Swamp Girl

^These^ fish remind me of teenagers. They're not as bulky and strong as they'll be in their twenties, but lawdy, are they scrappers. Are you bouncing a Ned rig off a weedy bottom? I haven't used a Ned rig once this year fearing I'd be weed fishing.

Bob, won't runoff silt lay a mud base atop your plastic in a few years?

Love ^this^ attitude. We've been just the opposite. We're wet and roiling and the wind never stops blowing.

You're not going to catch her again today, eh? So, where exactly did you catch her? Be very precise. Actually, I'm glad you're giving her a break. You're not just a good fisherman. You're a GOOD fisherman. P. S. - I love those four-pounders too. That's when they start to feel special.

We don't call that age, Bob. We call that patina and the Antiques Road Show experts love it, so we should too!

I never tire of admiring that ceiling. I would never design my dock. I would defer to the Dock Master (TM). I wondered the same thing.

Bob, thank you for your detailed accounts. A pond has been my lifelong dream. I assume that I'll never own one, but at least I get to walk the pond journey alongside you thanks for your generous chronicling.

@keagbassr: Ah, I see. Yeah, I fish when sensible people are still sleeping. And you were north of me. I too lose a lot of smallies when they rocket out of the water. They are banzai berserkers! I've caught thousands of chunkier, longer, and heavier smallmouth in northwestern Ontario, but Maine's relatively lean smallies jump higher and more than those far north smallies. However, your first photographed smallmouth is as chunky as an Ontario smallie. Anyway, I'm glad you came to Maine and gladder still that you caught bass.

You were here? Ya shoulda, coulda pinged me! We could have fished together. Where did you fish? The smallmouth I catch are ridiculously aerobatic. They fight in the air as much as the water. Did yours launch themselves, again and again?

Whoa! That's steep and deep. Come to Maine and wade a bog. It's two feet deep for the first five feet from shore and then it plummets to five feet deep. I'm surprised that no one has never explained to us how we're sitting in the wrong seat and paddling the wrong way. The canoe I used is so different than my Kevlar canoe. It's more than twice the weight and so stable I could Irish dance in it. My canoe feels like I'm sitting on a fence rail.

I fished a friend's pond, using his heavy canoe. It's a tandem, so I paddled backwards from the bow seat. It was great fishing in the evening, as I nearly always fish mornings. I enjoyed the evening light and the day growing darker instead of lighter. I targeted a big girl I hooked a bit back, but I couldn't find her. I did catch 19 other bass in less than three hours, up to a chunky 18.25 inches. Here are a few of them: When do full moon bass hit best? Just when the moon is shining or the rest of the day too?

^Just^ shows how little this Yankee knows. Thanks for the info.

And you keep paying it forward, Tom.

Man, that's a good-looking bass, @thediscochef. Yours too, @A-Jay. I like how @Bird jumped into the water. I've been thinking about doing that too.

^Succinct and persuasive.^ I have hundreds of lures in my basement that other fishers have suggested. I just couldn't catch bass with them. I totally believe that they caught lots of bass with them...in their lakes...in their states. I keep trying to add new lures to my repertoire, but mostly fail. And it's hard to keep failing when I know my tried and true lures and tactics will likely catch bass. Right now. However, if you were sharing a canoe with me and you were catching bass on X lure, which I never use, I would pepper you with questions and proceed to do everything you suggested. You have caught big gals this year. Beautiful bass too, i.e. thick and dark and healthy.

I took the test. I'm almost 67 and the test said my reaction time is that of an 18-year old. However, since I surface fish a lot, a slower reaction time is better than a fast one. I've come a long ways in surface fishing. I used to explode when the water exploded. Now I wait until I feel the fish regardless of the splash. Gosh, yes! I remember fishing with others and I'd see the tap-tap-tap of their rod and say, "You have a fish." They were clueless.

I love stories like this. I'm getting another canoe today. It's an Old Town two-person canoe. It'll be free, a gift from a dog park pal. I'll use the gift to gift others, as I can now take people fishing with me. Goodness should keep giving.

Thanks for taking us along on your trip, @TnRiver46. It looks like a great day.

Two feet or less in Alabama? Wouldn't that be the temp of a hot tub? Would bass thrive in water that warm?

5 pounds is this:

You night fishers are tough hombres. I do a little night fishing, but only because I launch before the Sun rises or linger after the Sun sets. So, I'm clinging to light, which ain't the same as launching deep into the night. To be frank, I'm a little fraidy. Not afraid of bad men so much, but bass wrasslin' in the dark. I imagine dragging my Whopper Plopper over the dark water and hearing the explosion and screaming. Bass wrasslin' is hard enough when I can actually see! Big saugeye, @T-Billy. Sweet bass too. I assume you eat those saugeyes. They. are. delish!

Way to fish my paddlin', bassin' brother!

Thanks, Tom.

Thanks, Tom. You guys coached me, but when I was on the water by myself this morning, I had to coach myself, repeating what you guys taught me yesterday, again and again because you're right, under pressure, one tends to revert to old habits. I still wonder if I reverted a little with the one bass that burrowed into weeds under my canoe, if I pulled too hard and triggered that reaction. I've been happy all day at my landing percentage this morning. Going forward, it will only get harder, as the weeds thicken more and more, but I'll get better and better (I HOPE!) at not picking a fight by trying to outmuscle them. One final question: What's the best rod for my type of fishing? You all know where I fish and the lures I use. Is it medium? Medium heavy? Fast? Moderate? I'm fishing surface lures the majority of the time.