Swamp Girl

I've caught several five-smallie bags over 20 pounds, but not by much. I remember one evening when my five best were, in inches, 19, 19.5, 19.75, 20.25, and 20.5, which is a mix of four and five-pounders. Not @A-Jay-sized, but not bad for northwestern Ontario from a canoe. The In-Fisherman length to weight chart says my bag above was 22.87 lbs. I remember another evening when I caught six thick smallies ranging from 19 inches to 21 inches, so that would be a similar bag. Nowhere near as big as the others in this thread, but pretty hefty for how far north I was, WAY north of Simcoe. FWIW, my all-time heaviest smallmouth was likely six pounds. I didn't weigh her, but she was extraordinary, built like a spawning lmb. It was nearly dark when I landed her and my brother, in another canoe, got one lousy photo of her. I'll see if I can find it. She had a sagging gut like you see on big lmbs.

Yep and yep! Ha! And so true. I did help. The base wood came from beaver-girdled trees on my land, split lengthwise and laid flat sides up, and I fetched the pallets, provided for free by a local hardware store. The only wood I didn't provide is the oak on top. I also bought the wood screws. What they provided that was PRICELESS was their wood savvy and their manly toughness, for they donned their Muck boots and were working in the bog. It has three layers: twin tree trunks on the bottom, then pallets, and then locally milled oak on top. It's crude and clever and full Maine-y!

Here's their house after Alex decorated it: Seriously, here's the boardwalk that some local men built for me after I granted them access to my pond. They also leveled my path through the woods and spread gravel on it, so a helpful, grateful angler is a win-win for landowners. They since extended the boardwalk all the way to open water:

Anyone else loving the look of that eel? I'm thinking this is what whitwolf really looks like:

Bob, if I were you, I'd use Google Earth to locate some ponds. Then I'd think about what you could offer in exchange for fishing access. I bake cookies, but also give landowners cashews, beer, wine, etc. I know at least two Bass Resource members give labor in exchange for fishing access. I think @AlabamaSpothunter even made Christmas decorations for the landowner who lets him reach his honey hole and he recently caught a near DD there!

@Pat Brown is one of Bass Resource's best teachers and he lives close to you. Message him and take notes.

@little giant already suggested it, but I second the Yamamoto Kickin Zako Swimbait. My local bass prefer Chartreuse Shad Laminate. And @AlabamaSpothunter taught me to use the Deps Sakamata Shad Soft Jerkbait, which I prefer in the 7" length. Here's a Deps bass, but be warned that it is a soft and expensive bait. However, I think bass love it because it is soft. I just hate when I have to keep biting off the shredded head of the bait, turning it into a 6" bait and then a 5" bait and then....:

I worry about you guys when the temp drops that low. My home is built for 18 degrees. Texas homes aren't. For example, when we lose power, as we often do with all our trees and wind, I won't bother to fire up the generator for a couple days. My home will hold heat for a couple days even if it's 18 degrees outside. I can't imagine most homes in Texas staying warm that long. And my next home will have 19" thick walls with a predicted monthly energy bill of ten bucks.

One more thing. Look at the photo of Andy braced on his casting deck and note how he's leaning away from the bass. I can't do that. My first year of catching lmbs in weeds, in the fall of '23, I started a thread that I think I titled, "How do you Southern guys do it?", where I asked about landing bass from weeds. And whereas some tried to help, it was Father Time who largely taught me because I think I'm the only angler at Bass Resource who fishes from a 32-pound canoe that looks more like a typical sculling boat than most canoes. It's tippy and is bullied by both wind and bass, so Father Time taught me to "case the joint" before I cast and to formulate a plan if a bass hits. Where will I first try to direct the bass and then what will I do next and next? Father Time taught me to apply pressure, but not too much pressure, lest I yank the hooks free. And so on. Again, I learned to fish where I fish. Move me from my ponds and bogs and I'm a noobie again.

