Swamp Girl

@padlin: 55 pounds? Respect.

@thediscochef, you're one of those 0 x 0 + 0 - 0 = 0 anglers, aren't cha? @gimruis, I don't know whether to laugh or gasp when I see those bass.

Let's say I'm the rare smallie that's genetically capable of becoming a six-pounder. However, I might not have the predatory skills to do so or I might live in that part of the lake that would provide enough prey, by dint of competition or environment, to reach six pounds. I had NO idea that a male LMB could grow that big. Incredible. Too bad he didn't date Dot, that biggest LMB ever boated.

THANK YOU, Dwight. ^This^ is exactly what I was hoping to learn. With 10 five-pounders for every six-pounder, I wonder what happened to the other 9 five-pounders who never became six-pounders. Insufficient genetics? Age? Disease? Died post-spawn? Any ideas, Dwight?

There are wilder places, like Ungava (northern Quebec) and Labrador, both many times larger than the Everglades and both have rivers and lakes that no one has ever recorded paddling or fishing. I love when WRB shares the stories of these "gone" days. Thanks, @Team9nine: Lots of solid data there. This helps me understand what you sacrifice to catch those big, brown bass. Bob, knowing what you've done with your life, you bow to no one. Fish smish. You're like Frodo standing before Aragorn.

Ain't that the truth. However, Tn, you're not made for fishing kayak tourneys. You're a social guy, made to fish with your friends and put them on 20"-plus smallies. My lmbs are wild in the boat because I winch them in ASAP to keep them out of the weeds. If I had more water to play them, they wouldn't be so bonkers when they meet me. You had me hooked until ^this." I don't do droves. If there's one other canoe/kayak on a bog, I feel crowded. I'm like Huck Finn, who closed his book with these words, "But I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and sivilize me and I can't stand it. I been there before." I'd find the part of the Everglades without people, which I figure would be most of it, right?

I hear ya. I've had bass that won't lie still on a bump board and I don't want them getting hurt flopping around my canoe, so I lip and grip them instead. And anyone who's read my trip reports has seen that my camera gets foggy some mornings.

The only video I've seen that's comparable to your experiences, Zcoker, is the one below, where Kristine boats two DDs in a day, but that's an extraordinary day for her: I hope I can remember to do the same. So many things to remember from what I read at BR.

Again, the YouTubers who record their Everglades trips aren't catching them back-to-back like you. I caught two 19-inchers back-to-back last September and was elated. Of course, I'm about as far north as one can catch bass in the lower 48 and you're about as far south, meaning your bass eat 12 months a year and mine eat seven-to-eight months a year. I haven't even seen ^this^ in any YouTube videos, which speaks again to your angling skill.

When the King of Girthy Bass says this, only a fool wouldn't listen.

Whoa! Both those ratios are better than what I enjoy in Maine, where I might catch one that's 19" for every twenty bass I catch. I laughed just imaging such bulging bass! And I thought my 18-inchers were fatties. You are a highly skilled angler. I've watched videos of other bassheads in the Everglades and they're not catching 23 and 24" bass back-to-back. As far as a calculator, I'm just ball parking the numbers.

Lucky duck! I wish I could see bass too. Fingers crossed for you!

@Jar11591 I found the trip report where I weighed three bass, which weren't 16.5", but 16". Here are the numbers: And here's one of those bass, so you can see the body shape that produced 2.4ish pounds:

What were the circumstances where you saw them? I once saw two small bass near a landing, but have never seen a bass nor bait from my canoe. Maybe it's because I'm sitting.

Regional differences, for sure. I once weighed three 16.5-inchers in a row and they all weighed about 2.5 pounds.

Just estimating here, but... ...for every 5 nineteen-inchers I catch, I catch 1 twenty-incher... ...and for every 5 twenty-inchers I catch, I catch 1 twenty-one-incher... ...and for every 2 twenty-one inchers I catch, I catch 1 twenty-two incher... ...and I have yet to catch a twenty-three incher. Length to weight key: 19-inchers are about 4 pounds. 20-inchers are about 5 pounds. 21-inchers edge up to 6 pounds. 22-inchers top 6 pounds.

How old are you, @padlin? I'm 67 and will turn 68 in the summer of 2024. If I can afford it, I'll buy a canoe trailer in 2024. That will help. Lifting the canoe, again and again and again, wore me out in 2023. Ah, to be 57 again! Thanks, @casts_by_fly. I will.

Pat, please let me know if your hunch is right and if it is, what catches them. If it is, come April, I'll work the local lily pad stumps too before the grow green again. Is it your age that's ticking the end-of-fishing clock, Dwight? It is for me. Every year, my fingers don't work quite as well and I remember my dad reaching a point where he dropped his glasses into the water and cast a couple rods and reels into the water too. My strength is waning too.

So, what is/are your attainable goal/goals for 2024? Here are mine: Hang every four-pounder and up on the scale. I think I caught two seven-pounders in 2023, but didn't measure either one because both were caught in the dark in my tippy canoe and they both made me so nervous because of their big bellies that I couldn't think straight. Now that my anemia is lessening, I'd like again to have a 100-bass day. It means I'd have to fish the morning and evening and the bass would have to be bonkers both times. Last year, I was just too anemic to do this. Catch and weigh a couple or more 20-pound bags. Master vertical fishing with my new H casting rod. Catch a lot of bass on jigs. What are yours?

Got it.

This is both reassuring and informative. Thanks, WRB!

I second, third, fourth, and fifth what @Woody B wrote.

I've never seen a bluegill in the water I fish or seen one listed in the Game & Wildlife surveys. Pumpkinseed, however, are common, but I expect that the bass feed more on our golden shiners and alewife than bluegills simply because they're numerous and easy to swallow.

That's the angling version of one of those 100-mile marathons where you run through the mountains at night. Okay, you get a second...

Amen. When I saw it, I couldn't believe my good fortune. Actually, when I first saw it, I was confused. I'd paddled down the river to the bog and...the weeds were gone. Huh? Then I looked down and saw the lily pads and the rest inches below me. Woo-hoo! I think that was a 44-bass evening and I typically don't catch 40some bass beyond June.