Swamp Girl

You are so funny! You too, @king fisher, but I'm out of reactions.

It looks rough in the rescue photo. Last night, I doffed my life vest when I was in six inches of water and about to go ashore. I'm an okay swimmer, but I am sooooo accustomed to wearing my life vest on the water that I felt a little guilty removing it two seconds from the shore.

Those ^two^ are great, guys! They both made me laugh. Thanks for playing!

Which sports figure parallels your career? I'm the Brett Favre of bassin'. Long career I retire ("I'm done fishin' for the fall. Too cold to fish any longer.") and unretire ("I just had to fish one more time!") Lotta touchdowns, I.e. bass in the boat. Lotta interceptions, I.e. bass snatched by weeds. Finally, like Brett, I'll toss into the gnarliest thicket. We're both gunslingers. Are you fumblin' Bill Buckner? Streaky Joe DiMaggio? Grateful Lou Gehrig? Bold Joe Namath? Steady John Stockton? Maniacally focused Kobe Bryant? Born to golf Tiger Woods, raised in the sport? Etc. @WRB has to be Babe Ruth.

Man, that's depressing, Woody. Those guys weren't even ashamed of being cheaters.

Well told, @IcatchDinks!

I caught 28 and the biggest five were about 18 pounds, as there were at least five 18" or longer, but the best part of the evening was simply being close to 68 years old, but still on the water, still in a slender, tippy canoe, still hearing the owls hoot, and still smelling a distant fire. I am a north woods girl, born in the suburbs, but happiest on dark and distant water. See the third photo of the grass, third pic down? That's were they were. It was too windy for me to fish the reed stump fields, so I tried grass in a protected bay and did okay. I did catch a skinny 17.75-incher and put her on the bump board because she was too thin for a good lip and grip showing. I hoped the bump board might make her seem a bit thicker. It didn't. The last bass looks smallish, but she wasn't. A couple of them took line under my canoe, which is always exciting and challenging. I lost a few nice ones too. I nearly always do. P. S. - I'm fishing a pal's pond this week. It has potential for a bigger bass than my pond. I haven't caught a bigger bass yet, but fingers crossed as I'm fishing it again this evening. However, I'm starting to worry. There are more and more weeds and the bass are so strong. I lost some nice ones last night to weeds and as the summer progresses, that'll happen more and more. I hope to fish 3.5 hours this evening instead of last night's 2.5 hours. Hoping the wind lets me!

@slonezp: I've fished Sturgeon Bay and I agree.

That driveway only cost me five grand. He felled trees, removed boulders and 12" of soil, and laid and leveled 12" of stone. I think he did a great job at a great price.

Ha! @AlabamaSpothunter wants me to do videos too, but buying lakefront poverty and having a driveway built has emptied my pocketbook. You are a skilled angler. That's obvious in your videos. I was amazed at how many bass you caught at that confluence. Pretty place to fish too!

@Dwight Hottle: Dwight, I taught writing to about a million kids. I'd teach them in larger groups of 500-1000 and also in smaller groups of 100-125. I would always tell them that to write well, one has to see more, hear more, and remember more because the reader won't see you as a reliable witness unless you were paying attention. I think a lot of anglers make good writers/storytellers because if you don't pay attention on the water, you won't succeed. Well, your details above are both good writing and proof that you're a reliable witness.

What a great name for a bass, Tom. I can see why cleaning ol' Moses broke your heart. After two summers, Moses was as much an unpetted pet as quarry.

Boulders everywhere negating their use as structure makes a lot of sense to me. I have caught bass on boulders, but not as many as I'd expected. Your wind on boulders idea makes a LOT of sense to me. I'll be alert to that. Thanks!

I took some pics this morning of my pond. In order: The beginning of my 4.5 acres. Down my driveway. Another driveway pic. Where the driveway ends and the meandering path begins. The pond! The boardwalk made of pallets to reach the water. I might get approval tonight to have professionals build a raised boardwalk. You can't see it, but on the right side of the lake is a marsh full of bass. Heck, the pond is full of bass too.

You did well, my cyber-buddy.

What a great idea for a thread. I've really enjoyed these stories. Thanks, @BrianMDTX! I was raised in a just built suburb, so at the time, there were still-glorious fields, woods, barns, creeks, and ponds* just beyond the tract homes. My brother and I strapped our Zebcos and short fiberglass rods to our bikes just after the rain and rode miles, scouting for farm ponds. They'd overflow and we were looking for the tell-tale trickles. We spotted some and approached the house, but first, my brother combed his hair and I ran my fingers through mine, our version of putting lipstick on a pig. The woman inside saw us grooming and was amused, as were half-feral, a tangle of scabs, scars, and scratches. We had a couple bobbers, a few worms, and two rods and reels built for bluegills and not much more. Well, I found much more when a fine bass engulfed my bluegill and ran with it. As she ran to the deep, I back-pedaled up the bank and our combined pull popped the bluegill free. She wasn't hooked, but I was. *Sadly, those once-glorious fields, woods, barns, creeks, and ponds are long gone and I wonder if there's a scabbed kid who'll have to pedal farther than I ever did to reach the green and blue place where the fields still stretch and creeks still gurgle.

@gimruis: I think you'll start another hot streak like the one you enjoyed late last year and you'll boat a bevy of beauties.

@gimruis: You sure did, buddy. As I wrote already, I expect nothing but smaller bass than the two I already caught. I'll just be content with a busy boat the rest of 2024.

You're welcome. @Pat Brown was gracious enough last year to note that northern bass weights and southern bass weights are not equivalent. A bass can only grow so big when she spends half the year shivering.

I'm sad that your health challenge is keeping you from the water, but I'm glad that you finally got to fish. I always enjoy your videos. I just subscribed to you at YouTube, my fellow paddler and cyber-pal. Two things about your video: Thanks for including the footage of when bass break free. That happens to me too and some trips, it happens a lot. Those heavily edited videos that show only successes skew my view of my competence. You are a smooth, skilled angler, which I see when you land and release fish.

Congrats, buddy! Proud of you. Happy for you. She's got a great shape. According to the In-Fisherman Master Angler program, a northern bass like yours would be equivalent to a southern bass weighing about 8.5 pounds.

^This^ reminds me of England, where the rich have claimed all the trout fishing for centuries.

It's my new plan!

ICD, I hope you all enjoyed that bass. I don't think you'll get any grief at BR.

@GRiver: That makes so much sense. I used to live beside a cemetery and in the deepest winter with the deepest snowfall, the tombstones would gather solar energy and melt the snow around their bases. Come fall and next spring, I'll pound those boulders. I like this idea and will pay particular attention to boulders beside cover or structure. I also like the Ned idea. Thanks!