Swamp Girl

@Fishlegs: You are also doing a public service when you post winter bass. We Yanks are pathetic, so cold and fishless.

And that is a pretty fish, @Fishlegs.

Dive, dive, dive!

I caught my first 2024 bass on April 2nd last year. I hope to catch one sooner this year.

I just bought some new poppers. I caught soooo many bass on poppers last year in the latter half of 2024. If 2025 works like 2024, I'll start the year with underspins cast to emerging weeds, switch to poppers cast pretty much everywhere, and score with spinnerbaits all year. Fingers crossed I can catch some bass with chatterbaits too. Mike Siebert just sent me some of his and I'm excited to use them. I'll also be using the bait that Alex suggested. I can't remember its name, but it's that bait that goes up and down on the retrieve.

I'll turn 69 this summer. My main change is I no longer fish the lakes that require multiple portages and sleeping on rock. I fish close to home and limit my fishing to less than six hours. So true! I love the king! P. S. - I also bought some waterfront property and have a deck and two canoes there. I love fishing without having to carry my canoe, but I still carry my canoe more than half my trips to fish water other than my pond.

Fully agree. Bump boards tell the truth, but its a drab truth, which is why I try to mix bump board pics with pretty background pics.

@Fishing_Rod: Well said!

All the approaches have advantages and disadvantages. For example, @Team9nine's photo approach show both him and the bass, which is good, but looking at his second photo above, that bass goes from the top of his head to the top of his thigh. At first glance, it appears to be three feet long or thereabouts. When I used to have a fishing partner who could take a photo of me with a bass, I put my elbow behind my head so that the bass would be right beside me to provide scale. I understand that I'm in the minority here and that a bass displayed this way looks small compared to a bass with extended arms. You can see that the bass below goes from near the top of my head to mid-torso. At first glance, it's a considerably shorter fish. I love having photos, but as Alex noted, I love my mind's memories even more. Even though I caught the bass above a decade or two ago, I could take you to the exact spot where she hit, as long as you were willing to launch just above a waterfall, paddle across one lake, bulldoze through the current of a narrows, wind through a reed field, and then cross another lake. There's an even better lake beyond the one above, but it takes crossing a couple swamps and four sets of rapids. Oh, I wish I were young enough to reach such places still.

That's my struggle. I stretch my arm as far as possible and even lean back sometimes to fit a bass into my camera's frame, but there's no reference point for size. However, backdropped by the water I fish, they are handsome photos. In 2025, I plan to alternate between handsome photos and bump board photos, as I did at the end of 2024. Of course, some kayaks and bass boats bristle with cameras, but that's not an option for me given the way I fish and my declining strength. I already struggle to carry my gear. The least informative photos for me are the ones with the bass thrust at the camera. With the angler as a backdrop and the bass in the foreground, the bodies of the bass can appear as big as the bodies of the fisherman and whereas the BR crew catch big bass, no one catches bass as big as them. To circle back to your point, Alex, no photo captures what we experience.

BIG bass being caught! Congrats, guys. Alex, I love the photo of your big bass in the water.

Thank you. I miss him. If you ever visit his FB page again, tell him he's missed.

Amen!

Alex, your 7.6 reminds me of your near DD in her perfection. Sure, she's fat, but she's also pristine. And Aaron lands a four-plus-pounder, making me think that those southern bass are indeed stirring. Does anyone know if WoodyB is okay? I've PMed him a couple times, but he hasn't replied. I miss his posts and his presence at BR.

That's a scrapper!

What's the difference between a 19-inch Kansas bass and a 19-inch Maine bass? Answer: 'bout a pound. Now, I have caught 19-inchers in Maine that weighed more than four, but most of them are four-pounders. Kansas grows thick fish and Clayton catches them!

Well done, Officer Clayton. I wish I could say that I always follow your fine lead, but sometimes I hold my tongue and sometimes I don't.

Beauty, Bob! I love when their bellies bulge. @BrianMDTX: There is no such thing as an ice breaker canoe, however Bob could build one. Bob can build anything and everything. That's why they call @Blue Raider Bob...

I am a broken bass fishing machine! I just took this pic outside my front door and I know if I went fishing today, I'd be skunked:

I know, huh?! I retrieved a Jitterbug over the heads of countless north country smallies and not one ever hit it.

Thank you, Brian, for going fishing, catching some bass, and posting some pics. I feel so far from fishing, as it was six below this morning, plus it snowed yesterday and is snowing again tonight and is supposed to snow some more tomorrow night. It helps to know that someone somewhere is still catching bass and I'm glad it's you. I did order some lures from Mike Siebert (siebertoutdoors.com) and I'm excited to try those when the ice does melt, both spinnerbaits and blade baits. When I do catch bass with Mike's lures, I'll let you guys know!

I have a couple Shimanos that I've used for 40 years.

@The Rooster: Thanks for the photo of your dad. It's great.

They are fat. One after another after another are footballs. Just not long, topping out at about 18.5", but I did have one hit that moved so much water that I'm thinking the pond might hold a kraken or two. My problem is that I'm not a fan of eating bass. I'm spoiled by walleye and yellow perch. I invite others to keep bass, but I don't think that's happening...much. I suppose I could keep some to fertilize my garden. I think Native Americans did that.