Swamp Girl

So true.

I'd listen to T-Billy. He's been casting braid a whole lot longer than me. I only went with 20 lb. braid because I fished for decades with 6 lb. mono and 20 lb. anything sounds like steel cable to me.

Once upon a time, I could do that, but now I MUST rest. Even two mornings in a row or an evening and then the next morning have me moving like I'm 76 instead of 66, Ah, to be 46 again, sleeping on the rock of the Canadian Shield, and rising at four each morning to cast to rising bass. Alex, I have so many lures in my tackle box because of you. I caught a fine one last night on a 6th Sense squarebill, one of many Alex Lures (TM).

I only use 50 lb. braid for froggin'. Otherwise, it's 20 lb. braid. I hauled the girls below out of heavy weeds last week with 20 lb. braid. They were both caught in four feet of water with two feet of weeds beneath the water and surface weeds in all directions. I was able to keep the top girl out of the weeds, but the bottom girl was too heavy. Still, I hauled her out of the weeds with my 20 lb. braid. There were more weeds in my net than bass and that's saying something, giving that she's a good chunk of bass.

^Here's^ something else I've learned here, new vocabulary like "sticks." When I first joined, I spent so much time Googling. Only upon reflection do I realize just now that I've learned most of the words. However, I still don't know all the lures. @Pat Brown shared the specifics of the water he fished to land his many 8-lbers. and one 9-lber. and how that water is pounded, but he takes the road less traveled. Everyone else is pitching wacky worms, but Pat is successful because of his creativity. I don't have that challenge, for I'm fishing lonesome bogs, but I made a note of what Pat does just in case I'm ever fishing water with jet skis and a Dairy Queen. Okay, I'll quit jabbering and walk the dog!

I recently came across a Massachusett bass fishing forum and one question there was "What do you think of Bass Rescource?" And poster after poster shared how WELCOMING and BASS-WISE this community is and how much they've learned here. This is going to sound like a commercial, but it's true: Prior to my joining Bass Resource in 2022, in a great year, I might catch five four-pound bass in a year. Last year, through learning here and being encouraged by the great guys at Bass Resource, I caught double that number. Then I spent the winter reading and learning more and in 2023, just mid-way through June, I've caught at least a dozen 19-inchers (four-pounders), several 20-inchers (five-pounders), and two 21-inchers (six-pounders). And if were to look at the tips of my rods nowadays, you'd see lures I didn't even know existed and if you were to watch me fish, you'd see me doing things that I learned here. FWIW, I've long had the skills to catch lots of bass, but the men of Bass Resource have put bigger bass in my boat. Sometimes it's the smallest comment that makes a difference for me, like T-Billy (Tim) reminding me to chuck my paddletail into weeds. Honest-to-goodness, I didn't even know that I could do that and I've since caught hundreds of bass since doing just that. Or AlabamaSpotHunter (Alex) urging me to buy a scale. Note how I put both length and weight in the prior paragraph? That's because I can both measure and weigh fish now. And someone else told me to buy a bump board. Again, prior to the suggestion, I was clueless. So, thank you Glenn and mods and thanks to the rest of you too. You guys are the best.

"Howdy Pals!" is my favorite subject line of all time at Bass Resource. What can I say in return except, "Howdy, pal!" The guys here are the best. They know so much and are generous with their time and support.

Take me, take me, TAKE ME! I love your goofy humor.

This supports @wvsmallie's suggestion of thicker braid. I switched to braid on three more reels this summer and when I look down and see the braid, I not only have more confidence, but note that I can muscle them more, well as much as a nearly 67-year old woman can muscle them.

I know it's horribly far, Bob. However, it is Maine, i.e. waves crashing against pink granite (Google "Schoodic Maine" and click on images.) and Camden, a town with not one downtown waterfalls, but two, and a harbor full of 1800s sailing ships. And then there's taters and sage chicken sausage sizzling in my kitchen! However, the distance does daunt. It daunts me too, for I've friends I'd love to visit in Tennessee, including you. Speaking of snappers, I was paddling a bog a couple days ago and I happened to look down and to my right just as I was about to paddle on that side and a snapper was suspended there inches below the surface. It was big, but aren't they all? I don't think I've ever seen a small snapper.

^This^ has always interested me too. Our species is helpless for so long. Caribou calves are walking within seconds. We don't even toddle for months. Thanks for the update!

You muse and write as well as you fish, Pat. Heckuva reply.

Pat is a great fisherman and so I hate to disagree with him, but my love of topwater has me pitching it first. If the bass aren't looking up, I then fish down and catch them in the very same spot, so no, I don't think topwater scares them.

You said "bottom." I'm telling. Bass Resource made it worse! In December, January, February, and early March, southern fishers kept posting and posting and POSTING pics of bass. In desperation, I'd go down to the water and drag my Whopper Plopper across the ice, hoping for a 40-pounder that could punch through. Never happened.* *I did have quite a few 30-pounders crack the ice, trying to reach my Whopper Plopper, but they simply weren't strong enough. The ice is long gone, but I'll never fish those ponds with the 30-pounders again. I just don't fish for weak bass.

You must be peanut butter because I'm jelly. Catching a bass like that by walking across the street!

@islandbass sounds savvy. I'd listen to him. I fish shallow, weedy water too. I muster as much muscle as I have, which isn't much, to keep them out of the weeds. It's a matter of guessing how much strain my line will bear. I have my drags cranked way up too. And I reel like crazy. @scaleface is also right. We can't win them all.

I have a pond like that near me. It's a great-looking pond with only one house, but there are only small bass in it. I think its gene pool is also stunted. I was working the shoreline and caught 15 dinks. So, I went deep and caught nada. I've asked the people who live in the one house and they've only caught dinks.

Okay, @softwateronly lives in Chicago with nearly 9,000,000 people and he's catching those bass? Count me bedazzled. And gobsmacked. Count me bechuckled.

She's a beauty!

Good job getting that clamp, @Dominat0r! How long was your LMB, @TnRiver46?

I didn't roam the pond like I usually do. The kayak was so short that it couldn't track in a straight line. I'd paddle on the right side and the kayak would turn to the left and vice-versa. So, I pretty much fished one spot. I started shallow in the weeds and caught nothing, which was no surprise since it was still bright and the bass weren't going to risk being seen by the raptors. So, I went deep and had a little luck and basically followed them into the shallows as the light faded. I'm glad you get a kick out of those chubby bass too! They're funny looking, aren't they? Playing that 19.25-incher in the dark was both exciting and scary.

Fished from a friend's little red kayak for 2.5 hours this evening. I was pleased by the plumpness of the bass and caught 20 of them. I caught most of them on big Senkos, both black and green, either wacky or T-Rigged. Paddling back, I had a 19.25-incher hit. I heard it jump behind me and knew she was heavy. I photographed her twice, on the board and pinching her chin. Three times, I had what I assume were pickerel hit my worm in the weeds, pull hard, and cut the line.

Given the quantity and quality of the bass that @Team9nine has been catching, he's the duck and we're the measly rain. #honeybadgerdon'tcareandduckdon'tcaretoo

I pity the fool who doesn't follow this thread! This thread has it all: drama, comedy, and life lessons. Here's video of me turning to look at the pitiful fools who don't read Pond Observations:

You are brave (a SNAPPER!) and kind (You took the snapper to turtle Heaven.), Bob. I was paddling a bog a few days ago and I just happened to look down and to my right and right where I was about to insert my paddle was a snapper a few inches under the surface. My beautiful carbon paddle might not be so pretty if I hadn't seen the critter.