful. I caught yesterday's 18-pound bag, my biggest ever from the shore, because of @PhishLI and @Hartwood71. Phish gave me the technique that worked with my blue craw and Hartwood gave me the other lure that caught bass, including my two 19-inchers. Lastly, I emphasize long casts and being quiet. Smaller water tends to be shallow and the water I fish has many predators, such as cormorants, eagles, ospreys, and otters, so the fish are always alert. I hook many bass at the farthest ends of my longest casts and I literally sometimes bump into bass with the bow of my canoe because they didn't hear me coming. Now go get 'em! P. S. - @scaleface emphasized the importance of accurate casting. I fished for smallmouth for most of my adulthood in clear, largely weed-free lakes and the Great Lakes. Fishing small, weedy water was such a change for me and really overwhelmed me. Now I love the art and challenge of casting into the gnarliest cover. There's nearly no water too shallow or weed-congested to not hold bass. Last year I was back in a bog and came to a dead end, but I could see water over the mound of soil and bushes in front of me. So, I stood ever so carefully, clutching a branch, and flipped my lures into the Twiggy-skinny water yonder. I couldn't hear the hit, but I sure heard the eruption. Yeah, I landed it!

I wish I could remember exactly what @Pat Brown said about how you work a lure makes all the difference; That sure was true yesterday. When I first retrieved my blue craw, I didn't let it sink to the bottom first and I retrieved fast enough to get its claws flapping. Nothing. So, then I applied what @PhishLI said and let it sink before dragging it across the bottom. I thought, "Why would a bass hit it now with no claws flapping?" Then I saw my line jump. I caught bass on four out of six casts (I caught rotten weeds on two casts.) and then my hook broke. So, then I had to figure out how they wanted my Vision 110 retrieved. The first few casts produced nothing as I tried different retrieves like a pop-pop-pop and letting it rest, but then I tried leaving some slack in my line, so that the lures would really snap from side to side. That's what they wanted. That specific retrieve. So, I could have fished the craw and the jerkbait and caught nothing if I hadn't used those particular retrieves. I love many things about bass fishing, but cracking the code is near the top.

The one advantage of fishing with unwelcome company is that you get to see how your skill, tactics, and techniques compare to the skills, tactics, and techniques of others.

I caught a couple 19-inchers while shorefishing my pond for half an hour. I caught seven in total, but quit when my pup jumped into the water to get one of the nineteens. He was so cold that he ran back to the car, so I followed him.: I'm going to shore fish again tomorrow and then launch for the first time on Tuesday. Congrats, @Brycecover, on the PB!

I caught my first seven bass from the shore of my pond this afternoon in about half an hour. I was casting into the wind and the lake was nearly white capping, but they were really hitting. Here are two of them: See the beaver lodge behind them? I had to quit because my pup jumped into the water after the bottom bass and my pup was so cold he ran back to the car. I'm returning tomorrow for a little more shore fishing WITHOUT my pup and launching for the first time on Tuesday.

And you were right! I would have caught more than seven if my pup hadn't decided to jump into c-c-cold water.

I couldn't use ultralight gear where I fish because of the weeds. I just returned from a little fishing trip and even though the water is cold and there are no green weeds, I still hooked last years weeds on about 40% of my casts.

I'm on the board too. I went to my pond to set up my canoe for Tuesday's launch. The wind had been blowing out of the North for most of the day, so I waited until five when it would have blowing out of the South for two hours. I only took two rods with two lures total, a T-rigged blue craw with a tungsten bullet weight and a Vision 110. I figured I'd fish first and although I struggled to cast into the wind as my dock is on the north shore, but I did not struggle to catch bass. I caught seven in about 30 minutes, the first four with the craw and when its hook broke, the last three with the Vision 110. It took me a few casts with each to determine the presentation they wanted. With the craw, I crawled it on the bottom like @PhishLI suggested! I could see the hits in the line. With the Vision 110, I left some slack in the line before I snapped it each time. I basically worked my rod as if I were retrieving a walking bait. Thanks to @Hartwood71 for suggesting it! My second to last bass was 19" and thick. My last bass was 19.25" and even thicker. Why didn't I fish longer? Well, the 19.25-incher raised such a ruckus that my pup jumped into the pond after it. The cold water shocked him, but he couldn't climb back onto the dock, so I helped him with one hand while fighting the fish with the other. He was so cold that he ran back to the car, so I quit fishing to join him. He rode home on my lap with the heater on high. All but one of the bass were thick and long with three being 18-inchers. These three: This one was shorter, but chunky: This was my only dink: And here are the two 19-inchers: My length to weight chart said my top five weighed about 18 pounds, which is outstanding (for me) from the shore in just half an hour. I think 2026 is going to be a most excellent year at my pond. The only sad thing is that I never did get my boat ready. I'll do it Tuesday when I launch.

That's a beauty, Brian! In three hours, I'm going to cast a few times from the dock on my pond. I probably won't catch anything, but....

It was, wasn't it?!

So true. My 32-pound Kevlar canoe is even worse. I've made the same mistake many times. Funny! You're not alone. We've all walked your sad path. "It it is illegal to intentionally run over or otherwise kill an alligator in Georgia except under very specific legal conditions. Alligators are protected by both state and federal law, and unauthorized killing is prosecuted under wildlife and animal cruelty statutes." If there's a next time, get their boat numbers and call the cops on those criminals. I hear ya and I understand.

@Team9nine: I love how you're not just fishing for fish. You're fishing for fun! I keep saying that I'm going to spend a morning fishing nothing but my childhood lures. Maybe I'll follow your lead of fishing for fun and do that in 2026.

Go, Gim, go!

Wow, that's a big fight from a big bass!

You're feeling frisky. The bass are feeling frisky.

The weather should be close to perfect, so your hope might come true! I'm also going to launch on Wednesday and perhaps next Friday too.

I backed it up to Tuesday due to the weather. So, soon!

Well angled, BP and Al!

WOW, @LokiDawg!!!

@newapti5: Buy a lottery ticket!