Swamp Girl

This is my prayer tonight: For Alex, here's my wish evermore winter fish. Alex loves January with no swarms of boats, Johns, and Marys. In this first month, the lake's his own He's free to cast, free to roam.' He boats the bigguns Two at time By patience and pluck, by skill and clime. Twenty, thirty, Too many to count An ever, ever growing amount. So this I wish and this I pray For Jan-a in 'bama to last one hundred days.

@Jig Man I love when a shop comes together.

I would fish ^this^ in a New York nanosecond. I assumed he was talking about the designation and thus, the St. Croix. We'll see when he replies.

Living in Maine, with the highest percentage of old folks and an abundance of water, there aren't many fishers. Plus, I fish the lakes without ramps, so that reduces the number even more. And I fish the bass ponds and many Mainers prefer trout. So, the number shrinks again. In the end, most mornings and evenings, I have the water to myself.

Alex, you da fisher-MAN! Another great day. I'm so proud of you. Happy for you too. I LOVE your double. What a feat! Makes my feet happy! Now I get to watch the video. Better than tv! #alexisq+q

@LrgmouthShad That sammich should be a welcome everywhere!

Five bass in 40 minutes at 40 degrees is HOT fishing!

@ gimruis I appreciate your clear-headed posts in this thread. You have a "follow the money" kind of analysis, which I trust.

NC is a beautiful state. How-dee and I raise a chicken leg to welcome you!

Well, you're a good fishing pal and a good man, for your mistake changed you forever, upgrading your fish photography. The one photo I regret was taken by my brother, who's a great photographer, but he took it in near darkness, with no flash. He was in one canoe and I was in another, so we were both moving. He had to leave the shutter open longer than any hand can be still, but he still captured my bass...a bit. My beast is nearly shrouded by night in the photo, but you can make out its outline and it looks every bit as big as when I first saw it beside my canoe and swore at its size.

I'm with ya, Jar. I wish I could open my tackle box when I catch a skinny fish, show that hungry dude all my lures, and say, "Don't try to eat any of these until you're fat!" And I also wish I had shad on my boat that I could feed a skinny bass before releasing it. Alex, regarding bass regurgitating shad, I'm exactly the same way. I'm even tempted to carry a mini-plunger and stuff the shad back into the bass.

Heck, yeah, they do! I love fat bass. It tells me the lake and fish are healthy. Likewise, skinny fish worry me. I actually feel bad when I catch a skinny bass because I used some of their energy and they don't have any to spare. You could catch Alex's bass above ten times in a row and they'd still be plump. @Bluebasser86 You took a great photo of your friend. I don't know if many of you are nerds (I know Bob is, thank goodness. Nerds are my people!), but in "a few short months," all your bases will belong to me!

Ah, I see what you mean. You guys weren't reading that literally. Well, I wrote it literally. Gotta remember I'm in a room full of dudes! Here's the mulligan: I love those 16" bass. They've got that youthful vigor.

I love those 16" bass. I think of them as 16-year old boys, not much meat, but a lot of young muscle.

@The Baron Heck, yeah! Those are beauties. However, you committed sacrilege when you wrote, "...only have a canoe." For your penance, say three fisherman's prayers: God Grant that I may live to fish until my dying day, And when it comes to my last cast, I then most humbly pray; When in the Lord's safe landing net I'm peacefully asleep, That in His mercy I be judged as good enough to keep.

Did you somehow get a white stripe painted down your back? I know that attracts skunks. Like this one:

Sorry to read this, Bob. I love otters, but I love fish too and I really love your beautiful pond because you built it.

I was skunked today, for the 73rd day in a row!

That would be sweet, sweet music.

I'm the same with backup planning. I've also done some onsite scouting this winter. It's easier to find a path to a pond with the leaves gone.

Oh, yeah, you're right. I have spent hours and hours doing that! I was online just this morning, planning my sequence of casting for a couple new lakes.

Full confession: Other than change the trebles on my Whopper Ploppers, change some line, and feed the Bait Monkey, I haven't done anything.

Decades ago, Miami got an inch of snow. There was footage of the chaos, of cars sliding into intersections and crashing. Thanks. That's kind of you.

Nerds are my nation. Fishers are my tribe. So, a fishing nerd is family!

Is this a live feed fishing day? Cool! Go, Mr. Shad, go!