Swamp Girl

I wouldn't pick one because he's noisy and he has a history of not contributing bass to the livewell. Noise alone would nix him as a partner. Bass hear a lot more than most anglers realize. Okay, he's goofy. I don't have any electronics and you could have five units and I wouldn't be jealous.

Go Bucks, indeed! What I love about the 12-team format is that the number 7 and *** teams are playing for the national championship. In a four-team format, OSU and Notre Dame wouldn't have been invited.

@Glenn's list is comprehensive, but for me, the number one drawback of growing older is diminishing stamina.

I look forward to the day I can start your day with taters and sausages and then put you in the bow and put you on fish.

O-H....

I don't think you've considered it, so I suggest scope and minnow.

BC is soooo beautiful.

I wish that your strategy wasn't Mexico-specific. I'd love to use it in Maine too.

And for Pat, it ain't over til the fat lady (makes his line) sing(s).

I'm with Andy. I also aspire to be present and grateful. Like @Rockhopper's dad, my fishing days are waning. I want to remember as much as I can until I no longer can...fish. I expect to still be fishing in ten years, but not the kind of bushwhack fishing I've long enjoyed for decades. Heck, wilderness fishing is already too demanding for me. Sure, I could do a fly-in, but bushwacking-into the wilderness with all my gear is too tough for me now. My resolution is to fish my baitcasters more.

It's so cool when we've discovered what lure they prefer. However, I also enjoy those mornings when I catch bass on seven different lures.

Well, in Maine (YMMV!), they want Crush City Mayors on underspins pitched against shorelines. In the summer, they want spinnerbaits and underspins. In the fall, they want walking baits and flukes. And from spring through fall, they want poppers. This is all I know and only what I know, so I won't be taking any follow-up questions. #Itrulyamanidiot

Whoa! I've had days too when the bass are spinnerbait-giddy, but when it comes to trips where they clearly preferred one lure, that lure would be a popper. Looking back at my 2024 trip reports, there were many mornings and evenings when I caught 95% of my bass on poppers. I've had Whopper Plopper trips like that too. Maine bass look up a lot, it seems.

Alex, you are so kind and GENEROUS, but I don't even know the names of most of my lures. You teach me, not vice-versa. Way closer to eight than seven!!! Thank you, Alex. I'm out of reactions, so that's why I didn't tag your post with a thank you.

Hmmm. We'll see. So far, Maine bass haven't shied away from my bigger lures and I like them bigger because I can cast them farther, thus increasing my stealth. However, I'm already pretty stealthy. I remember one time sitting in some weeds and bumping my canoe and seeing swirls of fleeing bass all around me, some within two feet of my boat, so they didn't know I was there or if they did, they didn't care...until I made that sharp sound.

I'm out of reactions, but @Glenn's post made me LOL. ^This^ is my issue. If I don't catch a bass pretty quickly on a new lure, I stop using it. Then I get stuck with the same old, same old.

I truly believe that we have the find the lures that work for our local bass. I use to fish with six or seven rods, each with a different lure, and switch rods continually throughout the morning, but now that I know what my local bass prefer, I fish with four rods and often two will have the same lure.

When you read about those anglers who score with lures you don't use, don' cha wish you could sit in a boat with them and watch them fish? I wish YouTubers would aim a camera at their hands so that I could watch them work a lure I don't use or can't use well.

@A-Jay: Andy, you are the most organized angler I've ever seen. Do you cringe when you see photos of my sloppy canoes? I nearly swoon when I see photos of your gear. @gim and some others are also ship-shape, but you're the best.

Pat, you have a great attitude. I wish you lived down the road so we could fish together.

@Peacedivision: I'm doubly grateful to you because they're on clearance, so I bought five in various colors and both sizes before they're gone forever. I've tried a couple other walking lures, but bass in Maine really prefer Fishing 13 Dual Pitch. Of course, YMMV. Why do you like the Realis pencil series? P. S. - I just bought a 4.5" Golden Retriever off Ebay too. TW only had the shorter Golden Retriever and I've been using the big one. The bass in my avatar was caught on the big one.

That's it! The size is right. The look is right. And it comes in gold and black. I'm going to order another right now before I forget what it is. Thanks! @webertime: That's a pretty cool lure you suggested. Love those prism finishes. I caught hundreds of bass on a flashy popper in 2024. I might order your suggestion too.

Just between you and me and I promise not to tell anyone else, what exactly do the fish want? #yeahI'manidiot

Does anyone know what the walking bait below is? I ask because it's my best walking bait and I only have one. If a pickerel were to take it, I'd like to buy another. It's much more effective than my other walking baits.

Whoa! I didn't know that NC could freeze...and three winters in a row. I'm assuming your ice isn't thick enough to fish. Am I right? How exciting! I would have loved that almost as much as catching bass. I agree. I'm assuming Alex is going to catch some big bass and bags in the next couple months. Mid-winter is Alex's happy place. I'm a little farther north than you, so I feel really lucky to catch the bass that I do. I think it's a combination of being coastal, which moderates temps a bit, and fishing water that's harder to reach with boats even smaller than yours. However, your proximity to Lake Ontario should moderate temps a bit too, since it's really an inland, freshwater sea.