Swamp Girl

@The Baron, that underspin paddletail is always rigged and ready in my boat. You've been posting some big bass, buddy. Well done! I've never met @GreenPig, but man, oh, man, I grieve with him. LIkewise, I've never seen a DD and likely never will. If it doesn't hurt too much to tell the story, GP, I'd like to hear it.

Twice in 2023, I saw an eagle trying to kill an osprey. I love them both, so I hated witnessing that.

Then we'll have to fish vicariously through @AlabamaSpothunter, @thediscochef, and the other talented Southern fishers. Gimruis, I lived in Eau Claire, which as you know, is right at the Twin Cities latitude, so I know what your winters are like and whereas inland Maine is just as cold, coastal Maine isn't. December can be pretty pleasant here, but still too cold for canoe fishing. I plan to quit in about three weeks. I fished too late into the cold last year and it wasn't safe. I also fished too early last spring. It's hard to not fish when seeing the Southern boys boat their beauties!

Well, I was thinking about last fall, when I was catching thirty-some bass and then suddenly ten bass and then, just as suddenly, five bass and then, on my final morning, two bass. I was worried I was already at that point. I know it's coming. It's 47 degrees right now and will be 47 degrees again tomorrow morning when I launch. That's winter's breath.

Another cool trip report. I love the line about the leaves looking like starlings. Big one!

Fingers crossed, rods crossed, and paddles crossed that you do!

if I caught a smallie that big, I'd consider it a great fish. I've never caught a smallie close to that size in Maine.

Ah, that explains it. Sorry for the losses.

Way to fish, @Dwight Hottle! One part of the following story is a big, fat lie. See if you guess which part: I fished for three hours this evening and the air was cold, the water was cold, and the fishing was cold. I caught six fish in the first two hours. My phone rang. It was @TnRiver46. He said I better start catching bass pronto or I'd be ejected from Bass Resource. I asked him how he knew I was failing. He said "Glenn's satellite network." Well, with an hour left, I tried a flat in a big bay. That's where they were! I then caught 18 bass in the final hour and measured my first fish with my new scale. It weighed 2.84 pounds. It's the short, fat one below. The fishing was so good I didn't bother to photograph the bass, but they were good-sized, between two and three pounds. I did photograph the last bass, which is the second photo. Did you guess which part was not true?

Maine Fish & Wildlife notes causation between shoreline development and loss of water quality. Are you seeing new homes on the shorelines of these lakes?

Pat, "I'm snagged, dad" made me laugh, for I got it at the other end, where my dad said, again and again, "I'm stuck. We'll have to go to shore to free me." I get this too: "Definitely when bank fishing in the early AM, ANY human sounds make my hair stand up for a second." Critters don't scare me, but voices in the dark sure do. I don't mind that sound. To me, it confirms that I'm setting with all due force and suggests I've a fine fish at the other end.

Hey, that's wasn't me!

Ha! It's the weeds. They make it so much tougher. The last seven to ten days, my landing percentage has shot up to over 90% and I think it's because the weeds are dying back just enough to reduce the basses' big Weed Advantage. Sitting on your beautiful rivers waiting for a bite sounds like a perfect day.

@pdxfisher, you make me feel not just like a pansy, but a field of pansies. I struggle with bass and you catch Krakens!

I had a beaver swim under my canoe once in gin clear, shallow water in northwestern Ontario. I was shocked at its size. I agree about music. Isn't being on the water enough? Why turn the outside into the inside?

You guys are right about fall bass: Big ones being caught this fall. I'm going fishing tomorrow evening and again on Friday morning. On Friday, I'll be fishing a pond that intimidates me. It's big and has big bass. It's the only two times in the last two years that I've had bass break the line and that's 20-pound braid. One broke the line in reeds and the other in open water. The bass just seem stronger in this pond. I'll be fishing peacefully, catching manageable bass, and then someone drops a grand piano in the water. No wonder this pond gives me the heeby-jeebies!

For an encore, do you wrassl' griz?

Whoa, that is awful.

Good ones, Tom! The best one, meaning the worst sound.

D-d-d-do you fish for Columbia sturgeon out of your k-k-k-kayak? Thanks for the knot, @padlin!

Thanks! Those are cool. I didn't even know that there are PVC end caps. Where did you learn to tie that knot?

You knew this thread was coming, right? Well, as an old woman who launches in the dark and lands my canoe in the dark, my most hated sound is voices when returning to my parked car. 99% of the time, no one is there, but when someone is, it's heeby-jeeby creepy! I landed to voices the other night, but it was pitch black and I hovered off-shore and listened for a few minutes. I'm sure they didn't know I was there, so I waited and assessed before landing. Another sound I hate is the thunk when I drop my pliers. I work so hard to be quiet and dropping pliers in my Kelvar canoe is the auditory equivalent of launching a flare. Last one: Tree branches rustling as your partner tries to free his lure for the tenth time that morning. And then the chalkboard screeching declaration: "We're going to have to go to shore and get it."

They are dinosaurs!

I was catching 15-inchers, but that's in a lake where they're nearly all 15-inchers.

I know that hatches can be hard, but I've had good success during them. However, when smallies are rising to feed on falling mayflies and damselflies, their mouths are often beyond full, leaving no room for a lure. No matter. I've gotten multiple hits on each cast, so I eventually hook one. I've had good luck with a clear Heddon Tiny Torpedo, which looks like a translucent mayfly. Last June, I saw smallies launching themselves like Trident missiles to take dragonflies out of the air. Landing a lure anywhere near them triggered a strike.