Swamp Girl

I actually have a lot of experience with bass on two rods at once. On the Mississippi, I'd sometimes hook three bass on three rods at once. Whether it's two rods or three, the key is to keep distance between your lines and to keep tension on the outfit that you're not reeling. So, I pinch one of the outfits with my legs while landing the other bass, but I'll stop reeling to hard paddle once or twice to keep the other line taut. When the first bass is in the net, I don't unhook it. I leave it in the net in the water while retrieving the other bass and then net the other bass too. Two bass in the net! So much fun!!! Three bass on three rods is where it gets tricky, but it can be done. That happened when I was fishing with live bait with two rods. I'd get simultaneous hits and set both hooks. Then I'd cast a jig because two simultaneous hits meant I was atop a school. Maine Fish and Wildlife has reports of ponds and bogs that are only 10-20 acres. However, many of its pond reports are 20-30 years old, so even if bass aren't listed, they might be there. For example, the pond where I caught my PB LMB was listed as a brook trout pond with no bass. A lot can happen in 30 years. I've only fished one body of water in Maine where I didn't catch bass. However, I fished that one from shore early in the season, so it might have bass that I just didn't catch. What kind of boat do you have?

Nice ride, Mike!

Considering that there's carbon in wood and that wood is made of fibers, he was fishing with carbon fiber rods.

One thing I love about underspins is my confidence in casting it everywhere. I don't remember a single snag in 2024, but that seems impossible, given where I cast it: It's as weed-free a lure as I use. I also love how it catches bass in open water too at all depths. I don't have to switch lures to explore the water column. And I caught scores of bass in 2024 trolling it while paddling to a new location to cast. One time, I was trolling two underspins and hooked two bass at once, one on each rod. One advantage of the underspin over the overspin, aka a spinnerbaits, is the underspin lands more softly. I caught so many bass with the underspin where it seemed like it landed in their mouths because it didn't spook them. I LOVE spinnerbaits, but they are noisier on the landing. I'm so happy for you! My strategy is to fish scruffy water that's hard to reach. The water in the photo above is between inches and two feet deep. Lots of boats couldn't fish such skinny water and to reach it, I have to drive down a dirt road and then carry a canoe through the woods. I can't compete with an angler in a bass boat with FFS and SpotLock. They outgun me. So, I go where they can't go. I think about a bass boater trying to drag his bass boat through the woods and I chuckle.

Gosh, I'm happy to share, but at this point, I fear I've overshared as I post reports of all my trips and always relate what lures I used. However, in summary, I... ...fish as quietly as possible, which means no bumping the boat and I even paddle quietly... ...and lean on these three lures: popper (make and color don't seem to matter, but for whatever reason, I leaned on my Shimano pink Flashboost), spinnerbait, and underspin with a chartreuse and white swimbait, either Keitech, Crush City Mayor, or Zako. All three catch bass, but I think the Zako has the most wiggle and catches the most. In the spring, I pitch the underspins into emerging reeds and beneath branches. In the summer, I'm casting a popper and spinnerbait more. In the fall, I fish on the move, covering as much territory as possible, and switch lures often. A walking bait caught some of my biggest fall bass and my fall of 2024 was my best season ever for big fish. I even caught a four-pounder, five-pounder, and a 4.5-pounder on consecutive casts in the dark. Here are some of my other big fall fish, but there were many others between four and six pounds: And that's how I catch bass! I am adding some lures to my rotation for 2025. I've caught bass on jerkbaits, but some of the BR gang say it's a big fish bait, so I want to use it more. I bought some of Mike Siebert's (@Siebert Outdoors) spinnerbaits and chatterbaits and will be using those this spring. I'm expecting Maine bass to love Mike's baits!

Cool superpower! Sometimes I'm too excited to fall asleep in time to fully rest before the next morning's fishing and I go fishing tired and fish poorly.

Welcome, @farmerfishing! I love cloudy days. I also love chartreuse.

Summertime and the livin' is easy Coastal breeze blowin' All over our land!

@JHoss: Your story is soooooooooo scary!!!

Heartbreaking. I ran a set of rapids once when I was young. My partner was impulsive. I wanted to stop upriver and scout the rapids. He wanted to run them with no knowledge of what awaited us and no plan. We tipped and I lost my best outfit. I waded into the rapids to retrieve it. He kept yelling at me to return, that it wasn't worth it. I was so mad at him that I kept going and actually found it and retrieved it.

