Swamp Girl

@The Baron: When I fished Ontario with great success, I used two primary tools: logging roads and https://www.lioapplications.lrc.gov.on.ca/fishonline/Index.html?viewer=FishONLine.FishONLine&locale=en-CA The link is for Ontario's Fish ON-Line, which gives the species for many lakes. It let you search by species. Using these two tools, hundred-bass days weren't unusual for me. My partner would catch half that many, but a 50-bass day is pretty good too. You'd need a four-wheel drive vehicle. I looked at the area north of Kingston and there are countless lakes and logging roads. You don't just have great fishing in Ontario: You have great adventures down those logging roads and as a citizen, you can camp for free! I had to pay per night, but it was a bargain given the quality of the fishing. The bass below didn't even require a logging road. It was off a paved road. So many pose their bass with arms extended. I did just the opposite, cranking my arm behind my head so you can see its true size rather than its arm-extended, inflated size. She was 19", but I've caught them up to 21.5", sometimes more than one in a morning or evening that size. You can fix this. Just be willing to bounce down a rocky and sometimes wet logging road. Read an article or three about off-road driving. Buy a come-along. A bumper-mounted winch is even better, but expensive. Wear boots to walk wet spots before you drive through them. Rock beneath a puddle is not a problem. Even an inch or two of mud atop rock is not a problem. However, thick mud is a reason you should consider turning back. You'll need a canoe, but when it all comes together, it's bliss. I love fishing Maine, but Ontario's bush lakes are even better. Maine is good for an old woman, but Ontario is best for younger folks, who have the strength and flexibility for back-country adventuring. I've caught seven smallies in seven casts. That's my best, but I've caught two, there, four, five, and six in a row many times. My partner's best was five in a row. The best fishing, of course, is at four in the morning or nine in the evening, but that almost requires camping on a lake. Again, camping for you Is free.

😄

For sure!

I would never cast 28 time at one log. I have places to go and other bass to catch!

I hooked a LMB in a narrow river yesterday, perhaps eight feet wide flanked by thick reeds and she ran at me, ricocheting from one reedy edge to the other, trying to punch into the reeds. When that didn't work, she leapt and threw the hook. I did not mistake her for a snag.

Heck, yeah!

This reminds me of what kids used to say: "My dad can lick your dad!" However, I wouldn't take your bet because I think all of us agree that smallmouth that live in current could hold their own at tractor pulls.

Incredible. You need to change your PB's weight. You have it at 3-4 lbs. You've more than doubled that! Your land and water are so beautiful. Here's a pic of the pond where I recently bought five acres. It's also loaded with bass. It's 169 acres, which is considered a pond in Maine. One morning, I caught 48 bass in 2.25 hours. A lot of them are the size below. Some are bigger like the one in my avatar. However, I've never caught anything there close to 8.4 pounds! I like my pond because of its extensive wetlands where bass hunker. It's a fun challenge casting to them and pulling them out of the weeds and wood.

@IcatchDinks: C'mon, Buddy, what did the turtle say??? Also, you're due for one of your not-a-dink bass.

I recently read "Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World" and its author detailed how scientists knew the once-great Grand Banks cod fishery was collapsing. They tried to limit the catches, but there was widespread cheating and pregnant females in the shallows were targeted. Even today, decades later, the fishery hasn't rebooted and some scientists fear it might never recover.

@BigAngus752: Congrats on joining that club!

@A-Jay: Andy, I fear that your paradise might be lost in your lifetime, as I fear the same for me. Maine led the nation in the per capita uptick in population last year and the northeast has the nation's strongest housing market as people understandably move north to escape heat. Michigan and especially northern Michigan, has the same advantages as Maine, with its relatively cool inland seas and a bounty of land.

I fish with MH rods and I couldn't land many of them without that backbone. Interesting.

What a blast. I've had a few fishing trips where I caught so many big ones that if I lost a big one, I just couldn't care.

