Swamp Girl

Our ice came early this year, so I fear it'll leave late because it'll be thicker than normal. Being inland, Andy's Michigan gets colder than we do, but it also gets warmer than we do. We don't have warm spring days because of the North Atlantic, so whereas our January should be warmer than Michigan's, our April will be colder. In the end, I'm guessing it'll all even out and I'll got with the same ice-out day: April 17th. 2025 bass:

I won't fish the fairly famous Maine lakes near me because in a bass boat/canoe collision, I lose every single time. So, I launch where they can't launch, in ponds and bogs without ramps because I launch early and in the fog, which makes me oh-so vulnerable.

Well, um, yeah, but naaahhhh. Old people were once young people. Young people have yet to be old people. So, old people know that being old is different. We literally feel it in our bones.

Me too. I had to do it this past summer for a death in the family, but I hated it. Like you, I'd drive up to 17 hours straight for work. No more. My pond is five minutes from my driveway and my pal's pond is 12 minutes away. Those are perfect distances. I also avoid meds. They all have side effects.

How old are you, Scott? I'm 69 and driving long distances is something I don't want to do too.

Good photo, @Fried Lemons!

Agree. In 2025, I found myself ending my fishing trips sooner because work awaited me at home. The two prior years, I stayed out until the last possible minute...and sometimes more.

I haven't paddled it yet, but I watched a guy online stand on the edge of it without tipping, so I'm pretty sure it'll be hard to tip. Good goal. I catch a lot of bass when I launch at four in the morning.

I caught my PB in April. I just wish that it was such a scary month for me. However, with my new Old Town Predator 13 on my pal's pond, I won't be as scared because it's a big, stable kayak. The problem with April is that my two big bass bogs require me to launch my tippy Kevlar canoe. I'll probably do it, but hug the shorelines.

Good goal!

This reminds me of musky fishing, when you can fish all week and not catch a single fish. It's not for me, but I'm glad I tried it. I'm happiest in a busy boat. Oh, I know. It's a thrill to catch a 43" pike on six-pound line while fishing for bass in northwestern Ontario.

There were thousands of anglers trying to catch 17, 18, and 19-pound bass and to hook a 20-pound-plus bass. I'm guessing you could count the anglers who did with one hand.

Time to cry:

I believe you, King. You have the fire and red hot coals burn through the long night.

Early snow on the roof is another thing we have in common, Al. I had my first white hairs in high school and I've long been snowy white. I urge all of you still young and strong enough to reach yonder while you still can. For me, yonder was northwestern Ontario. Your yonder is likely different. I can no longer reach my yonder, but in aggregate, I spent about a year of my life in the wilderness, with the longest solo stretch being five weeks. It's stuck with me.

Heck yeah, it does! I agree...and as someone who doesn't use sonar, it was an interesting read. So, thanks, Mr. Fly!

What a great story and memory, @BigAngus752. Thanks for telling it. I don't know if I was scammed or not, but I met a small, pale professor. I think his name was Peabody. Anyway, he sold me a Wayback Machine that he said will take us back in time. Fingers crossed it works!

Come fish the upper Mississippi with me! We'll catch some smallies and wave at the paddlewheelers as they pass.

Mike, is anyone playing Barry White or Tom Jones on a jukebox near the ponds you fish?

And this is why he's caught 17, 18, and 19-pounders.* *I get giddy when I list Tom's achievements. They're unfathomable to me. The rest of us are thrilled with an 11-pounder, whether caught or imagined.

To complicate the topic even more, I think confidence is mostly really knowing the nuances of a particular lure. I have caught so many bass with underspins that I know every possible way they'll hit it. And I've cast so many underspins that I have the confidence to cast it into the gnarliest opening. There have been times when I cast it under a bush and seemingly into the open maw of a bass. It hit the water and was fish on.

Ha, another Nouveau Thoreau. Welcome aboard!

Pat, I keep thinking that my underspins will stop working because I've caught so many bass with them, but they keep catching, so I keep casting them. It might help that I keep changing the trailers, both the brands (Zako, Mayor, and Keitech) and colors. It's just that a body of water holds so many bass. I read that an acre of water, on average, supports 100 pounds of bass. Well, my pond is 170 acres and my pal's pond is more than twice that. An average bass is 2.5 pounds. So, that's 40 2.5-pounders times 170 for my pond for 6,800 bass and more than double that for my pal's pond. I catch a lot of bass, but I sure haven't caught all those bass. So, a lot of them have never hit one of my underspins. "People?" I think it's mostly just me asserting this. We utterly agree here. I am water column-focused when I fish. One reason I troll when paddling from one casting spot to another is that trolling probes the middle of the column. Pat, there have been times when a slight change made all the difference in catching bass. The bass in my favorite lake in northwestern Ontario loved fluorescent red F13 Rapalas until they didn't. One morning, they might ignore them for silver and blue or black and gold. The following morning, they might be back to preferring fluorescent red. So, I know how bass preferences can shift. It happens to me still, when my underspins will stop working for a week or two and I have to shift. Pat, you know I watched your beautiful video of you fishing that city pond, the one with the drone shots, and that pond is tiny compared to my pond. So your environment is sharply different because it holds far fewer bass and you'd have to change your lures much more than me. As Jimmy B. said, changes in latitude, changes in attitude. I think if I fished your city pond, I'd fish like you, throwing the tacklebox at them. If you fished my pond, you'd fish like me, throwing an underspin at them because it's one lure that cannot explore the entire water column. As @Columbia Craw noted, I'm in a unique situation where I lug (even at my pond) my gear through the dark woods, which prevents me from bringing hundreds of lures, so my environment shapes my fishing. My fishing has evolved to succeed where I fish. In northwestern Ontario, the environment was even more restricting, as a portage might be a mile and trimming ounces is necessary. You're so generous and funny, @Kirtley Howe, but success breeds success. I've caught a lot of bass in my life and so when I launch, I launch with all those memories of where bass tend to be and what they tend to want. And I've written more than once about how lightly some bass hit and how easy it is to miss hits if you haven't had hundreds/thousands of similar hits. I think you're right. I have some lures that have half their paint and are so scuffed and I keep casting them and they keep catching bass. Cool story.

@T-Billy, I sure understand your musky focus. They're magnificent fish. Congrats again on your wonderful season and it's so cool that Tammy will be fishing more.

All true.