Not in coastal Maine. Our weather is pretty much the same, day after day after day. Living on the Atlantic really moderates. I've lived in Ohio, where Tim lives, and in the middle of the U.S., where the temperature swings are much more extreme. I've also lived on the West Coast, which is much like the East Coast, where yesterday and today and tomorrow are all pretty much the same day, weather-wise. Of course, Maritime climates do have fronts, but we can go weeks without much change, temperature-wise.

I bought a tether and case too, but just not soon enough.

BP, your Old Town Guide has low primary stability, but solid secondary stability. This is unlike most canoes, which feel stable, but aren't. Your Guide will feel unstable, but isn't. My Bell Rockstar is has the same poor primary stability, but steady secondary stability. I don't know if you remember, but I tipped it in 2023. A boat like your Guide and my Rockstar, if you do tip it, will toss you from the boat. This sounds bad, but it's a good quality because it's unlikely to tip itself. It tips you, but not itself, remaining dry and upright. So, you don't lose your gear and have to struggle to move a submerged boat to shore. Here's the Old Town Guide summary: "With its unique cross-section and stabilizing chines, the Guide 147 delivers exceptional stability, as well as rugged durability. The Guide model has low primary stability but high secondary stability - meaning it rocks back and forth like crazy during paddling but is actually hard to tip over." The more weight it carries, the more stable it will feel, but if it's just you and your gear, you'll feel like you're standing on a balance beam on a gusty day. Don't worry. Paddle it for five minutes and you'll settle into it, but the first five minutes can be scary. Paddle on your knees for the first five minutes and splay your knees. That'll steady your boat and you. Also keep your feet on the keel (center of the floor) whenever you board and exit your canoe. In case you're wondering why Old Town would build a canoe with poor primary stability, it's because you can build a canoe with poor primary and good secondary or good primary and poor stability, but not good primary and good secondary. @bp_fowler: You might want to swap your bow seat for a cane seat so that you can paddle from that seat when you're alone. Yeah, you'll be paddling your canoe backwards, but that doesn't matter. What will matter is that paddling backwards from the bow seat will place you mid-canoe, which will allow for straighter, more-controlled paddling. And buy a good, bent-shaft paddle and always bring an extra.

@bp_fowler: BP buddy! Welcome aboard. My only advice is to don't boat if you can't float. My only other advice is to sneakily go where no bass boat has gone before. P. S.-Who's the maker and what's the length and weight?

How cool that your friends and family celebrated your catch with all those meals. I had the same reaction! My dream lake would be @Bluebasser86's magic water that never freezes full of @AlabamaSpothunter's big bass and every now and then, I'd catch a magic bass like yours. I'm going to ask Bob to make me such a lake. Bob's the builder. He can do it.

@casts_by_fly: For sure, that looks like some of my favorite places. Here's a greener version of your photo above: Congrats on your first bass!

@Catt: I wish we had magical bass in Maine. So, when you caught it, did you immediately understand that you'd landed a truck? Also, if that's your truck behind you, do you drive it everywhere with that decal on the side? Lastly, does that mark you as a mini-celebrity?

Ahhhhh!* *I get it.

Agree! Write it for Bass Resource, @TOXIC.

Another superpower I have is being dogged. @T-Billy has it, fishing night after night. So does @AlabamaSpothunter, fishing hard through the winter. @pdxfisher has it too. I've seen him launch his little boat in the winter and I've also seen him fish from his little boat in merciless winds. Of course, other BR members also have this superpower. I'm dogged in not launching at the easy places, I.e. parking lots with ramps. I lug my gear through the woods and wade into water before it's deep enough to step into my canoes. So, I'm a little like John McClane. I'm scruffy and outgunned and sometimes bloodied, but I keep fighting.

@Bird: I also love those multi-big-bass days. I can luck into a five or six-pounder, but to catch multiple thick bass, I have to sync with the lake, crack the code, and whisper to the fish.

I think it's your decades of fishing hundreds of lures. Even fuzzy dice, which look like no other lure, have qualities in common with other lures, such as where and how you fish them and what a hit feels like. Plus, you carry the experiences of centuries of angling expertise in your head, given all the conversations you've had with the best in this sport. Whatever the reason, it's a cool superpower.

Funny guy!

DDs and comedy!

When it comes to scent, NO ONE know more than Skunkmaster.