Swamp Girl

Here's what I bought: Abu Garcia Fantasista X 7' Spinning Rod Med Hvy - Open Box

Man, that sounds tough, Woody. That you went fishing while cramping shows your passion for the sport and your toughness.

I worried because I found one website where there dozens of one star reviews. There were good reviews too, but I didn't know which ones to believe. Anyway, THANKS, guys!

Thanks, guys. I'm placing my order right now then.

Is MidwayUSA trustworthy?

You caught just one bass just once in 2023? I think you're a heckuva fisherman then! I've only caught one bass five times in 2023. You're five times the fisher that I am.

Whoa. What happens when you collide with a bug?

Forty days is a big deal, @Dominat0r. Proud of ya!

Me too! I fished with my brother once in northwestern Ontario and the smallmouth ONLY wanted leeches. I'd catch a bass as soon as my leech neared the bottom. My brother, in his canoe, kept fishing a tube, catching nothing. "Want some leeches?" I asked. He'd glare at me. "I have plenty of leeches," I said. He'd continue to glaring at me. No lie: When he died, he was still mad about that day. Atta, Jeff!

^Wh-what?^ This is extraordinary fishing and I say this as someone who's had quite a few hundred-bass days on wilderness lakes. Even on a hundred-bass day, five fish in five casts is rare. The bass have to be clustered AND active AND you have to be tossing what they want. All I know is that someone days I am the Bass Master and some days I am the Doofus in a Canoe who struggles to catch a single fish. Heck, I've had five one-fish days in 2023. I've also caught the biggest bass of my life in 2023. As the guys upthread wrote, a fisher's success ebbs and flows.

Great trip report. So much info. I wish I were strong enough to fish from a kayak, but I couldn't carry one to the water. The high sides of my Kevlar canoe act like sails and even a 6 m.p.h. wind bullies my boat. I watched your video and saw you sitting pretty steady, beyond bobbing, in your kayak. I'd be spun and shoved. Anyway, you had a great day and thanks for taking us along! 93.5" is a monster day and would win many yak tournaments!

Thanks, @Team9nine. I really do struggle to discern size. There's a children's picture book about a monster coming to attack Earth. He looks so big and scary with no context until he actually lands on Earth and there are familiar objects to scale his size...and you see that he's a pipsqueak. Similarly, they used to use children to pose with muskies to make the muskies look bigger.

@Team9nine, congrats on your most excellent day. I have such a hard time discerning the size of fish. After weighing a few bass, I did acquire a basic understanding of length and weight, but fish are photographed in so many ways (forearm extended to the camera, full arm extended to the camera, held away from the photographer's body, on the ground, by a fishing rod, etc.) that I'm left guessing as to their true size. How long are you bass in the photos? I love my bump board because it cradles them for a photo. I like my scale less because it takes more time, which keeps the bass out of the water longer, but I still carry it in case I catch a monster.

Rather than step onto the shore this morning when I'd finished fishing, I stepped into the water on purpose. It felt great.

I want to catch a Peacock one day.

That's an excellent trip report, Murph. I like how you show the bass, the baits, and the water. I'm thinking a good thought for you and your family as you negotiate your moving. Moving is tough I'm glad you got to land some fine fish to take a break from moving's stress.

I miss that fur hat. Every time I see Tim without it, I think, "Nah. That's not Tim. Looks a little like him, but not him. No fur, no way." Tim, I once paddled up a winding river in northwestern Ontario and found a cabin with the drying racks still standing. I loved seeing that. Another time, I found a cabin with the trapper's socks still hanging up to dry. There were rusted cans of beans too. I've never stopped wondering what happened to him. And worrying. Silly, yes, but when you sit in a man's cabin and see his sad socks, you can't help but care. No lie.

If you poached a moose, in a few weeks, you'd be begging me to fry you some fish again, for it takes a man many months to eat a moose.

Where I used to fish, you had to eat fish for seven days straight, unless you wanted to lug NOT fish through the woods. The longest I spent in Ontario was five weeks. By the third week, I was skipping some meals rather than eat fish again. I ended that trip as lean as a whippet.

What if you were in northwestern Ontario for a week and your dog, house, wife, and full time job were miles and miles away and all you had to do was fish, eat fish, swim, and nap? I think you could do it for seven days straight.

I wish I could fish ten straight hours, but I'm too old. Sigh.

I had a great morning. I caught 32 bass and 14 were largemouth. I'd paddle from LMB spot to LMB spot and troll a brass Mepps spinner on the way and had so much fun landing 18 powerful, leaping SMB, which I didn't photograph as they were all the same size, about 15.5". I had even more fun with the 14 LMB, as they were larger than normal. I caught 10 that were 17" or bigger and half of the 10 were 18" or bigger. I caught the big girl that starts the bass below on my first cast. I know I promised to use new lures, but they were really wanting my 130 loon-colored Whopper Plopper. I did try some new lures, but kept going back to what they were hitting. Thank you, @Pat Brown. I went back to the very same spot where I hooked that freight train. Nothing, but I know where she lives.

I would buckle in those temps. Seriously, 80 feels hot to me.

Hey, it's hot here too. I had to use the air conditioning one day back in June! And today, it reached 82, but it's back to the 70s tomorrow.