Swamp Girl

I can catch one six-pounder on a great day. On ONE day, I even caught two six-pounders. But five six-pounders? In my dreams!

What a North Country bag! I might have neared 25 pounds a time or two, but that's a looonnnnngggg ways from 32 pounds.

I always love when someone mentions water that I've fished!

I caught hundreds of bass in 2024 with different soft plastic baits in chartreuse and white.

Impressive! Sorry I'm out of reactions, so here's one: 😁

I had a pal over this morning. Then two more pals visited for lunch. Then another pal this afternoon. And now I'm going to go hang with some young women in a bar on the ocean and play trivia. So, fun, fun, fun, and then some fun. P. S. - I just took a nap because I am old, so naps are a part of winter too.

I'm looking for water with little to no development, which adversely affect water quality, and challenging access. I caught my PB in a 49-acre lake, so small water can grow big bass. I'm looking for cover. Big bass like to ambush and being big, they can pick the best cover and chase other bass away from it. I'm looking for thick bass, regardless of their length. Thick, short fish indicate to me that there is plenty of feed. If the short ones are stout, the long ones will be thick too.

Great thread. Thanks for starting it, @Fried Lemons.

Galen, there is so much honesty, gratitude, and love in your opening post. Dignity and composure too. When I'm in your shoes and I will be, of course, as we all will be, I hope I can muster half the forthrightness and tenderness that you did. I read your post to friends and family and said, "That's how you do it." And they all looked at me with wet, blinking eyes and nodded "yes." I lived in western Wisconsin for 30 years. Where do you live? If it's not a bother, please share some photos of your time on the water, your bass, boat, home, or anything else. How are you feeling right now? Is there physiological pain? Thanks for confiding in us and thanks for your love. Back at ya, my bass brother. Katie

For sure. I worry about their plants, which aren't built to survive snow.

@wdp: That looks less than 8.5", however, with the warm ground, it might be melting nearly as fast as it's falling, so 8.5" might have fallen from the sky, but not accumulated.

Pat, I really think you should have your own fishing show. Your analogy above is yet the latest proof that you're a natural teacher. ^More^ top tier teaching. Thanks, Pat. You're the best.

@Catt, if you do go outside, cover your face. You're not acclimated to cold air and bare skin will hurt. Most importantly, don't lick a flag pole even if somebody double dog dares you!!!

Mostly, just stay inside. However, I have honeycomb blinds on my windows and insulated curtains. On cold days, I leave the blinds down and the curtains drawn because a window is a hole in your house and even double panes with argon inside bleed heat. I use the blinds and curtains to preserve cool, inside air in the summer too.

Man, you are one funny guy! I agree with @Susky River Rat that this is an interesting topic and I think that @papajoe222's lake is an especially interesting lake because the usual culprits aren't in play, such as heavy pressure that educates the bass (@AlabamaSpothunter, a heckuva stick, is a strong believer in bass learning our lures.) or development, which Maine Fish & Wildlife says is the major predictor of water quality. I just told Alex that the frogs hurt my ears at the pond where I caught my PB and since frogs are the first to go when water quality goes, that pond is healthy, thus producing thick bass (I share one of them below. Yes, it's not a long fish, but it shows how this pond is humming.). All this has me thinking that it's a eco-health issue if a flotilla of anglers aren't educating the fish. I've caught some at this pond that are even fatter than the bass above, but I've have to look through a lot of photos to find them. This is a strong possibility. I used to fish a nearby bog and average 30 to 40 bass, but the last time I went, I had three or four otters swimming beside me and there were far fewer bass and they were smaller too. I haven't returned.

We hit four below last night (It's still one below at 8:42 a.m.), but I'm on the coast, which warms our weather in the winter and cools it in the summer, so we don't get as cold as inland Maine or even inland NY, as @Jar11591 just demonstrated. I'm a Boomer and our parents used to dunk us in vats of liquid nitrogen before we walked to school...and they dunked us both leaving and returning!

Wow, that's a good bus driver.

@NorcalBassin: Sportin' some new facial fur I see. Looks good!

I once taught in a school district that never closed for snow. All the surrounding districts would close, but not us. Then came an afternoon blizzard and a school bus was trapped atop a hill. The bus slipped so much going up that the driver refused to drive down the other side. The superintendent and the principals drove to rescue the kids and by the time they arrived, it was dark and the hill was so slippery that they crawled up it to reach the kids to escort them down. After that, guess which district was the first to cancel?

WOW! What. A. Story.

You are the chilliest guy afloat. Whatever happens, you're happy...EXCEPT when it comes to your century old grudges between the goal posts! Here's you 99% of the time: And here's you on Saturday afternoons in the fall:

I love how you shrug at a foot of snow.

Unlike me. I would be so fraidy. And I'd look so silly and sad, shivering in my canoe sitting atop ice.

Do you remember when you got seven feet in three days? November of 2014, I think. I was driving from Buffalo to Rochester when that storm hit. The wall cloud was black and terrifying. That was the only time in my life I've seen such a thing. My gas gauge was reading empty, but I didn't stop until Syracuse because they were shutting the freeway down behind me and those drivers caught on it were trapped by the blizzard. Ha. That's goofy, huh? Oh well, they meant well.