Swamp Girl

Like Jar, I use Google Earth. Sometimes I take a drive to stand on the snowy shore and imagine me on the liquid lake/pond/bog. I also use the depth maps done by Maine Game & Wildlife. Sometimes I'll find a YouTube video of someone who's fished the lake/pond/bog.

Were all five bass caught in Kentucky?

Heck, yeah, it is! And thanks, Pat, for all the support you extend to other anglers through BR.

Smart.

My list is practically the same as King's. I also used an Owner underspin with a Keitech a lot more. I've come to love that lure. It can be tricky to fish, like when a bass grabs it and swims at you with about the same resistance that the lure makes. I'll set the hook without really knowing why I did it. Something must have felt ever-so-slightly off.

I'm going to fish later in the year in 2024. I quit on October 25th, not because I wasn't catching bass, but because I was afraid of tipping and dying. With enough protective measures, I can fish later and still be safe. I own a wetsuit already, but I might buy a drysuit too.

I think a lot of us could fish Menderchuck and fail, my point being that it's the angler more than the lake, just like I can't imagine fishing water with barbed wire and nets and if I did, I'd spend most of the day getting stuck.

There are a couple points I especially liked in the article: "Be cautious with information gleaned from social media posts. While there are some nuggets of truth to be found, you often must sift through information that's either regurgitated from a different source or untrue. The best tact is to use this information as a starting point and work to back it up with other sources." I was talking to an old buddy in Wisconsin and he told me that he heard a guy caught a five-pound bass at a lake we used to fish and less than 20 seconds later, many anglers were catching five-pounders at that lake. He talked as if he had zero recall of what he'd just said and that he was currently saying contradicts what he'd just said. "Nothing in bass fishing is more important than time on the water." Sometimes a feeding window will open for reasons I can't descry and I'll start catching them one after another and then, an hour or two later, even though everything seems the same (still cloudy, same windspeed, etc.), it closes. So, being on the water puts us there when the window opens and the bass swim in.

Since I need to do something in the winter to keep from going bass crazy, I've been rereading my 2023 trip reports and running the numbers, i.e. using a length-to-weight that I've found to be reliable, based upon the few fish that I do weigh. What I learned is that I caught quite a few five-fish bags in the 18-pound range. All you need to do is catch a couple four-to-five-pound bass and then add three 17"-18" bass. Since I catch multiple 17 to 18-inchers most trips, the key is to catch a couple four-+-pounders. That's the tricky part, for those bigger bass have the strength to reach the weeds and free themselves.

Whenever I see your photos, Alex, I smile, because I know another senior is representing.

Thanks to this thread, I did a little research and discovered that I can pay $30 in 2024 and be licensed for life. So, thanks, @gimruis!

I walked along a lake yesterday and it was about 50% open. Like you, I've got one on the bass being posted in "Latest Catches" and another eye on that open water. I wouldn't launch on water this cold, but I could cast from the shore.

Whoa! That is a lot of acorns!

Then you would love fishing the wilderness of northwestern Ontario. So many of the days up there are raw and gray and everyday delivers solitude.

Looking at the photos of your fat bass, I don't think anyone will ever say this about you:

@N Florida Mike: And then the story got even better. Thanks!

What a story!

Dang it! Love the photo: blue on blue on blue.

@Pat Brown, I always enjoy your stories. You've got the gift. I enjoyed your story too, @thediscochef. I'm just playing the odds. You're catching those 4/5+-pounders steadily now. At least in Maine, every six or eight four-pounders is topped with a six-pounder, but in Alabama, our six-pounders are your eight+-pounders.

Now ^this^ is funny!

Alex, you are dialed into those bass. I've got a good feeling that you'll be swinging an eight to ten-pound monster into your boat soon.

What? She didn't! Do this:

Michigan's a great state to fish, for sure.

Yeah, I've a wealth of water to fish, but I limit it to the water closest to me. I only have so many hours to fish and I don't want to spend those hours in a car. Two of my favorite places to fish are less than ten minutes away. My favorite bog is 25 minutes, but it's worth the drive. My alewife pond is nearly an hour away. If it were closer, I might fish it and nothing else.

Found online: Once you activate your PLB, it transmits a distress frequency alarm signal. This signal is received by a satellite, which is part of an international search and rescue satellite system. Once this system receives your signal, it notifies your nearest ground station.