Swamp Girl

Thanks, Alex. I was telling Bob via email how I've spent the last hour and a half warming myself. A wet chill is hard to shake, plus I wore my wet suit and rubber against your skin might keep me alive if I tip, but it sure doesn't warm old bones in the boat. I think the bass catching in Maine is about to erupt. We just need a few more degrees to stir the bass. The two times I managed to catch more than a fish or three were sunny afternoons. Then the temps drop to the thirties at night and the bass chill again! Whenever it happens, you're right about the coming elation, which will rise from the current humbling.

It's been cool, wet, and windy on coastal Maine for too-long-a-stretch, so I launched the canoe at the closest bog, which has been reliable in the past, but I could only catch one bass on a gray Rage Swimmer with a swim jig. I was seen by five otters who watched me and chittered at me. And I saw an osprey fly overhead clutching a fish in its talons. Otherwise, it was overcast, grey, wet, and c-c-c-cold. At least it wasn't raining, but a canoe is such a wet boat that I was wet anyway.

Well done, @scaleface! I'll be fishing the next three days: a quantity pond tomorrow morning and then two quality bogs on Thursday and Friday. Then the wind kicks up again on Saturday. The wind decides when I fish.

@GreenPig: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Not another lure to buy!!!! Ahh, you already have the perfect net.

So many species! What FUN!!!

@PhishLI: You caught a bass on a Whopper Plopper! I'm so jelly you might as well call me Mrs. Smuckers.

Alex, I love hard-fighting fish. L-O-V-E them! If fishing is just about weight and length, that's akin to buying a house simply because it keeps you warm and dry. Sure, warm and dry is enough for some home buyers, but whereas some home buyers also want energy efficiency, beauty, and privacy, some fishers also lean into the fight, the weather challenges, the wildlife, tenacity, and solving the puzzle. Speaking of leaning into something, I could see her straining against your rod, like a dog that's digging into the soil with four sets of claws and leaning way back. You might want to upgrade your net. Of the many purchases I made this winter, I love my new net the most. It has an aluminum handle, is so long that I never worry about reaching a fish or breaking it (I broke two plastic-handled nets in 2023.), and the netting is 100% rubber, so lures don't get caught in it, unlike rubberized string, which is better than plain string, but lures still get tangled. I tried to find my site of purchase so that I could link to it, but couldn't. The only drawback is its weight, but for now, I can manage it.

@N Florida Mike, your smiles always make me smile. @softwateronly, I add two inches to each of your fish given where you're fishing. You're mountain goatish!

Heck, yeah! That's the appeal of fishing.

As I wrote in another post, I like to read stories of perseverance rewarded. Way to stick with it!

@bulldog1935, you clearly know and love boats. I used to write a column for Canoe & Kayak magazine called, "Rides," where paddlers would explain why they loved a particular boat. I've never heard the term, "wind-slippery," but I love it. My Bell Rockstar solo canoe is like a semi on the prairie, with the wind battering its high sides. On windy days, my paddle is in my hands more than a rod. However, I don't want to switch to a sit-on-top kayak because my Rockstar is light enough for my 66-year old muscles to still carry. I suppose a kayak with wheels would work, but how would I lift it onto the car? I suppose a trailer might work, but would it survive the logging roads I use? Everything is a compromise.

@bulldog1935: What a great trip report! I loved every detail and especially driving across the stream. I worry about Texas's drought, shared by Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. At least states to the west and northwest got some relief. Here's hoping you do too soon.

I love to see tenacity rewarded. Heck, I love to see tenacity period.

35. From the shore. In nasty weather. You da man.

Sounds like a great day.

A-Jay, I feel my fishing window in Maine wasn't open for long. If the wind isn't blowing, it's raining. I don't mind fishing in the rain when it's in the 70s, 60s, or even 50s, but it's tough when it's in the 40s and we have three days in a row with highs in the 40s coming and four nights in a row with lows in the 30s coming too. All windy and wet too. I just can't imagine the bass being real active when they're swimming with frost on their shoulders and icicles on their bellies. I'll try to slip out once or twice if the wind lessens. If the wind is feisty, I spend more time with a paddle in my hand instead of a rod. That happens when the wind reaches double digits. However, in a couple weeks, I think it will have to be warm and dry and not so windy and I expect the bass to be oh-so-hungry and feisty as our weather's been. Great bass. Really beautiful...as always. @AlabamaSpothunter: You're the best, Alex. @hokiehunter373, you were right. You did a Babe Ruth-finger point at me!

You guys made me cry and cry. Thank you, thank you, and thank you. Thanks too to @PhishLI who's been coaching me in private messages. PhishLI lives on Long Island, which is basically Manhattan's lawn. When he talks, I listen because he's catching the world's most pressured bass. He told me to focus on wood with soft plastics and I did just that to catch the big girl below. She ran three times, including once beside the boat. And another special thanks to @AlabamaSpothunter, who encouraged me to buy a scale, which I used to weigh her. She weighs 5.49 pounds and that's her in the second photo too. Maine bass don't grow as long as southern bass. Our winters are simply too long and our growing season too short, but they do grow up and down, as you can see. She looks a little like a bluegill, edging toward that saucer bluegill shape. I included the third photo so you can see how it still looks like winter up here. We had one day that reached a high of 70 degrees and another day where the high was 64. Other that that, it's been in the fifties and a few forties with many nights in the thirties, which is why the shoreline is still brown. I fished two water bodies this morning, a swamp that holds big fish, where I caught two bass, including the fat gal, and two pickerel. Then, on the way home, I stopped to fish a pond and caught another ten, with most having that fine football shape. Gosh, it was wonderful to be on the water and I finished with 14, my first double digit day of the year.

You guys are too kind. I'm going fishing tomorrow morning, as much to be on the water as to fish. My beloved dog died in my arms yesterday. He was my shadow even at the end of his life, when he had cancer and a failing heart and was deaf. Still, if I left the room, he'd rise and follow me. I buried him in the Japanese garden and in a week or two, I'll plant a flowering ground cover on the mound. When I taught tough boys, each spring, I'd read them "Where the Red Fern Grows." Those hardened boys, all quick and ready to fight, softened and leaked at the book's ending. It hurts and hurts to say good-bye to a good dog. They're better than us, more loyal and loving than we can ever be.

I'm dyin' for a Butterburger and a clothing department that's half Carhartt.

I miss Fleet Farm and Culver's.

Now, that's a lotta snow! We got a 24-incher this year. The biggest snowfall I experienced in Maine was 31". So, yeah, we get snow, but not those temperature swings.

I bought a LOT of lures this winter and am prepared to greatly complicate my fishing, but I think this shall pass as I settle into some lures the bass like. My problem is I last fishing for LMB a half century ago and there are sooooooooo many new lures and techniques to try.

@AlabamaSpothunter, you've been recently pining for winter again, but these are the good ol days too. You've been steadily catching big fish. We're all so proud of you.

I agree!