Swamp Girl

Guilty!

I've caught hundreds of smallmouth in these two rivers on my own, both in the Upper Peninsula: the Whitefish River and the Menominee River. Both flow into Lake Michigan and where they meet the lake is prime fishing too. Plus, it's beautiful country!

I thought I was all set for 2026, but then Dick's buy three get three free sale pulled me back in. In addition to the Crush City soft plastics, I bought a MegaBass Vision 110. It's an expensive lure from Japan, so I'm guessing I'll be the first American angler to cast one. I'll let you know how it goes:

How do you lose them, Allen? I don't think I ever lose one. FWIW, I like spinnerbaits too, but I much prefer underspins for casting into skinny water and casting under bushes. They land much more lightly, which matters when the water's shallow and bass are more likely to be spooked.

Well, then, I'd fish one of the Great Lakes for a Great adventure with Great fishing.

I cast those tough suckers into the thickest cover with no fear because they're built to take a beating and close to weedless.

I was watching a YouTube video recently where the angler said that he scuffs all his worms before using them. He even used his hook to rip into them. I thought, "The first bass or two will do the same thing to your worm. I like to have a shiny, new worm for a few casts." Are you a scuffer? If so, why? Or are you like me, enjoying a brand new worm for a few minutes?

You could catch plenty of bass in northwestern Ontario in July, but since you live in Kansas, that's a long ways to go in three to five days. Maybe some of the streams in the Ozarks?

I am an underspin addict and I use VMC's heavyduty underspins. I tried other brands, but none held up to the beating my underspins take. The VMCs hold up to hundreds of bass and bass caught in thick cover. My preferred trailers are Crush City Mayors, Keitechs, and Zakos, which I buy by the hundreds because each can only catch half a dozen or so bass: I'm an oddball at Bass Resource because I troll a lot. I'm a paddler, so I troll when moving from one casting spot to another. The underspins are excellent for trolling, but I also love to cast them into thick cover with 12" of water. I begin my retrieve a half second before they land so that they don't foul with weeds. I buy the 5/0 hooks, but the 4/0s also work with the Mayors, Keitechs, and Zakos. The beauty of underspins is that they work the entire column. You can slow roll them on the bottom or, as I already wrote, fish them in the skinniest water.

I think it's private, but it's not posted as private.

The law is on my side. I found a state law that says blocking right of way with snow can trigger a $500 fine. However, I don't want to make any enemies.

Plowing to each side would put the street's snow on two yards. One of the yards is a small school and the parents park where the snow would be.

Private contractors, I think.

I do have a trailer that could lug my snowblower to my pond property's driveway, but all the snow for a block is put there. My snowblower couldn't move that much snow and I'm too old to load the snowblower, lash it in my trailer, drive it my property, unload it, and then fail to move the snow anyway. It's different with the head of my driveway because in a good storm, I'll go out there three or four times to keep clearing my driveway, but even in the biggest storm, there's not six feet of snow piled there by the town's plows. I do like the beer idea.

You guys know that I own pond-front property. My property begins at the end of a short street. Well, the two guys who plow that street push all the street's snow up to my property, creating a wall of snow. It's about six feet high now, but will only grow thicker and taller. So, I'm blocked off from my property right now, but in a month that wall of snow will be a wall of ice and very slow to melt. I have a friend on the street and I asked him for the plow guys' numbers. He said he'd call them and he did, but he didn't sound hopeful after those conversations. I did nail two green and white "Private driveway" signs to trees where my property starts and I ordered a "Please do not put snow here." sign today, which I'll attach to a pole and stick in their wall of snow, but I expect they'll just bury it with more snow. Now, I understand their position. They need a place to put the snow and I'm not living there just now. If they don't put it there, they'll have to make arrangements to put it in somebody's yard. Still...I'm going to be fishing in April and I'll be blocked from my property.

I'm happy for you, Clayton. Got get 'em! Sadly, I drove to my property, hoping to walk down to the water, but found a wall of snow blocking my way. I put up two green and white "Private driveway" signs, but that didn't work. So, I ordered a "Do not put snow here." sign. I expect they'll bury it beneath the next snowfall with their snowplow.

It's a great community.

@GreenPig: My first two boats were jonboats: Sears 14-footers. Such stability!

FWIW, my Predator was $600, my NEXT hybrid was $500, my Old Town tandem canoe was also $500, and my Bell Rockstar was $1800. The Rockstar was the only boat I bought new and I bought it when Bell Canoes was going out of business. So, my total fleet cost was $3400, the cost of a new Ranger or thereabouts.

Glenn, I love this thread because of the topic and what you wrote. As @softwateronly observed, you framed your position well. You don't need AI, Glenn. You write with clarity. FWIW, if I ever post about flipping or pitching or FFS or Ranger boats, that's not me.

Free the fleet! Free the fleet! Just get some buddies to help launch your Ranger. Like this:

You have a beautiful fleet, @IYAOYAS. What a retirement gift!

2025 was not a big bass year for me. I caught dozens of four-pounders, up to four fours in a morning, but I only hooked one bass markedly bigger than the four-pounders. I didn't get her weight, but bass of similar length and size that I've caught in other years weighed about 6.5 pounds. I caught her on a Mike Siebert spinnerbait @Siebert Outdoors and I also caught the majority of my four-pounders on Mike's spinnerbaits: The reason I didn't catch the big ones like I did in 2024 is that I was too tired (anemia) to fish the bogs, where the bass are bigger. It's soooooooooo much easier to fish my pond or my pal's pond where there is a canoe and a kayak waiting for me and I don't have to load and then unload and then load and then unload my Kevlar canoe. At one bog, I also have to climb a knoll and work my way through the woods. Unfortunately, my pond's bass are well shaped, but top out at 19 inches like this one: I hope I can fish a few bogs in 2026! My iron levels are a bit better. Like you, I also can't catch big smallies. They swim in Maine, but not in the smallish ponds I fish. I don't think it's my failing. I have caught 25-pound smallie bags in my life, but the smallies in my smallish ponds top out at 18" and I've never heard of anyone catching bigger ones from these bodies of water. Here's one from my pond. I'm guessing three pounds, about like yours, jitterbug:

That's so low, Al. I bet the water I fish is down two to three feet.

Yep. There are plenty of big lakes in Maine for big boats. I don't need a fish finder to find structure. I can see it. Our big drought this past summer let me see even more of it.