Swamp Girl

Hey, the far south, i.e. the Everglades, isn't that different than the far north, i.e. the swamps of Maine, for I too am often humbled in the dark. @Dwight Hottle: C'mon, Dwight! I'm guessing one of those pythons would be happy to cuddle with me around 3:00 a.m.

Wow! I'd love to fish the Everglades.

You're a heckuva angler. That's a lot of big bass!

All good points in the article. If I had a boat that couldn't tip, I might fish into late November.

It sounds like Pat witnessed the eruption of Bassatoa, the fishy sister of Krakatoa. Luckily, I had a drone in the air and got video of the hit: It is amazing how much water a big bass can move. Thanks for the telling, Pat!

Big. Bass. Pat. That's a thick fish. Did she jump? Plunge into weeds?

Don't be surprised if you catch one and it says, "Dang it! You fooled me again!"

@BassSteve: Those peacocks' faces look human. Do they ever look that way to you too?

Nah. We've seen your fish. Humility is a fine thing, but the bump board doesn't lie and your FAT bass barely fit on a bump board.

Dang it! I had my fingers crossed for you. Next time I'll cross my eyes too.

Uh, no. Bass Resource doesn't row that way. We celebrate all fish. Spend some time here and you'll see.

Because I photograph and post many of my fish on the bump board, you all know my average is pretty good.* A good trip, and I have a fair number of these, would be a five-pounder, a four-pounder, and three three-poundish bass for an 18-pound or thereabouts bag. I also have many trips with only one four-pounder and a quartet of three-plus-pounders and high two-pounders for a 15 to 16-pound bag. I have trips too with no four-pounders and perhaps two or three three-pounders and the rest are mid-two-pounders for a 13-+ pound bag. So, in summary: Some 18-pound bags Some 15-16-pound bags Some 13+-pound bags So, the average is about 16 pounds per bag with rare mornings/evenings when my bag total tops 20 pounds and other rare mornings/evenings when I'm topping out at 10 pounds per bag. *However, I do much less bump board posting than I once did because that step keeps the fish out of the water longer. A lip and grip photo is much faster.

Cool story!

You're singing my song, Pat. I have shared many times at BR how I've got six or seven rods rigged (I'd take ten or twelve if there were room in my canoe.) and I switch again and again and again. I'll catch a bass with one lure and IMMEDIATELY switch to another. I'm not looking for the presentation that will catch me one bass, but 35 bass. I'll often cast four different lures in four consecutive casts. I've been rereading my 2023 trip reports and the theme is that one lure caught most of the bass one day and a different lure the next time. One trip, I caught them in shoreline notches and another time, on a windblown shore. Fishing from a canoe has many disadvantages, but one advantage is that I can't go turbo. I can't summon two hundred horses to skate over the water. So, I might fish miles of water in a morning, but I'm fishing ALL of it. When I'm traveling, I'm fishing via trolling and when I'm traveling, I'm moving slowly enough (My head is on a swivel.) to study the water and I do not hesitate to stop paddling and cast when I see something that suggests bass. So, I'm always looking to dial in, to establish a pattern and then I pound them, but even then, I'll catch ten fish on that pattern and still try another to check and see if that's an eleven fish pattern.

If I catch five four-pounders in a morning, I'm thrilled! But 40? 40???????? I moved a lot this fall and did much better than I did last fall, with some big fish and some 30-some-bass to 40-some-bass mornings. I used my canoe like a hunter would use a horse, covering water.

@thediscochef: With that jacket and beard, I'd cast you in a western. A western about a cowpoke who catches lmbs. Who catches lmbs in the ocean, 'cause that looks like the ocean behind you. And when the cowpoke ain't acatchin' bass, he's rescuing damsels with his trusty fishin' tackle.

Bob, I was the one who lifted that girl out of the water and I also still wonder if it happened. It was unbelievable then and it's unbelievable today. @Dwight Hottle's story is just as amazing.

Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Maine, and Ontario. I lived in Wisconsin for thirty years and concentrated on the big water, i.e. Lakes Superior and Michigan and the Mississippi River. All three have amazing fishing. I liked the Mississippi because I could catch seven to nine species in a day. It also held 20-pound pike. I fished farm ponds and Lake Erie in Ohio and you all know how I fare in Maine, but Ontario has the best fishing by far. I had many 100-smallmouth days in that gorgeous north country. I even had two 250+-smallmouth days in Ontario, when I'd catch 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and even 7 smallmouth in a row. Those two days, the fishing was so hot that I fished from four in the morning until ten at night, stopping to eat one meal and snacking in the canoe otherwise. By the third day, I was spent. Ontario is the best fishing, but it's also the hardest fishing, as you have to travel logging roads, portage your canoe, and sleep on rock It's a young angler's game, so if you're still young, go north while you still can, young man!

@Pat Brown: I wonder the same thing when a fish hits and I miss it: Was that the one? To be frank, I miss a lot of fish most sessions. I do have the occasional session where I stick more than 90% of the hits, but 50% is more typical for me and sometimes even less. I missed a lot of bass at the farm pond. Then there are the misses that stick with you. Twice in 2023, I was retrieving a lure parallel to reeds and a bass parted those reeds and hit the lures with full "puny lure" fury. And both times, even though I had 20 lb. braid and the drag cranked down as far as possible, those two fish took line and freed themselves. I caught some big bass for Maine this year, but those two fish and a third one I hooked in open water were stronger than anything I caught. And this is why I see an angler like you who LANDS ten-pounders and I wonder, "Huh?" And, "How?" And, "What?" Your next giant is coming. You know how and leave me scratching my head.

@MIbassyaker: Thanks for the info. I like to learn about how places do things.

I struggle with scales too, @TnRiver46. And speaking of wet boats, every time I switch my paddle from one side to the other, I'm dripping water into my canoe. Plus, I like to fish in the rain. So, yeah, I understand your iffy scale situation, my bassin' buddy.

When I lip and grip 'em for a photo, I can't get my bass to stop swinging their tails, thus my many, MANY photos of curved fish. And my two 22"+ bass of 2023 would NOT lie on the bump board for a photo. So, I lipped and gripped them and they were swinging their tails too. I did get to weigh them: 6.75 pounds and 6.71 pounds. I wish @TnRiver46's scale had worked.

I've found them mingled many times. I'd catch a walleye. Then smallie. Then walleye. Then smallie. Then....

To show you how schooly smallmouth are, here's my all-time favorite smallmouth story: Fishing below a waterfall in northwestern Ontario, I hooked a fine 18-incher and she had a same-size pal. I brought the hooked bass into my canoe, but the accompanying bass didn't depart. She was about an inch beneath the surface, right beside my canoe. So, i cupped her under her belly with my hand and lifted her into the canoe too. She was as calm as a sleepy kitten. I didn't hold her for long as I still had a hooked bass in my boat.

I'm with ya! I'm surprised when I catch one too, but here's one from last week and she was about as big as I catch them here. I catch them if there's a rocky bottom instead of a muddy bottom. The rock-bottomed lakes up north are full of them and trout too: Am I the only one who's gone back a couple times to take another gander at @Bluebasser86's crazy, thick bass and @TnRiver46's buddy's 23-incher? Keep the big gals comin', guys. It's going to be a long, pitiless Maine winter.