Swamp Girl

This is the saddest one.

Thanks for those details. I hadn't considered that such plants might come with strong smells.

You are so welcome, Eric! Here's another travel story. I wrote a story about Roanoke, VA once and they liked it so much, they hired me to write a couple more. This is one of the three: https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/roanoke-the-it-town

I also agree with @Junk Fisherman and I'm smitten by paddling, so I suggest you buy a jonboat unless, like me, you love to paddle. For this reason, I don't understand kayaks with motors, but to each their own. This is why I am consider King Fisher to be a witch. A funny, wise witch who catches DDs, but a witch never-the-less. I'm not 100% certain. If I ever meet him, I'll test him to see if he floats like a duck.

I would love touring the factories. When I wrote for business magazines, I loved touring factories. The only one that scared me was a glass-making factory. They had an oven the length of a football field and my tour guide asked me if I'd like a look inside the oven. "Sure," I said, and he opened a teensy-tiny door. It was heck on Earth inside it.

It's still cold in Maine, but not as cold as Michigan. I think we hit one degree last night. This is the hard time of the year. We're supposed to reach 50 degrees in nine days, but whereas 50 degrees for one day is plenty warm enough to fish, it's nowhere near enough heat to melt the ice. So, I can walk outside and feel like I could fish, but I can't. I do have a drysuit now and a stable kayak stashed at my pal's pond. My Old Town NEXT at my pond is pretty stable too, so I'll be good to go once the water softens. That's a huge increase and a LOT of wood. I'm ready to fish too. My Bass Resource buddies in Iowa are already fishing!!! Clayton in Kansas too. And I'm nowhere near launching.

I did send three reels to Delaware Valley Tackle and I've reorganized my lures. I have yet to replace my line, but I will.

I know, huh? I wrote a couple articles about this same guy when he paddled from Washington state to the Chilkoot Pass, down part of the Yukon River, cross-country to a cabin he'd built years back, and then out to the Bering Sea and down Alaska's coastline. Remember how they once talked of "wooden ships and iron men?" Well, this was the real man of steel, but in a plastic boat. I've also written children's picture books, for the U.S. Army, for Fortune 500 CEOs, for M.I.T. physics professors, Harvard dissertations, etc., but also literature. Here's an example of my literary writing: https://www.thimblelitmag.com/2019/06/23/some-writer/

Bank anglers have a greater challenge and so when you land bass, it's a greater achievement.

I wrote about this guy several times for several magazines: https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/pluck-trumps-pain

They are, Tim. When you've fought your way to a lake and you first see it, well, you've earned what's there.

One more: https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/pristine-paddling-between-the-parks-crown-land-offers-royal-adventure-via-logging-roads-by-katie-mcky

Heck, yeah!

August is one of my tough times, Steve, but it's cool to learn that August rocks somewhere else.

This is a good one: https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/worst-night-in-the-woods-camping-horror-stories Here's another travel story for you Ohioans: https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/the-best-lakes-and-rivers-to-paddle-in-ohio Now, I wrote hundreds of stories for Canoe & Kayak alone and I also wrote for dozens of other magazines, but most of the articles are gone with the wind. Or dust in the wind, depending upon whether you lean toward Margaret Mitchell or Kansas. Here's a fun one for dog lovers: https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/essential-guide-to-canoeing-and-kayaking-with-dogs And here's one for you vets: https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/veteran-trio-find-healing-on-mississippi-source-to-sea-paddle And here's a quirky one: https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/dead-canoes-do-tell-tales-art-metal-aluminum-upcycle I could share many more, but I suspect the cup runneth over. Oops, one more for Russ and Bob and the rest of you Tennessee boys: https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/paddler-and-dog-canoe-tennessee-river-mcky

Here's another one that Men's Journal saved. I've interviewed professional explorers and risk-takers* and enjoyed those interviews, but I loved this one because the two paddlers were ordinary men in an extraordinary situation. Many of us wonder if we'd have the right stuff if we needed it. These two don't have to wonder: https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/wrong-canoe-right-stuff And here's a sample of a column I used to write about paddlers' favorite canoes or kayaks. I wrote scores of these: https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/mike-whitlocks-mystery-canoe I wrote travel articles too: https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/the-10-best-places-to-paddle-in-michigan-2 *I've asked all the professional daredevils if they consider death when planning their next adventures. They said that thinking about dying can't be avoided because they all buried peers who'd been doing similar things.

@T-Billy suggested I share some articles I've written over the decades. Here's one, which was originally published in Canoe & Kayak magazine, but when it folded, Men's Journal preserved it: https://www.mensjournal.com/travel/canoeing-the-thames

Will do, Tim.

Here's Jerry singing for you: What makes your streak even more impressive is that you're mostly shorebound. You are dialed into those big girls!* *Say, since you're dialed into the big girls, what's their number? I haven't caught a bass for months and I'm likely still 1.5 months from my first 2026 fish. Have a little pity for a fellow angler who's down on her luck!

Yeah, that's how it felt to me too. When we were kids, F&S and Outdoor Life were the pinnacle. As I recall, it was a pic of me with a Northwoods smallmouth. Perhaps I saved it. I have a couple big Rubbermaid tubs filled with magazines containing articles I wrote. Remember how Tom gave away his 19.5-pound bass shortly before his death? However, nobody wants those magazines. I should keep a dozen and burn the rest.

@thediscochef: I don't know whether to think of you as the Texas @N Florida Mike or perhaps I should think of @Lottabass as the Iowa Disco Chef. So many hammers at Bass Resource!

I landed a pic of a fish and me in Field and Stream once. Even though I've had hundreds of published articles, that fish pic in F&S sure thrilled me.

I remember you fishing that channel bank last fall, Al. It's still producing beautiful bass. Russ, you don't just catch lots of different kinds of fish in different places. You use lots of different lures too.

I hardly ever lose lures. I don't know why. I occasionally become snagged, but paddling back to the area of the snag usually gives me the angle to free it. I might lose one lure a year to a snag, but some years, I lose none. However, two summers back, I was trolling a big, expensive swimbait in the dark and my rod snapped back and my 30 lb. braid snapped. It was violent. I don't know if it was a fish or a rock.

Yeah, I know how that goes. I remember catching some early 2025 bass that were so cold they hurt a little to handle them. Fingers crossed for you fishing again later today!