Swamp Girl

Some of my hardest-fighting bass ever have been skinny fish.

@The Baron: Gosh, it's a beautiful boat! I'm so happy for you. I'm also sad for you, having to wait until June 3rd. We're at the same latitude, more or less, and May is a great month for bassing in Maine. I'm with ya, Baron. Most of our snow melted yesterday, but fresh snow fell last night and everything is white again. Our April forecast is for more cold, unlike most of the U.S., where warmer and MUCH warmer temps are forecast. Oh, well, you and I will living in Heaven come June and July and places south will be living in a hotter place.

@flatcreek: Yeah, she's skinny, but she has a big head and long body. Got a guess on her weight?

I drove to my pond today. I couldn't drive down the driveway because it's still blocked by plowed snow, but I walked around the snow and through the woods and saw OPEN WATER!!! It's going to snow tomorrow, but I might try casting from the shore next week.

I was in near wilderness with a group of guys when one guy hooked another guy right beside the eye with a musky lure's treble hook. It was a long and horrible drive to a hospital.

Ever heard of Tony Christian? He arrived out of nowhere, placing high at an heretofore unheard of rate. Then he disappeared. MLF wrote this in his bio: "Nobody knows exactly why Christian has been so good; all they know is that he keeps on catching enormous bass. In three of the five 2002 Savannah River tournaments – lakes Keowee, Hartwell and Clark Hill – he won the Boater Division big-bass award. His biggest fish, at Clark Hill, weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces. With numbers like that, inevitably, there have been theories floating among the ranks – competitive, dubious theories – about the man’s success. Some of the more laughable ones that Christian himself has heard include the notion that he’s invented some kind of new bass-attracting chemical, that he baits fishing holes with dog food to attract bass’ favorite prey, crawfish, and even that he hires scuba divers to put big fish on his line. But, of course, he says it’s all nonsense. “Nope, none of the above,” he said. “How could I have a scuba diver down there? Don’t you think the co-angler would see the bubbles?”

I'm surprised that no one has picked @TnRiver46 for his range of fishing: High, roiling current? He's fishing. Snow on the bank? He's fishing. Fishing from the bank? He's fishing. Canoe? Kayak? Motorboat? Fishing, fishing, fishing. Downtown? Fishing. Stripers? Catfish? Crappie? Fishing, fishing, fishing. River trips? Fishing. Quarry? Fishing. With the gang? Fishing. Alone? Fishing. With the wife? Fishing. Summer? Fishing. Winter? Fishing. Spring and fall? Fishing and fishing! Guess what! TnRiver46 has a fishing fever and the only prescription is more fishing! What cowbell is to the legendary Bruce Dickinson, fishing is to the legendary Mr. 46.

When I used to fish for smallmouth in northwestern Ontario from a canoe, we'd find structure by taking a mid-day paddle. A high Sun let us see pretty deep and we could find the bowling ball-sized rock that attracted smallmouth and even mid-lake structure. Doing this is entirely within my comfort zone, whereas reading a sonar screen would take me a couple hours/days/weeks to become comfy. I think if you'd had a few more days of dropshotting that drop-off, you would have felt at home.

I know, huh? He's a tall drink of water!

You post some fine bass, Mike. I forgot to compliment you on your bass, @softwateronly.

Weird. If you two have that superpower, then I'm your arch-nemesis, as I've never broken a rod.

No doubt. Do I think I could launch my canoe in Texas and proceed to catch seven and eight-pounders? Clayton has more tricks up his sleeves than a children's magician.

Ha! If you're going to listen to others, you have to be humble. I know so many people who believe with no evidence that they know best about everything. They have access to true expertise, but they won't tap it because of their unfounded hubris.

All his screen magic originates in his mustache.

So true.

Whoa! Tall guy and I'm not surprised given your ancestry.

You all know I fish from canoes and I consider my paddling skills to be as important to my success as my fishing skills, which makes for a very different type of fishing than bass boat fishing with FFS or tournament fishing with competitors within sight or bank fishing in pressured ponds or river fishing for smallies and on and on. So, think of one of the Bass Resource guys and where and how they fish. If you were dropped into someone's shoes, whose shoes would be the hardest to fill? I pick three: @Pat Brown: Fishing city ponds from the shore means casting to bass that have seen lures beyond counting. Savvy bass. Wary bass. And yet he catches DDs. I couldn't. @AlabamaSpothunter: Alex also fishes pounded water. It also has developed shorelines. I see house/house/house/condo/apartments/house/etc. on the shores of the lake he fishes. Still, like Pat, he catches big bass after big bass. Again, I couldn't. @WRB: I've read about Castaic when Tom caught his 17, 18, and 19-pound bass. Rising in the dark to wait in line with others watching you with binoculars. I'd buckle from the pressure within the first hour.

@thediscochef: YESSSSS!!!!! @Bluebasser86: Just when I'm certain that Kansas has the fattest bass, Clayton goes and catches an even fatter bass in Texas, teaching me that it's not about the state, it's about the angler.

I suspect I throw poppers into places most anglers don't, from open water in the middle of a pond to small openings in thick vegetation. The latter is where most anglers would throw a frog, but I prefer the much higher hookup percentage of two trebles. If I see a lane in thick cover, I'll even throw a Whopper Plopper. Surface lures are generally thought of as low light baits, but I sometimes catch more bass on the surface with a high Sun than in the wee-est light. In the late summer of 2024, I finally found a walking-the-dog rhythm that attracted Maine bass and I sure caught some beauties, after years of catching little to nothing with walking lures. I let some slack develop between each pop, so that when I snapped the rod and suddenly took up the slack, the lure lurched forward. The bass liked that snapping action. I like clear, black, and white surface lures. This lure caught 75 bass one morning:

Your thinking reminds me of @Pat Brown's. You're observant, reflective, and analytical. Best of all, your conclusions are daisy fresh because you're not only repeating what you've read.

You know how some bass, like some babies, are ugly? Not yours! If bass appeared on Gerber jars, your bass would be a Gerber bass. Funny storytelling too! Overall, an A+.

I beg to differ, good sir. Those are big river bass. I love stories of tenacity and I love good storytelling. You delivered both.

Don't lead him astray!

We have three days with no precipitation in the forecast, but then there's snow forecast for six of the next seven days. When I finally catch a bass, even if it's just 16", it'll feel like 16 pounds.

Yeah, the wind looks at paddlers and says, "Give me your lunch money, kid." However, Officer Clayton, you are empowered to cuff and book the wind. Good luck with that.