Swamp Girl

Beautiful fish, Alex! The first, second, and fourth look like bulldozers, but the third fish is built like a sports car. I also like the jaw on that first fish. Good job catching them on various lures too. I always enjoy going deeper into my tackle box.

There's going to be a lot more quiet before any storm. Another six inches fell last night and another six inches is forecast for Saturday. On the plus side, beneath the snow and ice, those bass have to be getting hungrier and hungrier. When they finally see my lures, they'll think, "FOOD!!! FINALLY, FOOD!" Dang it! I thought the pulling power of sausage and taters was infinite, but it clearly only reaches to Western Mass or thereabouts.

I believe this photo, found by the Perry family in 2006:

@DaubsNU1, I had the same thoughts about endorsements! The largemouth bass record would be borderline deformed. Those 20+ lb. bass bulge every which way with Dottie being the bulgiest. Like a world record musky, she would be scary boat-side. Big smallmouth, on the other hand, tend to look like simply bigger smallmouth. They hold their sleek, beautiful form. So, for aesthetics and for fighting fury, I'd pick the smallmouth. @A-Jay, yeah, I pity the lakes where world records are caught.

I wish @thediscochef and I were going with you. We need to catch some fish in 2023!

For fun's sake, imagine that you have a chance to catch a freaky bass that's 25% bigger than the current world record. Here are your four choices: A redeye bass that weighs about 6.3 lbs. A spotted bass that weighs about 13 lbs. A smallmouth bass that weighs about 15 lbs. A largemouth bass that weighs about 27.875 lbs. Which one would you choose and why?

Alex, I think those are two, fine, handsome, healthy, fat fish. And they're two of fifteen! Reframe your expectations and enjoy where your local bass are right now. Even then, you might still catch a DD, but if you don't, there's still a lot to enjoy. For example, it's not 100 degrees and your water isn't hard like mine. Plus, your big bass total for 2023 already surpasses what more than 90% of bass fishers will catch in all of 2023. P. S. - Please reread my first two sentences.

@roadwarrior has the right idea. Incentivize harvesting them. Turn them into a commodity. Then step back and watch capitalism consume them. Soon people will be pining for the days when the rivers flowed with silver.

@thediscochef It's been especially cold in Maine the last four days, so I think my ice floe is now big enough for two if you want to come along. Or you could simply stowaway in @Carolina Pines' boat. He's catching plenty!

A video title that begins "GIANT BASS...!" Then the guy fishes for two hours, dragging the viewer along with the promise of "GIANT BASS," and he catches one three-pounder. Then he finishes by coaching for five minutes about replicating his "GIANT BASS" success. It's like having Barney Fife as a free-throw shooting expert who demonstrates his "expertise" by making one of ten free throws, and then turning to the team and saying, "Now, men, when shooting the game winning throw, I want you to learn from my expertise. For starters,....'

Who knew that posting some goat pics would release such funny stories? Thanks, Bob! Now I kinda wanna see someone post some hippo, lion, or yak photos. I bet those stories are great too. @Bluebasser86 I can see why you win tournaments. You are a heckuva fisherman. If you fished with me in Maine, The Land of Hungry, Hungry Bass, I bet you'd catch 70 fish in a morning.

Bob, decades ago, I saw a nature documentary about otters. As an otter played with otters and then with a turtle, the narrator said that otters are playful because it's so easy for them to kill. They're quicker and faster and more nimble than their prey, as opposed to a typical predator like an owl or cheetah, which often misses a kill.

@Zcoker I know manatees get clobbered and I assume that they're just one of many Florida critters that do, especially with high speed boats in shallow water. #heymacdaviskayakersandcanoeistsalreadygoslowandsmelltherosessoyoudonthavetosingtous!

The collective response to the OP has been generous and chock full of wisdom. Pity he never availed himself of it.

^That would scare me.^ I've shared big water with ships. I've paddled beside ocean going vessels and river barges longer than aircraft carriers, but those big vessels are piloted by sober professionals. Weekend boaters with a bellyful of beer scare me more than the 1000-footers.

It's 17 degrees here, but given what I've learned about Maine bass, I'm thinking that if I dragged a Whopper Plopper on the ice, the bass would be trying to bust through like Orcas hungry for a seal.

That crappie looks like one of Bob's (@Blue Raider Bob) pregger goats! It's so fat it's funny.

I'm coming to the end of 39 hours, Season 2, and here's what I've observed: The twins, Adam and Sean Konrad, respect their fish. They're also, arguably, the best fishers. The clowns, AP(Bassin') and Taro Murata, threw their fish back into the water. The twins outworked the other teams, driving through the nights to the next river or lake. The twins also worked together. When a fish was hooked, the other brother immediately went for the net. When Adam caught a 37" brown trout, Sean kept reminding him to stay calm and focused. Meanwhile, the clowns were either too high, singing silly songs, or too low, literally sagging and self-pitying. Both AP and Tato had to be reminded to fetch a net for their partners and even then, they bungled that, hooking the nets on lures and rods. Both AP and Tato appeared to prefer talking to the camera to fishing. If the twins were talking to the camera, they kept fishing. My takeaways: Work hard. Stay focused. Respect your quarry. Be a good teammate if you have a partner.

Way to go, guys!

Here's a fisher who didn't heed Phish's warnings. This is after a mere 20 minutes of mosquito exposure. He's trying to shake off the mosquitoes, but it's a little too late. He's bone dry:

@NorcalBassin I like how your photos vary. I need to do more of that. I also like seeing photos of your trips because they're so different than where I fish. I think I shared once how California looks like another planet to me. Have you ever been to Maine? It can feel otherworldly too. Our forests are so thick. They're forbiddingly, fairy-tale-creepy thick, nothing like the park-like beech forests of Ohio or the equally open and welcoming forests of New York. Maine forests should have signs that say, "You enter, you die. You choose." NorCalBassin, on the other hand/side of the continent, looks like he's fishing on Mars. #eric26sawbowieluckyduck

You're a funny storyteller, Phish. Thanks for the laugh!

Clown knifefish can swim backwards. Did yours? @Team9nine In those sunglasses, you look like Richard Belzer, which is a very good thing. Richard Belzer and David Bowie were always the coolest guys in a room, wherever the room.

Dang! Those Long Island mosquitoes are vampires. They can't be killed because they're the undead.

Phish, I LOVE wade fishing. It's my favorite way to fish. I once waded the north shore of Lake Michigan for smallmouth. The water was so high that it slopped over the tops of my waders. When the smallmouth jumped, they were over my head. If, at the end of my life, I am given one moment to relive, it might be that evening. Phish, does Permethrin also not work?