Swamp Girl

I am!!! It was good to see my dad and I just arrived at a sister's house.

@pdxfisher: I love that you love the backdrops! They are healthy bass. Maine bass spend a lot of time in their feed bags.

I miss the pond. Thanks for the offer, but sonar requires a heavy battery. This pond does have fat smallies. Here's one:

I taught writing and did comedy.

From Wyoming to Massachusetts, at grade schools, middle schools, high schools, colleges, conferences and conventions. I don't miss the podium.

This is largely my story, but when I was younger, other things pulled me off the water, like a career where I lectured to more than a million people. Standing before 500 to 1,000 people everyday draws a lot of current and my power plant only produced/produces so much current, so during that stretch, I didn't fish.

@Skunked again: I love it. It looks stable, just big enough, and pretty fast.

I amend my answer. I paid $75,000 for my 4.5-acre pond pass, but I had to pay another $5,000 for the driveway pass and then have a boardwalk and dock built out of pallets. My annual pond fees/taxes are about $345. So, Maine is pricey.

Musky anglers can be so petty, @Susky River Rat. This makes me wonder if I should use my bump board again. I think lip and grip photos are prettier, as you see the lake or shoreline too. One thing I don't like about the bump board is they can start flopping and if they flop for ten seconds in my canoe, there's no way that's good for them. When I lip and grip, they're back in the water sooner.

Agreed!

I had a Zebco Cardinal made in Sweden. I loved that reel. A fishing partner dropped it into a wilderness lake. I also had a Dam Quick reel that was so sturdy.

Small lakes in the woods? Count me in!

I-O!

You've got your priorities straight, Dad.

In This Shipment Rapala Crush City Mayor Green Pumpkin 4" Qty: 6 $6.99 Rapala Crush City Mayor Green Pumpkin Magic 4" Qty: 1 $6.99 At the rate the bass chewed through them last time, I'm worried I didn't order enough.

Your night fishing of the Everglades in tiny boats is admirable. Most anglers wouldn't do it because of its shifting canals, insects, vastness, and gators. Atop these challenges, you land giant bass. I tip my cap to you.

@Team9nine: My smallies are all Menderchuck rejects too. @BrianMDTX: I too would have cast between those trees. Bass love cubbies!

Ungava is 97,000 square miles. No roads. I interviewed the couple that explores it. They told me that another couple wanted to do an expedition with them, but only lasted four hours before calling for a plane because they didn't want to die. So, I can think of wilder places because there are wilder places.

I'm out of reactions again, but she's a beauty, Andy. The stuff of dreams for 99.9% of us, but for you, it's reality due to your savvy and tenacity.

@Ryan N: You are sick, sick, sick. I know because I am sick, sick, sick. P. S. - Fish for @Sam. And stay out there for @Captain Phil, who can no longer fish from dark until dark. And fish for me too, who too soon won't be able to carry my canoe anymore. Whoa! My hero!

Great story. What a moment and what a memory.

@casts_by_fly: Nice fish and an awesome boat.

I am already fishing it sharply differently than I did last year. I've learned that the bigger bass can be caught by hitting the ambush pockets in the marsh and also at dusk, when they're wolf-packing far from the shore, but those open water pockets are even smaller. I have to drop my lure within inches of where they just fed within three seconds of when that happened or they won't hit it. Plus, most of my casts are looooonnnngggg, so I feel like Steph Curry shooting from the logo. It's a challenge, which makes it fun. Sometimes I just sit when they're wolf-packing and wait for a bass to show itself. I sure hope so, Alex, but I fear that in the eight or nine days I won't be fishing, they'll have moved and want something else and I'll have to go find them again, but I'm pretty good at that. I am fishing fewer ponds. I have yet to fish a couple of my favorites from 2023. Surprisingly, it is exciting to really focus on fewer ponds. P. S. - I ordered seven packs of Crush City Mayors in green pumpkin today. They'll be here when I return from my road trip!

I wear gloves most sessions nowadays. Sometimes I'll shed the right glove to tie a knot and not don it again, but I grip for a photograph with the left hand.

Alex, I think the pond is getting better. I first fished it in 2022. The bass were bigger in 2023 and they're even bigger now in 2024. It also helps that I'm learning the pond and where its bass hunker. They hold tight to cover. They slip into notches in the shoreline, which are their ambush points. When I hit those notches, they hit my lures. The pond's bass really reward pinpoint casting and even though I'm casting with spinning gear, I'm pretty good at it.