One of my favorite scenes in "A River Runs Through It" is when the Brad Pitt character leaves his father's fine coaching behind and forges his own style of fishing. We all have to discover what works for us. I am acutely aware that I fish wrong by the books and what's popular. I fish from a canoe rather than the far more popular kayaks. I power fish with spinning gear. I use the same rods with every lure. And so on. But it works for me...on my local water. And I know what works for other successful BR anglers wouldn't begin to work where I fish. I imagine a bass boat below and I see a weed-fouled prop. And then I imagine someone trying to drag their bass boat through these woods. So, it's Father Time more than YouTube videos that tell us how to catch our local bass. Plop me on the shore of one of @Pat Brown's city ponds and I couldn't begin to replicate what he does...without Father Time. Drop me on O.H. Ivie and I'd be oh-so lost, until Father Time started teaching me. When I used to outfish dozens of other boats on the Mississippi River, I wasn't fishing like they were. Same on Lake Michigan. I was fishing differently, taught by Father Time, the greatest coach, with the greatest teaching method: Try and fail and try, try, try again. Yeah, you heard me Coaches Saban, Belichick, Jackson, and Auerbach! You guys are number two and always will be.

Brother of the Paddle! What about your old buddy Swampy? Gosh, yes! I have looked and looked and looked at the photos of the bass I caught in '24. Then '23. Then the end of '22, when I started lmb fishing. But looking ain't catching. I miss solving the puzzles: Where are they? What do they want? Once I've found them, why are they at this spot? What other place on the pond or bog is like this spot? And, above all, why won't they stop wiggling while I photograph them? I also miss walking through the woods and paddling and watching the Sun rise and hearing the birds. Sigh. We need you Southern guys, but you've been facing your own considerable cold.

Sorry I missed this thread, Alex. My congrats is way overdue, but here it is:

I used to go north to northwestern Ontario. Now I stay put and fish local water.

But man, oh, man, you can strum muskies!

Don't be cruel, my teddy bear!

Ha, @A-Jay! @Glenn, can you please set up a Zoom call with everyone at Bass Resource and sing us a lullaby, one after another after another..., to get us through the outage?

Indeed. Oh, I'd care. I hate that stupid, stiff, knot-unwinding fluoro. I didn't take it that way, so no apology needed. I quite liked your post, except when you mentioned fluoro, which gave me the hives. Tom, I would have liked you coaching me that way too. I hate fishing videos where they focus on shoving their bass in your face. I already consistently catch bass. I don't need to see yours. I need to see your hands, to learn how you're working the lure, and to see the lure in the water.

Great ideas, Alex. Galen, please give a big bass fishing trip some more thought. I'll likely never catch a DD, so you could go catch one for me!

I really like cabbage with my meat entree. I enjoy open water fishing, but nowhere near as much as fishing the reeds, pads, and coontail.

I understand your point, Ken, and it's a good one. I agree that competition is why. There are only so many big bass in a body of water. However, hole nine on a golf course has the potential for limitless birdies. Me too. I don't flip or pitch exactly, but I love the weeds!

And you're one of the best, Pat. Mr. Sanford, there is a lot of coaching at Bass Resource. @Glenn is, like @Pat Brown, a natural teacher. Others, like @AlabamaSpothunter and @T-Billy, have taught me through personal messages. My challenge as a bass student has been to glean what works for me on my local water. Because I fish from a canoe and without electronics, FFS advice doesn't work for me. It's as informative to me as taking a chimpanzee to an M.I.T. physics lecture. I've written a couple articles for Bass Resource and my forte is wilderness fishing. Want to learn how to drive a car across a stream to reach a pristine lake? I'm your gal. Want to know how to create a portage trail to reach a lake that perhaps no one EVER has fished? That's me too. I know stealth fishing too. However, if you fish busy tournaments, my knowledge is pert near worthless. BUT if you want to sneak up on bog bass in a canoe, so close that you bump them with the bow of your canoe, reach out to me. So, there's a lot of chaff before you reach the seeds that'll grow your particular fishing skill and knowledge, i.e. what'll work for you. WHEN you find a Bass Resource member who's fishing similar water to yours and from a similar platform (shore, bass boat, kayak, etc.) message them. That'll be your coach.

If Galen's health and doctors permit this, we could all contribute $100 each and he could go catch a DD for free. I'd consider it an honor to contribute.

Agreed...EXCEPT I'd have to catch a 30 lb. bag without FFS...and a bass boat...and a partner...and a CLUE!