Kent, I too can't compare them. I have caught some Florida bass, but my Dixie data base isn't large enough. I'd only trust myself if I'd caught hundreds of bass north of the Mason-Dixon line, which I have, and hundreds of bass south of it, which I haven't. However, I have caught hundreds of bass in Pond A in Maine and hundreds in Pond B in Maine and hundreds of bass in Pond C and they don't feel the same to me. ^This^ supports my premise, a particular lake where the bass fight harder.

Oh, I believe you. @AlabamaSpothunter: All great points, Alex.

Kent, which strain do you think fights harder? I watch Old Lady Angler's videos on YouTube and she spends winters in Florida fishing and summers in Maine fishing. She thinks Maine's bass fight harder.

My premise is that some lakes grow harder-fighting bass. At the pond where I own property, the bass there are beserkers. Here's one I caught this past week: And here's a bass I caught this morning at a bog: They're about the same weight, but if I'd tied them tail-to-tail with a couple feet of rope, the bass from my pond would have shown the bog bass what backwards water-skiing is like. And the bass from my pond consistently pull harder and longer than bass from other water. So, I'm wondering if you have noticed this phenomenon, if you've fished a body of water that harbors harder-fighting bass?

Yes, many landowners believe that if they bought it, they're free to do whatever they want. They don't see themselves as caretakers. The last property I owned, I worked with a Maine forester to restore the diversity of the woods, to plant the missing indigenous trees because...I'm a caretaker. I know I'll be worm's meat in a few decades. I want to leave things a bit better than I found them. For example, I'll be planting blight-proof chestnut trees on my lakefront property next year because it's arguably the most important tree for an eastern forest, as it feeds so many critters, from turkeys to bears. I would have chosen the same lake. There's a lake near me that's crowded in the same way as the lake you didn't choose. I saw an old cabin for sale on that lake on half an acre listed at $2.2 million. On my 169-acre pond, with wetlands on three sides, I paid $75,000 for five acres. When I asked the realtor why it sold for far, FAR less than it would have on the developed lake, she said that that's what people want: docks, ski boats, jet skis, etc. People are nuts.

^This!^ You all know that I bought five acres of pondfront. If I were to build, I'd build a less than 1,000 square foot home at least 250' from the shore because development is the number one predictor of water quality. The EPA says that leach fields last 15 to 40 years. So, after merely 15 years, a leach field might be incrementally failing. I'm guessing that there are tens of thousands of failing leach fields abutting Maine's ponds and lakes. Atop that are the jet skis, fertilizers, and wake boats that @Americanzero noted. Sigh. ^This^ too. Frogs are the canaries in the coal mine. JB, I fish two ponds in Maine that have zero development. The frog song is soooooo loud at those two lakes that it hurts my ears.

And isn't this wonderful? I love how rain gives me the entire lake/pond/bog: No sharing! Thanks, Mickey! The first week of September should be the perfect time to fish. The days will still be pretty long and the weather should be just right. I love fishing early September.

@casts_by_fly: it's not only that the rain keeps the bass shallow, but it's beautiful in the rain. Since most of humanity hides from rain, they don't know how it's the best time to be outside.

You and me, Buddy!

Two days ago, I called this summer my season of 40-bass trips with a four-pounder or two. Well, this morning, I caught 40 bass exactly and landed two four-pounders. With my new puppy, I launch a little later and return a little earlier. I found the bass in the little river to be eager, but skinny. Here's one: Then I reached the bog, where the quantity can drop, but the quality is better. Here's my first thick bog bass: And here's an even thicker one: It started raining and the wind picked up, so I tucked into this pretty bay. The bay was quite deep. On the way back to the car, I found a hole stacked with bass. I caught seven in one small area. Behind the bass, you can see a concrete bridge where my car is parked. Fun morning, but I actually became a little cold because my Ebay used raincoat doesn't keep me dry. I caught bass on three lures: underspin, spinnerbait, and wakebait. The biggest girl hit my wakebait.

Yes, I would because my heart can't take frog fishing. When they hit a frog, they want to obliterate it. They hit and I scream. I just want to wave a white flag and surrender. However, I almost tied on a frog this morning because between the rain, fog, and wind, I couldn't read the water; I couldn't see the open spots to cast.