Swamp Girl

Bob!!!!

I'm out of likes, but I like this! Here ya go, I have one to spare. -Kent

It happens to me all the time. Maine gators are bigger than Nile crocs and nastier than Australia's saltwater crocs.

My dad sure did. He'd go sit in a tree day after day and see deer every day. I think he liked sitting in a tree and waiting for a trophy. Thanks for ^this.^

If I fished where you fish, I would feel the same way. Heck, I don't think I'd even fish because I'd have to fish with two swivels: my Whopper Plopper on a swivel and my head on a swivel. But if you fished where I fish, where there are beavers, eagles, ospreys, loons, geese, kingfishers, and no other people, you might be happy paddling and not catching.

Heck, yeah, kingfisher, that happens to me...some days...and some days, I do find a pattern...and then, some days, the pattern suddenly ends. Bass are, as Gollum would say, tricksey! And Gollum should know because he eats fish! And if can't catch 'em, he ain't eatin' and that makes him oh so mad. So, follow zcoker instead of Gollum. Z is happy when he's catchin' and Z is happy when he's not catchin'.

I just read this line the trout-fishing book, "At the Loch of the Green Corrie" and I'm wondering if you agree with it. If so, why? If not, why not? "If you don't enjoy fishing when you don't catch a fish, you shouldn't be a fisherman." I know this is true for me because I didn't catch fish when I first started fishing, but I still kept fishing. I loved and love the act of casting. And I loved and love the uncertainty, never knowing if and when. I even loved and love opening my tackle box and wondering what might work.

Gosh, that sounds fun! I've experienced the same flurry below waterfalls.

Bob, Glenn published another article. It's "The Perfect Fishing Day" and it's totally Crickety with me chirping about all the things that make me sing.

Daniel, I like your tagline. Having fun is the key to a rich life.

You are humble, but you are still allowed to Good-day-ma'am-me if you wish.

If bigbassin' ever meets us and ignores us, that is his due.

Whoa! You are the leader, sir.

Mille Lacs is huge, for sure. I used to live in western Wisconsin, so I fished the Mississippi too.

@gimruis That second fish is like A-Jay's first fish: BIG BELLIES!

@T-Billy Tim, you look like an utter bad azz in your photos. You look like the God of Muskies, come down from Olympus, to best the beasts.

Here's my proudest moment: My last fishing trip of 2022, I caught two puny largemouth. So, why was it my proudest moment? Well, I was so excited to fish my final time that I couldn't sleep. So, I rose and launched in utter darkness. The wind was brisk and it was black. Then my flashlight stopped working. I kept being blown into the shoreline, which bristled with shrubbery while my canoe bristled with rods. If they'd met, it would have been The Last Tangle in Maine. Did I mention I caught two measly bass? So, why do I recall it with pride? Well, I stuck it out, but that only earns me one Livin' Life to the Fullest (LLttF) credit. What earned me 99 LLttF credits was my joy. The stars were astonishing, as in northwestern-Ontario-wilderness astonishing. And an owl was hooting and I was replying. And when the light finally arose, it was beautiful, but not like most people enjoy. It was brown and bleakly beautiful, but utterly lovely, like Labrador and the Scottish Highlands shine. Plus, with the water flora died back, I was able to paddle and poke deep into those places in the lake that had once been denied me. I wasn't catching fish, but I got to foray where summer's plushness would never permit. So, I am pleased that it took so little to please me: two pint-sized bass, my pluck, a hoot owl, stars beyond stars, a bounty of bleak beauty, and plumbing deep into the swamp. Now, I'm off to breakfast on the cool, but sunny seashore with friends, which will earn me another LLttF credit, which are redeemable for cash and valuable prizes!* *Nah, they're just redeemable for joy.

Dane, those are FAT river fish.

Yikes, I wouldn't like that. I'm picturing it as this:

Professor Alex, you have earned your PhD in Bassology and I'm the eager-to-learn student in the front row with her hand up, wanting to glean as much as possible from your experience. I'm not willing to lug electronics to lake shores, but you talk about them so much that when I'm older (66) and I have to quit canoeing, I might switch to a boat with electronics and see all that you electronically see.

Thanks for the photo. It's good to see another fishing canoeist readying to launch. A trolling motor would be as stealthy as paddling, I'm guessing. I assume you paddle too into the weeds.

He owes you the bow next time, for sure. I once put a guy in the bow of my canoe and the muskies were going crazy that day. He caught nine and I caught two. That evening, he bragged about outfishing me. The next six days, I kept switching us, bow to stern and stern to bow. His lead shrunk every dang day and his bragging ceased.

Alex, thanks for posting this beauty. I'm smiling with you.