Swamp Girl

So true. Position the boat so that your student has the best cast. And be ready with the net or to unhook a fish or retie a line. As Rockhopper wrote, it's their day. If the teacher catches the big fish or the most fish, the teacher earned an F.

@Choporoz: Great shoulders! That's always jolts me too. I had a big one do that about a week back, but she thrashed free.

For whatever reason, I don't get spooked in fog, but I can see what you mean, how it's Stephen Kingish. I need to start fishing with a vibrating jig!

You're a silver linings guy!

Woody was shaving at 7 with a machete. Bob, post some pics of your three-pounders!

WHOA! You're in Illinois, right? Any fish in your creek? How big is the 200-yards-away lake? And how big are your two ponds?

You have two ponds???? You're not a lucky duck. You're the luckiest duck! Any pics of the ponds?

I fish those isolated clumps too. Someday they're a bonanza. Other days, they hold no gold. You know how bass are. However, I'll always cast to an isolated clump.

Me too. Plus, other areas like it. When I hook a bass in a spot, I take a sec to study that spot and then proceed to cast to similar spots. I also use 8 lb. mono, but save it for open water. If I'm in the jungle, I'm in @T-Billy's Straight Braid Brigade all the way. General Tim recently promoted me to corporal!

Sorry that happened, Renz. As you probably know, I use spinning gear 99% of the time and I fish heavy cover, but I also fish with 30 lb. braid.

Thanks for the tip and curse you for the tip.

Whenever I leave a pond, I always tell the bass, "I'll be back."

A kickboxer? Now I deeply regret ever joshing Woody.

Huron is big water, but I love the great lakes. I'm excited to read your trip reports. Fingers crossed for a 50" musky and some five-pound smallies.

@bp_fowler: Where are you fishing in Canada and what are you targeting?

Oh, I know. I've been to Ontario. I've felt the Earth shake. I know that you was you just walking. In the states, we call you Mr. Geiger because we can count your footfalls with Geiger counters.

In a short paragraph, what's your mid-summer summary? Here's mine: Fours and Forties It's been a summer of fours, more four-pounders than I care to count. It's also been a summer of forties. Forty-bass mornings. Some fifty, sixty, and seventy-bass (just one) mornings too. And it's been a summer of underspinning. Its near weed-proofness has allowed me to catch bass in the gnarliest thickets and extricating them from those thickets has been great fun. Of course, sometimes they won, as is right. Lastly, it's been a summer of exploring my pond, where I bought five acres of shoreline, and I've managed to catch bigger bass than I had the past two years when I was just a visitor and not a landowner. One of those bigger ones is my new avatar! What's your mid-summer summary?

Tiiiii-iii-me ain't on our side. No, it ain't.

I also enjoy when you ease them back into the water and they explode out of your hand.

@Koz is cool.

It used to be a bass exploding on a surface lure, but I think it's now Bazoo's fav, the nibble, because you have a sec to charge up with adrenaline. I just wish I sounded like Iron Man does when charges his Repulsors before firing them.

I have met @Woody B, so I estimate his "micro-bass" to be a five-pounder. His "real bass" is the world record. You have to understand that Woody is about ten-feet tall and weighs 900 pounds. Here are some clips of Woody when he was just 8:

You have some of the greatest fishing in the world...if you have a four-wheel drive vehicle and are willing to scratch it and dirty it driving down logging roads.

Sometimes when a teacher is loaded with 74 years of wisdom, they want to impart all of that knowledge right now. Don't. Teach her the bare minimum to cast and let her fumble along with her casting for a bit. Then teach one more thing. And let her chew that like sweet cud. Then another. And so on. I say this as a lifelong teacher who's worked with kids beyond counting. Also, don't do all the talking. Ask her about her life. Lastly, note what she's doing right and reinforce that with praise. Here and there. Don't drown her with praise like you can drown her with info. Here's my student's biggest bass this year:

@Jmurphy87: Murph, you know how In-Fisherman thinks a 6.5-pound northern bass is equivalent to a 10-pound southern bass? Well, I think a Murph fishing-crowded-lakes 3.32-pounder is equivalent to a 5-pound, lonesome-lake Maine bass. @1984isNOW: If you're talking about water quality, it depends. The southern lakes have much more developed shorelines and therefore lower water quality. Up north, I assume that there are still lakes where you could safely, directly drink the water. If you're talking water temps, they're bath water warm. If you're wondering whether the bass are biting, yep. Always.