Swamp Girl

What do you mean by this? I want to do it right.

And I'll let you know how the 5-inchers work, but you'll have to wait a bit.

Muskies can be tough, no doubt...even for the Great Furred Musky Hunter @T-Billy.

I think they'd work great on the winged jigs, but I've learned to fear Z-man, as they melt when touching other soft plastics and I often, to save space, mix soft plastics in one bag. When I forget I've done that and go into that bag a couple weeks later, it's a hot mess. I think with a bigger boat with plenty of space to keep the Z-Man's separate and I'd use them all the time.

Well, if you're talking about the 5-incher colors, I picked them because they're similar to the colors of paddletails like Keitechs and Mayors that have caught bass, i.e. the shad colored one and the bright colors. I went with pink because other Mainers have good luck with that color. I have caught some bass on pink Senkos wacky-hooked, but it's not been my best-producing color. Still, hope springs eternal. Overall, my best color for soft plastics is chartreuse and white and the lime gold is pretty close to that. I probably should have bought two lime golds and only one Seguro Katakuchi, but we'll see which works best. I'm excited to try them all and I'm pretty confident that I can learn the retrieve because I did some strolling in 2024, which is another thing I learned from Alex. I strolled with a small soft plastic and caught smallmouth, but I'm confident that 5-inchers that are coming will appeal to largemouth. Maine largemouth like large lures and I like throwing them because I can cast them farther and thus be stealthier.

@Team9nine: You and I both have the consistency gene. Whether you're north or south, in winter and summer, you catch bass, and I too caught/catch bass in rivers big and small, in farm ponds and the largest lakes, in cities and wilderness water.

Hmm. They are slender lures and the tiny tail won't produce much thump, meaning they won't feel it in their lateral line. Maybe your water is too murky for such a slight bait. I fish clear water and would be very surprised if they don't work. That side to side jerking is a Five Guys Burgers and Fries to Maine bass.

Thanks to @webertime, I just bought these (three bright colors, two in shad, and one with everything, i.e. Pepper Prizm): Quantity1 Bayruf BR Fish Pepper Prizm / 5 inch 1 $8.99 Quantity1 Bayruf BR Fish Bay White / 5 inch 1 $8.99 Quantity1 Bayruf BR Fish Lime Gold / 5 inch 1 $8.99 Quantity1 Bayruf BR Fish Gold Red / 5 inch 1 $8.99 Quantity2 Bayruf BR Fish Seguro Katakuchi / 5 inch 2 $17.98

Yeah, five for me, for sure. Anyone have a link for five-inchers?

I'm a consistent angler for three reasons: 1. Good paddler. 2. Accurate caster. 3. I remember where I caught bass.

Dang it. It's pineapple season here!

P. S. - I'm going to wear a PFD for everyone who doesn't. I'll be so buoyant that I won't even need a canoe.

Bob shoots, he SCORES! And the crowd goes crazy!!!

@AlabamaSpothunter suggested I buy the following and I'm super excited to try them come spring. You fish them like an underwater walking bait that also dives: Duo Realis Bayruf BR Head × 1 3/16 oz Duo Realis Bayruf BR Head × 1 1/4 oz Duo Realis Bayruf BR Head × 1 5/16 oz Duo Realis Bayruf BR Fish × 1 Chartreuse / 3.3" Duo Realis Bayruf BR Fish × 1 Chart Silver / 3.3" Duo Realis Bayruf BR Fish × 3 Seguro Katakuchi / 3.3"

Hey, Mike. Bass Resource is a great place to add to your skill set.

Same rule in my canoe. And twice, I was resisted, once by a teenage boy and once by my dad, but I held firm and they relented. None of us love North Korea.

Hey, @Bluebasser86, quit stealing @Team9nine's crappie! Where's an LEO when you need one? Seriously, that switch turning on is something I've enjoyed. It's the sweet can't catch-can't catch-can't catch-CAN catch!

I understand the sentiment, but our choices can ripple outward. As others noted above, if you die because you didn't don a PFD, the searchers now have to find your corpse...and it won't be pretty. If you chose other reckless behaviors that move you from the workforce to someone who's medically dependent, that ripples through insurance premiums and your family until you draw your final breath. I worked on a spinal injury ward. Our patients were predominately young men. I haven't tipped a canoe since I was a kid until 2023 when I was in the water so suddenly that I have no memory of tipping nor even striking the water. I was in the air and then I was underwater, stunned. So, I experienced how quickly one can go under. I had no time to formulate a plan. The only plan I had in play was to already be wearing my PFD.

If I were a talented painter and I wanted to paint a perfect smallmouth, it would be @TnRiver46's.

Back when I had a couple columns for the now-defunct "Canoe & Kayak" magazine and was their travel writer too, I happened upon a guy who was doing some amazing moves without a paddle in a roaring reverse falls, where the extreme tides we have in Maine create whitewater in a strait. He was showboating directly below a bridge, so I got some great shots being above him. Then I interviewed him, confident that my editor would make space for him, but the editor immediately declined because the guy wasn't wearing a life jacket. "We won't put that bad example out there for our readership," he said. We all should be good examples.

@TnRiver46: That first smallmouth is perfect.

If you guys don't mind, don't use this thread anymore and go back to reporting your fish in the latest catch thread. I feel this thread has siphoned some of its traffic. Thanks and Merry Christmas!

I could post my PB, but instead, I'll post the girl below. I caught her on my third trip from the last. To reach her home, I drove a ridge line in the dark, down a gravel road, and then down a narrow, dangerous drive to launch beside a dam. I had to carry my canoe down a slippery slope to launch. I then paddled down a gorge in creepy blackness, skirting fallen, spectral trees. That led to a long flat and I had to follow the old riverbed to find water deep enough to float my canoe. It was hard and several times I paddled onto a mud flat and I had to use my paddle as a pole to extricate myself. A couple of miles of mis-directions later, I reached the widest and deepest part of the river and proceeded to catch 56 bass and two jumbo perch. I'd caught more bass in a morning in 2024 and I'd caught bigger bass too in 2024, but I'd never caught so many big bass as I did that morning, about a dozen in total and this gal was the thickest of them. I think I caught her on a big walking bait. Black and gold. She has everything I love in a bass. My everything isn't much: just a big head followed by a big body. She didn't look beaten down by life, but thriving despite its myriad challenges, and I saw five of them: three bald eagles in a V cruising over her home and two ospreys too. I didn't weigh or measure her, but if you really need a number, here's one: A perfect 10.

Glenn, I'm happy to watch your videos whenever they're filmed. I was just expressing some soft water envy.

I came back to have another look at Pat's bass. It's just as whoa-y today as it was when I first saw it.