Swamp Girl

I just bought one!

We're happy you're here!

Ha! I'm as far from a pro as an angler can be. First off, I'm scruffy. I tend to wear the same pants for months because they're treated with Permethrin. And my shirts are 40 years old. No lie. Plus, my canoes are scuffed and old too. And I'm old! Contrast me with a young buck who's adorned with 52 logos atop a glitter boat with more electronics than NASA circa 1969. Lastly, another way I'm different is that I catch more bass than many pros!* *I can't believe I'm talking trash, but I did. Today, at least, I'm saltier than the sea!

I loaded the app because I'd heard about the free french fries on Friday. #lovingfreefries

I second Eric.

A head that big can eat above its weight class, so the body won't lag for long.

@Bankbeater: 14 days earlier is a big deal. Speaking of big, look at your bass's head! It might be that the bass twisting makes it look like it's 40% head.

It's cool how we all fish so differently. Whereas I would never disagree with Tom(@WRB) aka Bass Resource's Yoda, I have no marinas and I usually launch in inches of water. So, there's no one to consult and not much to see, especially at four in the morning when it's dark. I used to consult maps, but following @PhishLI's and @AlabamaSpothunter's advice, I focused on fewer ponds and bogs last year, so I pretty much know the depths of the water I fish. Wind speed and direction largely determine where I fish. I do leave fish to find fish. I also know that I'm not supposed to do this, but I'm fishing for the most active bass and I usually catch those most active bass within minutes of arriving. So, yeah, I could linger and catch less active bass, but I don't. There are more active bass around the bend. I usually launch with six lures and try all those lures each morning or evening. I am curious about bass, so oftentimes I'll catch a bass with one lure and immediately switch to another lure to see what else they'll hit. However, if they clearly prefer one lure, I'll stick to that. I had that happen with poppers a few times last year and those were my 60-75 bass outings, but if I can catch bass with multiple lures, I enjoy that approach. I feel I learn more that way. Basically, I'm like your buddy and @greentrout: I'm old school. Lastly, welcome to Bass Resource, Crawford!

Those landlocked salmon lakes are both north of me and too big for a canoe.

Anyone else park the farthest from the store and take staircases instead of elevators? @MassBass: I'd like to improve my grip strength. What do you suggest?

So, here's an update on this body of water in this thread, which was a bog that became a river when the dam was opened. Now it's neither a bog nor a river: It's a lake. The dam that feeds this former bog and river must have also been opened for when I drove down there today, much of the bog is underwater. By that, I mean the majority of its high, boggy, grassy points are gone. It's 99.9% ice still, but it looks like a different body of water. I'm so excited to fish it to see how it'll fish.

It is. Noted and thanks!

Been there, done that. I'm just glad you got to hold her! I catch so many of my bass at that depth close to shore.

@FryDog62: Yee-haw! I'm so excited to use my @Siebert Outdoors's spinnerbaits too. It looks like you're tight to the shore, Mr. 62. Was she tight to the shore too?

I've learned to see a person's age and health at a glance if they're walking across a parking lot. There are exceptions. I've seen 70 year olds who walk like they're 30.

That sounds like MUCH to me. I couldn't do it. Atop your diagnosis, you're the Hulk.

60-year-olds still skating are my heroes. I think sometimes our concept of who's tough is awry. One January, I was driving across the Wisconsin prairie and I passed an Amish woman on a bike. The wind was howling, buffeting my car and the temperature was well below zero. With wind chill, it might have 30 below zero. But she had her head down and kept pedaling. How many people think of Amish women as tough? And how many Americans could do what she did? I know I couldn't, not even when I was young. Yeah, she was my hero too.

Thanks! I don't want to lose it, i.e. the muscle and balance to rise from the floor, so I use it. My mom lost her independence when she started falling and couldn't stand again.

Whoa! Hockey is tough. Regarding eating well, I did go to McDonald's today. I allow myself one meal a year at McDonald's. With the Friday free fries on the McDonald's app and my single hamburger, lunch cost me $2.20. Old school cost, huh?

@DogBone_384: Sweet ride. So many of you have awesome boats. Do you trailer it? If so, you must be strong enough to get it started on your trailer, right? How much does it weigh?

Andy's exercise thread has me thinking about how we can integrate exercise into our daily lives. I'm not talking about lifting weights or joining a gym. I'm talking about stretching our daily movement into exercise. For example: I climb my staircase, two steps at a time, 20 to 30 times a day. Although I'm 68, I go down to the floor many times everyday and force myself to stand quickly. My peers avoid the floor because they don't do this. I rise from chairs with a burst of speed. I paddle instead of owning a motor. What do you do?

@Team9nine: Thick bass, buddy! You are scoring and I'm living like Uncle Rico. Here's why: I found about two feet of open water today. I kid you not, if coach had only given me a rod and reel, I would have cast at that patch of open water and I would have caught thick bass like yours! No question about it.

Please send me that chocolate cake. Thanks!

I just took a drive to see if I could find open water. The steeper streams are gurgling. The slower ones are still icy. I checked a bog and saw a couple feet of water open here and there on the edges. Today and tomorrow are cold and howling, but after that, the ice will be steadily melting.