Swamp Girl

PapaJoe, when do you set the hook? Do you reel down and set or wait as we did 50 years ago?

You're two of BR's most consistent anglers. I'm sure you both have tricks to swap.

And beards! I've seen your beard, man. Don't forget it.

@RRocket: Here's a 43" pike on 6-lb. test. I'd usually catch one or two this size each week in northwest Ontario, but because I was fishing from a canoe with a small net, I left them in the water. For this fish, I borrowed an abandoned, leaky boat and had a musky net to land it.: I used 4-lb. test on the Mississippi and caught thousands with that light line.

@RRocket: I used to fish for Ontario smallies with ML rods, 1000 reels, and 6 lb. test, which was plenty of muscle to land four and five-pounders in Canadian Shield lakes, but the way local largemouths dive head-first into weeds, if I can't brake them, I can't boat them. Thanks for the link!

You should fish in Woody's boat! I'd love to see two of my favorite bassin' buddies in the same boat.

This reminds me of my BIG difference: I power fish with spinning gear. However, I hope to use casting gear more in 2024. It's not that I can't cast a baitcaster. I used them when I was a musky maniac. Wow. We fish for the same bass, but it's as if they're different species.

Brilliant! And so funny!!! More literal LOLing. What makes your sense of humor even better is the fact that you catch such. huge. bass.

Alex, I placed an order with TW today (mostly jigheads and soft plastics from that Tactical Bassin' video), another order arrived this morning, and I placed two orders last week. For the love of my purse, I can't place another!

That iceberg was so close to sinking you. Just remember, if it ever does, save your Rose because your love will go on.

You are impressively creative, Bankc.

Cool trick! I'm going to try it.

Heck, yeah! I'm sharing what unexpectedly works for me because I hope it'll work for others. Casting surface lures to the middle worked in northwestern Ontario too. @Choporoz said that this tactic can be "can be particularly effective opposite pockets, or approaching points" and that sounds right. I just know that sometimes I look at a particular bit of the mid-lake and my hairs will prickle because there's something about it that looks fishy...and it often does hold a bass. Heck, yeah, they do! Ever use a Creek Chub Plunker? Or a Heddon River Runt or Crazy Crawler? I still have all my old lures and I'm thinking of rigging one rod every trip with a vintage lure. They don't any good in my basement. I think I will, however, add modern hooks.

I just watched the latest Kristine Fischer YouTube video and I thanked her for including footage of all the bass she misses. You watch some videos where EVERY big bass is landed and it makes me feel like a failure. Then you watch videos like Kristine's and you realize even top tier anglers lose bass. Lots of 'em.

Whoa! That is quirky!

Tim, I was thinking I'd be vertical fishing when the mat of weeds formed and I'd drop my bait into the pockets in the weeds. Is this correct or can I also fish vertically before the weeds appear?

That's a good point. However, if you launched one time with me at three in the morning in Maine and you heard the hogs walloping on the surface, you too would rise and shine at three with me.

It's your passion, your bliss. You chose well. And congrats on your incredible 2023! Sincerely, Your fellow lunatic

There are established ways of working various baits, but for various reasons, we might go our own way, like Robert Frost when "two roads in a yellow wood." Do you take "the one less traveled by" and if so, why? I watch YouTube videos of guys fishing poppers and they walk the dog with them. When I fish a popper, I let it sit, again and again, and that's when I catch 90% of my popper bass, when the popper is still. I do it this way because I was trained to do it this way a half a century ago when everyone popped and paused their poppers. I also do it this way because I've walked the dog with my poppers and don't catch nearly as many. Old school rules. The other way I differ is that I follow along shorelines, like many of us do, casting at various cover, but every three or four casts, I launch my lure into the middle of nothing. I do this because I catch bass in the middle of nothing, even with my surface lures, and they're often my biggest bass. I don't see the YouTube anglers doing this; They're always working wood and weeds. I rise to fish earlier than most anglers. If the Sun is rising when I launch, I've likely missed the best fishing. I like to launch at four in the morning, but 3:30 is even better. I do this because it's when big ones hit with abandon. When I see the first, slight light in the eastern sky, I'm sad.

Amen, brother. Beware! Viewing @AlabamaSpothunter's bass might overstimulate you. All his big bass have had that effect on me. I have to whip out my fan like a church lady and flutter my face when I view his toads or I'm likely to do this:

@king fisher: We've seen your bass. None of us would bet again' ya. As far as sponsors, I bought a new, yellow Gore-Tex (well, used, but new to me) jacket to replace my 40-year old Gore-Tex jacket in puke pink. I would like to give you old "Puke Pinky" to become your first sponsor.

I think I can break seven pounds in a LMB. Heck, I think I had a few fish hooked last year that might have topped eight pounds or more, but to land a bass that big, I'd need PERFECT conditions, i.e. no reeds within reach and few weeds in the water...and I rarely have that. I could take you back to each spot where I hooked a bass that overwhelmed me and tell you the exact conditions at the time and how those bass just took out line until they reached weeds and shucked the hooks. It's the price I pay for being a bog basser. My smallies are all the same size, fat 15-16-inchers. I don't know why I don't catch bigger ones. I don't target them. I simply catch them when I drift over rock instead of weeds. I agree that @roadwarrior could catch the next world record.

@Team9nine, boy, oh, boy, you winter bassers are sure landing some fine fish. What state are you fishing right now? Indiana?

If another angler is fishing "slow, but fast," which of your two is faster?

Alex, what furthers my confusion is that the verbs they've chosen (rolling, strolling, etc.) make no sense to me. The vocabulary reminds me of assembly instructions for a product made in China. I'll go looking for that Tactical Bassin' video now.