Swamp Girl

Way to fish, Alex! However, your photo made me laugh. You're wearing more outerwear than I wear!

Me too. I've owned at least half a dozen boats with motors and loved all of them. Now I own two canoes, a canoe/kayak hybrid, and a fishing kayak, so buying and owning and storing a motorboat would be too much for me. However, in ten years, when I'm 80 and living at my pond, a motorboat sounds so appealing for the room and stability. However, I'd be reluctant to let others use it at my pond because there are so many rocks under the surface. I'd be happy to take them fishing, of course! Speaking of motorboats, this one costs twice what I paid for my pondfront acreage: https://www.boattrader.com/boat/2025-vexus-dvx22s-9630503/?utm_source=Google+Shopping&utm_source=google+shopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=goog_bt_us_shopping_high&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21821205118&gbraid=0AAAAAD_I7eDuxcQl5ltvDc7ce_Rlt2Eth&gclid=Cj0KCQiApfjKBhC0ARIsAMiR_Itq_L5nfvydREjCsfTiRfXmXUemootL2lPneU_bF2Xm0bYvhSZmZWUaAkZiEALw_wcB

I'm excited for you, Buddy. And it's admirable that crossing and dotting all your boat's t's and i's. I think it's wonderful to go south in the thick of winter. It cuts the winter in half. Good fishing!

^This^ is my goal: Fish happy!

My best tip is this: Get six feet of rope. Then do some sleuthing and determine where @Bluebasser86 and @Lottabass live. Then follow them to where they're fishing and while they're busy launching, tie one end of your rope to their stern and the other end to your bow. If you do this oh-so-quietly, they might not even notice. They might simply say, "Golly, my boat is slow today."

@Bluebasser86 and @Lottabass are consistent big bass catchers. One tip they didn't share is that even though Iowa water is so c-c-cold, @Lottabass is eyeing it, ready to launch given the chance and @Bluebasser86 just caught his first 2026 bass, including a 4.5-pounder and a likely, second four-plus-pounder. Both are them also cast an array of lures, targeting structure. In short, they're tenacious and strategic and two of Bass Resource's biggest sticks. I catch an occasional big bass by fishing less fished water, so I'm like Al. I also launch at four a.m. Once I caught a 19-incher, a 19.5-incher, and a 20-incher in the dark on three, consecutive casts. Here's an early morning bass and last fall, I caught a five-bass bag in the upper twenties when I launched in the dark: I didn't weigh or even measure her, but she was one of those bass that could swallow a fist. I was retrieving a Whopper Plopper alongside some reeds and she pulled me into the reeds, so I was lucky to land her.

Meh, I've caught bigger. See the lure below? It's 22' long.

I really enjoy these. Their batteries are rechargeable and last a long time. The hottest setting is too hot for me: amazon.com/dp/B0CG65PYBV?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder_k0_1_10&amp=&crid=1IO7B0ZS3ZHBS&amp=&sprefix=handwarmer

I love your blimp power plant bass, Clayton. Of all the bass posted at Bass Resource, your blimps are my favorite.

@Team9nine: One of the reasons I admire you as an angler is your range. You were fishing those apartment ponds in Indiana and consistently catching bass, even in the winter. Now you're fishing in Florida on much bigger water and consistently catching bass. Two of the reasons I envy you as an angler is that you're fishing now and your boat is sooooo much neater than mine.

That was a bite for sure. Ha! And you were out there in January. January! That alone is a victory worth celebrating.

He was excited. He reminded me, in his fresh, unfettered joy, of a kid first fishing from the bank with his cane pole. Before Tom passed, I noted his happiness and committed myself to fishing happy, thus my signature below:

Congrats on the bass and I encourage you again to celebrate your fellow bassheads as we celebrate your big bass.

I'll summarize this thread: Tom was the best.

Ha! Actually, they still hit Whopper Ploppers, but not like they once did and I don't want to burn the lure out completely, so I only use them here and there. Thanks for the Yozuri tip! I'll still be in the straight braid brigade anytime I'm near weeds, which will be the majority of the time.

Good. I envisioned casting the jerkbaits into the deep water near the shallow areas.

I'm thinking of using 6 lb. test with hard jerkbaits. I don't use Whopper Ploppers much anymore. My local bass have learned to avoid them.

It was written by the great Ken Kesey, who led one of the more interesting lives of the 20th century, as chronicled by Tom Wolfe in "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test." In short, Kesey hung with the Hell's Angels, Ginsburg, the Grateful Dead, Neal Cassady, and the Merry Pranksters. Crazy times.

I'm just glad you referenced Nurse Ratched. I love that book.

Helpful. Thanks!

It works well for me, Joe. We're the keep-it-simple crew.

Yes, visibility. I also like the feel of mono. As much as I like and appreciate braid, it's a little limp for my tastes. Fluoro is too stiff. Mono is just right. I also trust light mono. As I shared in my opening post, I've landed heavy fish on light mono. Of course, but as I wrote above, it's too stiff for my tastes.

Yeah, I know how braid works diameter-wise, but it's opaque. Mono is translucent.

This is why you should drive north. You would not have lost that swimbait in Maine. Sure, it would have snapped off, but you could have simply walked onto the ice to retrieve it.

When I fished for smallmouth in northwestern Ontario, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior, I used 6 lb. test. It was plenty strong enough to land hundreds of smallmouth and the occasional 20-lb. pike or king salmon. I switched to 30 lb. braid and 12-pound mono when I started fishing weedy water, but I know where the weeds grow in the two primary ponds I fish and so I'm going to keep a spinning reel with 6-pound test in my canoe or kayak in 2026 to achieve longer casts and have a line that's harder for the bass to see. Of course, near weeds, I'll use heavier line.