Swamp Girl

You know where she lives and she has to eat again and again and again.

No smallies in my PB LMB lake. The smallies I do catch are hitting large LMB lures, like 4" Mayors and Whopper Ploppers. I have yet to tie on a single lure to target SMB specifically in Maine. You might remember that I fished SMB only for decades, so I'm enjoying the change of pace, but, of course, I'm always happy when a SMB visits my canoe by managing to fit a fat lure into their smaller mouths. If I felt I had a chance at catching SMBs like @A-Jay catches, I'd target them, but I watch YouTube videos of anglers catching SMBs in Maine, like the great Hank Parker, and they're the size I catch. We don't have gobies, so we don't catch Lake Erie-sized, @Dwight Hottle-sized smallies. I've also come to love the challenge of fishing weeds.

@Woody B: Woody, I know why you didn't land your usual haul: You were sleep-fishing. Look at your pics. You're asleep in all of them!

That would be wonderful. I bet if some of us reached out to representatives, some would accept and especially if we did it under the banner of Bass Resource. I went fishing alone this evening for three hours. I caught 22, including eight smallmouth in a row. The brown bass were all about the same size. Here's one: Here's a cool pic of the pond: I landed a 19.75-incher: The setting Sun was so pretty it made me ache: This was my last bass. I didn't measure her, but she was a beauty. She had a thick jaw and came into the net with a headful of weeds: I did have one bass hit my lure right beside the canoe. The hit sounded like someone dropped a bowling ball in the water. I had it hooked for a millisecond. Bass are so hard to land on a short line.

I'm going fishing again in a few minutes. When I take someone fishing, I spend a lot of time teaching and I get a hankering to catch bass instead of just netting other people's bass. So, I'm off in a few minutes!

Hey, Andy! Thanks, Alex.

Now you're being overly kind! 45 bass with some beauties is an Ol' Crick day. Not wannabe. Not watered down. Chirping like a full-on, happy cricket!

Thank you, Tom (@WRB) and @GreenPig! GP, what's your first name? If you don't wanna share, that's fine.

@AlabamaSpothunter: The main reason I took his fishing was because he's a great guy, but once on the water, I realized that there was a Maine reason too and that's to: A. Give him a break from his good work. B. Let his see what's so good about his work, since the pond where I own land is less developed than most, which is why it's so pretty and full of flora and fauna.

Streaking!

Thanks, Glenn!

Dang it, Buddy. Sorry you had to smell the...

What a day! I love quantity + quality days. You're the West Coast Crick or I'm the East Coast PDX.

Generous Pat. Here's my version: I didn't get to fish with the BR gang and that makes me sad.

Yep. He would agree with us too. I told him I'll take him again if he ever has the time and that he's free to use my docked canoe if he wants to go with his wife or daughter without me. He learned so quickly that I think he could catch bigger bass in just a few more trips. Fingers crossed he can find the time.

I took our senator fishing for three hours this morning. He sits on Maine's Inland Fisheries and Wildlife committee, so he remarked that it helps him to be reminded of what he's protecting. He'd never caught a bass before this morning, so he was thrilled to catch them and a quick study. He caught them on the surface, on a T-Rigged craw, on a T-Rigged worm, and on an underspin, both trolling and casting. His casting improved throughout the morning and he said he loved hearing me explain why I moved the canoe here and there. He's a terribly busy guy, so I felt honored to have him spend three hours in my canoe. He's also a great guy, both brainy and down-to-earth. Here are a few of his fish. See his smiles!

Three cheers for Pat: Hip-hip-.... And what a good trip report, @LrgmouthShad!

So many of us terrible at frog fishing, myself included.

Well done, @gimruis!

I love those channels too, but they're narrowing with weeds. Some are even getting plugged with weeds. I'll miss them, but come fall, they'll be back. Me too! The distance from the bank was very specific. Perhaps three feet away didn't work because it was too far for them to leave cover, as it was sunny by then and there are ospreys. One foot away also didn't work, perhaps because it didn't give them a long enough look. I don't think I've ever seen that before yesterday, i.e. the strike-triggering distance being so specific. When I take the senator fishing, I expect, even though there'll only be 48 hours between yesterday and tomorrow, the bass rules will probably have changed again. Sadly, I'm never as good at solving bass when I'm fishing with someone. Conversation distracts me, but I'm sure we'll catch some. Thanks! I had breakfast with the senator this morning and he asked me, "Do you only fish water without ramps?" "That's it," I replied. "That's my secret."

I love Two Harbors. The Boundary Waters, Quetico, and northwestern Ontario would be so close too. Ahhh, shucks, Tim. I'm still learning, but you're right about the price: $0

Eric, over the years, I have always enjoyed your comments. Glad you came along on my little fishing trip! I ran into him once on Lake Superior when we were both fishing smallmouth. I knew his name was Al, of course, but out of respect, I could only call him Mr. Lindner.

You're the best, Tim. Hey, apropos of nothing, I'm taking my state senator fishing tomorrow morning. I was his driver yesterday and he was in the area of my pond and I told him about it and he said he'd like to see it, so I took him there and now I'm taking him fishing tomorrow because he liked it so much. How cool is that?

I was alluding to this when I made my comment about my ears. When I'm in the woods alone at night, I often stop and just listen. I read about a park ranger in California who patrolled the most dangerous park there. He was a former Navy Seal and he talked about how often he was still in the forest and how that gave him an advantage against the bad guys. He knew where they were. They didn't even know he was there. I don't carry a gun, but I do carry a big gun of highly concentrated spray that's rated at ten times the potency of bear spray...and I carry it with the "safety" off.