Swamp Girl

It should be illegal to have your heart broken twice by the same fish.

You are a heckuva, fisherman, @Bluebasser86! Congrats on the wins and those beautiful fish!

If there was a one-second moment that you wish you'd captured on film, what was it? I'd lead with two also-rans: We were perch fishing a hump in Lake Michigan's Little Bay de Noc. I was reeling a perch up and it suddenly stopped right beneath our boat. I thought maybe the hook had caught on the boat, so I leaned over and was inches from a monster pike, which had chomped on my perch. I screamed, even though I've caught lots of big pike and muskies, and the guys teased me all day. I don't think they believed me. I wish I had a photo. I was fishing a river mouth north of Chapleau, Ontario in the dusk when a great pike came out of the water like a Trident missile. We hadn't hooked it. It scared us. We were just kids, so we didn't even cast it. We hightailed it back to the campfire. I wish I had a photo of that fish completely out of the water. The winner: We were fishing a wilderness musky lake north of Kenora, Ontario. The wind had been howling out of the northwest for three days and we'd caught maybe two or three between four of us in those three days. Then it suddenly swung around to coming from the southeast. It was a warm wind too, perfect for unlocking toothy jaws. So, we paddled a mile to a strait and pitched buzzbaits. At one point, I had two musky V-s at once racing to my lure. I wish I had that on video. I caught five in an hour and lost a sixth.

Your trip reports are so exciting, PhishLI.

@Bankc, I figure this cop is going to have a cardiologist one day...if he survives. Here are some things that anger does to a body: The long-term physical effects of uncontrolled anger include increased anxiety, high blood pressure and headache. In the two hours after an angry outburst, the chance of having a heart attack doubles. One study found there was a three times higher risk of having a stroke from a blood clot to the brain or bleeding within the brain during the two hours after an angry outburst. Harvard University scientists found that in healthy people, simply recalling an angry experience from their past caused a six-hour dip in levels of the antibody immunoglobulin A, the cells’ first line of defense against infection. A group of Harvard University scientists studied 670 men over eight years using a hostility scale scoring method to measure anger levels and assessed any changes in the men's lung function. The men with the highest hostility ratings had significantly worse lung capacity, which increased their risk of respiratory problems. If you're stressed and angry, you'll shorten your lifespan. And there's a lot more. Anger is acid to our cells. I hope some Kens or Karens read ^this^.

^Funniest post^ And wouldn't this be a great advertisement for Ranger boats! I'd contact Ranger with this story if I were you.

@Jmurphy87, thanks! So, you feel the rod load up with the weight of a solid bass, as opposed to just weeds? I have felt that, for sure, and I'm glad I asked because I thought it meant something different. Me too! I'm going shore fishing on Tuesday at three small bodies of water that may or may not hold bass. They're all on Highway One, Maine's major highway, and I've driven over and past them for years. I've never seen anyone fish them, but they sure look bassy. Then I'm fishing Thursday afternoon at a quantity pond and Friday morning at a quality bog. Fingers crossed that my rod loads up!

Beauty, @Jmurphy87! You wrote that you felt the rod load up. I see the word "load" used fairly frequently here and in articles. What does it mean in the context of bass fishing? I think I know, but I want to be sure.

I lived in Wisconsin for 30 years and about 20 years of that was on farms, so I speak cow. If she said, "Moooo. Mooooo. Moo," she was saying, "Atta, boy! Thatta bass!" Cows can be quite encouraging when it comes to bass fishing. However, if she said, ""Moooooo. Moo. Mooo," this site doesn't allow me to translate that, as some cows sass like sailors.

44 degrees and soaked doesn't make you soft, @Woody B. Nice bass.

Hi, Mike. I love the Ohio River and have paddled all of it, as well as some of its tributaries. Welcome to Bass Resource! What bass do you target and how do you catch them?

^Unflinching, frank, and bittersweet^ I admire every word of it.

Nice bass, T. Nicer hat.

Nice fish, guys. What's up with your pond, GP? Did you save some bass?

You're a heckuva writer, @PhishLI. Lots of nuggets above, but this is one of the shiniest: This one would also make a 49er (the first version of a 49er, not the second) holler: Your writing puts me in that pond. I read your stories with lots of head nodding and yups. Regarding that northeast wind, good things come from the northeast, like E.B. White, Mark Twain, and the Wyeths, but not the northeast winds. Northeast winds are birthed by the North Atlantic.

I'm semi-retired. I still write for about ten magazines, which sounds like a lot, but I used to have national columns, wrote for other magazines that closed shop, and was on the lecture circuit for up to two months at a time. Plus, I'm building a garden, which takes at least as much time as fishing, so all these factors mean I'll be fishing two to three days a week for about six and a half months a year. Darth, I don't think you should retire because you love your work. Retire when your wife does.

Thanks for the video. I've watched too many horror movies. I've been programmed to assume that what comes after the splashing and whacking is a monster.

I love Pat's son's bluegill too. Gorgeous color and big too! You are well-named, @FishTank, since you catch fish like that.

Such a funny line! Another good one. So true in Maine too. My favorite lake is also the one that makes me pay to reach it.

@killobet, the bass you catch are perfect. Perfect color and size. Big too!

A call to rally might be premature. I have yet to catch a single fish. I've scouted about half a dozen times and I look forward to casting where I couldn't in 2022, i.e. where the weeds were.

The magazine is Gray's Sporting Journal and I'm always thrilled when they publish me because it's such a beautiful magazine: photography, poetry, art, essays, travel stories, etc. I can't link to the article because it's not on the Internet, but the Table of Contents gives you a taste of the magazine's look and focus. I hope no one at BR will hold it against me that I love trout too: https://www.grayssportingjournal.com/in-this-issue/

@killobet Well done! I visited two ponds yesterday. One was 75% ice. The other was 5% ice. Next week, we'll have a stretch of five days, from 60-71 degrees. Guess who's going fishing? I'll wait until the third day to let the water warm a little. I'm going to lead with a chatterbait, a jerkbait, and a lipless crankbait.

So, you're a beagle man, huh? No wonder I like you!

@AlabamaSpothunter Threads wander, for sure. Threads are like a beagle, following every little scent.