Swamp Girl

That was beautiful, @Glenn. Thank you.

Like he did with some of you, Tom was generous enough to send me some lures and I will treasure them times 3,000 now. I'll be torn between fishing with them to honor and remember Tom and never casting them to keep them safe. I think I'll lay one on my nightstand and cast the rest and when they catch bass, I'll say his name each time in gratitude. Like all of you, I am so sad. Because he landed bass beyond our ken, Tom could have swaggered at Bass Resource, but he was always humble and kind. Tears.

Anyone north of Georgia who fishes in December is hardcore.

Both the Mississippi and Mille Lacs are daunting. Big river. Big lake. And the Mississippi comes with current and wing dams and other dams. And Mille Lacs, having no windbreaks, comes with big wind. You might want to consider hiring a guide for both bodies of water for one day each. Then pin the locations you fish with them and return to those spots. As you caught bass and gained skills and confidence, you could branch out from there, looking for similar spots and trying other areas on hunches, research, or tips.

Everyone have a holly-jolly!

If you are able to fish Mille Lacs, you'll likely land that 20" or bigger smallie. It's a world-class brown bass-ery. Is the upper Mississippi an option?

@volzfan59: Ha! That's about the size of my pond and the trees look like my trees, but I can only dream of hills that high at my pond. My pal's pond has hills almost that high. Since Santa is fishing with spinning gear, maybe it is my pond and those high hills are my Christmas gift!

I love the power plant bass. Merry Christmas, Clayton, and thanks for protecting us from the bad guys!

I'm guessing that for every 16-pound lmb that's caught, hundreds of ten and eleven-pounders are caught. There are DD bass and then there are the ultra-rare high-teen bass, or URHTDD bass.

Three days in a row in December sounds like Heaven to this old New Englander.

Sounds like a challenging trip, Jim. At least when the wind blows for me, I simply wait. When you're on a fishing trip, there's such a hunger to launch. I remember sitting on an island's cliff in northwestern Ontario and watching the water white cap. Oh, I wanted to launch, but I also didn't want to die.

Of course, I (and nearly every other human) have never caught giant bass like Tom's, but I do have a computer-like memory for the biggest bass I have caught. I remember where I caught them, the weather, the lure, etc. And I remember the casts and they were also long casts. Ha! Considering you're using a jet to move, I don't think any other noise matters much.

Cool story, Mike!

@casts_by_fly provided a good synopsis. I agree that bass quit feeding for about half an hour when it gets dark. Trolling in the dark has worked for me. When you catch a bass, then cast back to where that bass hit.

I once forgot my entire cook kit on a solo wilderness trip. A typical cook kit consists of two pots that nest inside each other, a frying pan for a lid, and a handle that works with all three. I was contemplating working my way out of the bush, but going to a town both takes time and means leaving Heaven-on-Earth to return to Earth. Then, two canoeists passed my campsite. I hailed them, we chatted, I shared my situation, and they gave me one of their two pots. That worked!

I might know less about reels than all the other Bass Resourcers, however my reels might have endured more than most. I've driven down logging roads with ruts so deep the rides were violent. And then after being shook like they were strapped to a Sherwin Williams paint mixer, they had to endure portages, tumbles, and storms...for decades...and I'm still using many of the same reels...and they're still catching thousands more bass. I don't know if forty to fifty years of service matters to you in extreme conditions, but if it does, I'd buy Shimano or Daiwa.

Me too, Choppy. I was amazed to find fish in the same skinny water.

I once left my house at three in the morning to launch an hour away. I unloaded everything except for my paddle and spare because I'd forgotten them. Because I was launching at a creek, I was up a creek without a paddle.

Beautiful bass, @GreenPig! Thanks for remembering Tommy, @WRB-2.0. I remember when he casually mentioned his 35-pound bags. Big bags impress me more than anything. We all can luck into a big bass here and there, but luck won't land a big bag...and by bag, I mean a real bag, meaning five bass caught by one angler or a tournament pair in one session, not your five biggest in a week or your five biggest of the season. Tommy was a top notch angler.

We made it to the Solstice! Hail the tilt of the Earth. We're coming around again to the sweet stretch in the Earth's revolution. The short days are the hardest thing about winter...for me.

Russ, that's two big smallies in a row for you. You're showing us why you love winter fishing so much.

I like your plan, Joe, for expanding your bag of tricks and throwing something new at your local bass. I've said it more than once, but I still think it's worth repeating: I admire your fishing. Like @Pat Brown and others, your bank fishing is much more challenging than boat fishing and fishing city ponds is also much more challenging, but you consistently catch bass, which shows that you have the right stuff. Throwing new lures is the stuff of the right stuff. I'll be throwing hard jerkbaits and chatterbaits this year and continue to throw spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, which I added last year.

Please take lots of pics and share them. I'm too old to fish the Canadian Shield anymore, but I can still share your joy.

Go, Alex!