Swamp Girl

Thanks for the update, King. I hope the good news keeps coming and I hope you can get to your doctor tomorrow.

Private lake? COOL! How big is it?

Bob is a great guy. I'm hosting him this summer and I hope you find a way to connect with him too.

Oh, King, I am so sad to read of your plight and your area's suffering. Please keep us posted. I'm thinking a good thought for all of you.

You are right about that. My boats stay wet. When I reach them, they're sometimes 1/5th full of water and I begin the morning with bailing, but I don't bail until they're dry, not when bass are a few feet away, so I usually launch with some water and add to that throughout the morning. However, I don't walk through swamps. I walk through the woods to reach swamps.

Amen. Mr. 19-pounder and Mr. 35-pound bag. ^This^ made me laugh because my tacklebox is a starter box sold to kids! I like it because it's easier to carry through the woods. However, my basement is a small tackle shop.

So true! As organized as Andy is, I'm that disorganized. You've all seen photos of my boats. Chaos! I agree that being organized is hardcore.

So true.

Whereas I appreciate the nominations, I don't think I fish long enough to warrant one. I quit on October 30th in 2025 and I probably won't begin again until mid-April. Another person worthy of a nomination is the Everglades at night guy. I can't remember his screen name.

I agree. He's a worthy nominee: big water, small boat, and he fishes through the winter. He's hardcore.

Thank you, but @Bluebasser86 catches both more fish and bigger fish, so I'm adding him to my list. He also fishes 12 months a year and fishes from a small boat. Like Russ, he fishes for multiple species too, catching huge catfish, muskies, etc.

Why, Ike?

Who do you think is the hardest core angler at Bass Resource? You may nominate yourself, but whomever you nominate, please explain your choice. I nominate @TnRiver46. He posts in Latest Trip Reports more than anyone and he posts 12 months a year. Plus, he fishes from every kind of boat, he wades, and he shore fishes. I've seen snow in many of his trip reports and he gets bonus points from me for fishing for multiple species. He's hardcore. My second place nomination is @Lottabass. Al, like me, is limited by age, but he still fishes a LOT and he fishes where he's the only one, which is hardcore when you're old. It's a little like the old "Alien," the movie, line: On a lonely pond, no one can hear you scream. He also fishes deep into the fall and he gets points from me for fishing small, i.e. from a small boat, but catching big.

How did you lose the DDish fish?

That's a good point. I'm not anti-live bait. I have caught thousands of smallies with leeches in northwestern Ontario. I've also caught thousands of smallies in the same lakes with lures. I consider lures to be superior in the mornings and evenings, when bass are shallow and a little less wary due to low light. I can cast a lure so much farther and cover much more water than I can a leech. Long casting is key in low light because even though they're less wary, they'll still bolt if they detect me because they're shallow. I believe live bait to be superior when the Sun is higher. So, if you're fishing mid-day, I too might use live bait, but I'd first determine if I was absolutely following the law. Hmmm. If that reservoir really grows 22-pound bass, wouldn't there be anglers from around the world pounding it 365 days a year?

I suggest watching videos by @Glenn to improve your angling skills so that you won't feel the need to use bass for bait or even spend hundreds of dollars buying bait.

@Team9nine: Since you have landed one hundred percent of the bass that wrapped around your trolling motor by pulling them in hand over hand, I suggest you guide all your hooked bass to your trolling motor going forward. You are welcome. Here's a little video of Pat leaving his home to go fishing:

@NorcalBassin: I'm always happy when California gets BIG snow. Maine hasn't had BIG snow this winter, but there is some on the ground with more coming, which we need as we've been in drought since last July. This was taken three minutes ago:

I've long considered you to be funniest Bass Resourcer, but you are wise too. I agree that we should cast while we still can, that tomorrow isn't guaranteed. I watched Eric Dane's (an actor who died of ALS in just ten months.) video to his daughters and he led with the importance of not delaying, of doing the things you want to do while you still can. There are people who will never know what it's like to launch or cast into the cold dark, hoping that some beast will rise to answer your call, but you don't even have to catch bass. You're out there at a moment beyond the ken of people who live within walls where it's always warm and lighted.

So, I learned something this morning. I often put this and that up by the road for the crows. They appreciate my offerings and give me gifts, which they leave on my portico steps, such as rocks and shells. Well, last night, I killed three mice in my basement and I also had an old Johnsonville brat, which I cut up for them. I figured they'd eat the brat bits first. Nope. They took the mice first. I also left some corn and kale crackers for them. Those chips are still there.

Thanks! I need my right hand, for sure. I remember one big bass last fall that buckled my hand and freed itself. I've lost a lot of muscle from the pinched nerve. Anyway, as far as rising early in the spring, I'd be doing it too if our water was soft. I remember standing in the snow last spring and getting skunked, but it was still great to simply cast after the long, dark, cold winter.

What else can we do if we're seven states away? Not post? Do you think only Iowans should opine? I've applied plenty of advice from Southern anglers that caught me big bass. To be frank, since "completely irrelevant" is an absolute, you lost me there. I think there's applicable wisdom to be gleaned from most comments.

I think bass stay in their patterns until they don't. That makes a lot of sense. I'm just glad that Joe is jazzed about fishing again. I remember at the end of summer 2025, Joe's work-battered body was sapping some of his fishing joy, but he's winter-healed and ready to fish! I'm meeting with a carpal tunnel surgeon next Wednesday. I've been diagnosed with severe carpal tunnel, so I'm hoping for surgery ASAP so that I can be healed before the ice is gone. I have 1,800 bass to catch this year! Here are a couple bass caught around four in the morning:

It's kind of you to try.

That's me too. Sometimes when I'm on my pond and the evening's light is gilding the world, I stop fishing, smile, and whisper, "Thank you."