Swamp Girl

The Great Brown Whale!

You two have such fun, throttleplate.

Yeah, I feel the same way about Maine.

I went fishing again this morning, but I'm thinking the days of 30/40/50 fish mornings are done until next year. I did catch ten, but only seven were largemouth. The other three were pickerel and I took a photo of an especially pretty one. I also caught an 18-inch bass (the second photo) and one pushing 17 inches, so they were fun. Heck, it's always fun, even when I don't catch a bunch or they're short. I just like being on the water. There was a huge flock of geese on the water this morning and another that looked like they wanted to land on the lake, but passed. I even like taking pics of the little bass with fat tummies because they're on their way to being big bass!

I was talking to one of the Field and Stream editors once and he shared that his writers still wanted to write the old style F&S articles instead of "35 Surefire Ways to Catch Smallmouth Bass!" The old style articles weren't just about how to catch fish, but how it felt to catch fish and to be on the water with your friends or alone. Thanks, Glenn, for this thread! Ahh, shucks, Dwight! Alex, you're the best. And thanks to the rest of you too! You guys are so encouraging and kind.

Those are fine looking fish, Alex. They look like the fish I caught this morning. Not long, but well fed and healthy. I'm marinating a second article. So glad you enjoyed the first!

^I like the way you think.^

Most years, I simply counted as I caught them. One year, I took three of those clicking counters, one each for pike, smallmouth, and walleye. That was way too complicated. Then I settled on a single counter with each fish, whatever the species, counting as a click. BTW, you're a hoot and a half! There are so many lakes loaded with smallmouth, but you do have to be willing to sleep on rocky shores and bathe in the lakes. That eliminates a chunk of fishermen right there. You're right, Alex. That bass does look like a mating salmon. Imagine what it will look like in five years and if keeps growing in its current directions: It will be Jurassic Bass! You're also right about my struggles with water in the boat. After 30 minutes or so, my canoe has water in it, as the paddle sheds water as I switch sides. And water, as you've seen, has freckled my camera's lens more than once. You're right again (Trifecta!) about the risk of a skunk. I have worked darned hard to reach some lakes in Canada, thinking I'll be casting to fish that have never, EVER seen a lure and I ended up casting to no fish at all.

^My kinda guy^

It appears I will be my only customer. Of course, my Dual Scale 5000 also comes with a free jet pack, but it's too late for any of you to get aboard this boat.

BRRRR! It was 34 degrees when I launched my canoe this morning. The water was shallow, so I had to step into it. It was so foggy too. I did see four Great Blue Herons and one Bald Eagle. I also saw a beaver. It had no fear of me. Fog is nature's curtain and when the curtain is drawn, animals are less afraid of us, I think. I only caught nine fish and two were pickerel, which I didn't photograph because they are bonkers. BONKERS! I just try to survive them. And most of the time, I just get a blur when I do try to photograph one. I'll lead with some short, but stout bass and then a photo of the fog. Then some longer bass. The smallmouth was so rotund and so was the last bass. The last bass was only 15 inches, but built like a 19-incher. See how its body slopes downhill to its tail? Drop some snow on that bass and your pet mouse could ski him. Hey, the lead article on the Bass Resource home page is mine. Cool, huh? Alex, I also have an old camera. It's an Olympus Stylus Tough. One of these years, I'll upgrade.

There's this. If you added a trough board to something similar, you could sell it for about $30: https://www.homedepot.com/pep/Ozeri-Precision-Pro-White-Stainless-Steel-Digital-Kitchen-Scale-with-Oversized-Weighing-Platform-ZK011/203725596?g_store=&source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&&mtc=SHOPPING-BF-HDH-GGL-D59H-029_029_HOUSEWARES-NA-Multi-NA-SMART-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-kitchen_tools_smart_pla_test&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-BF-HDH-GGL-D59H-029_029_HOUSEWARES-NA-Multi-NA-SMART-NA-NA-NA-NA-NBR-NA-NA-NA-kitchen_tools_smart_pla_test-71700000087623968-58700007447146479-92700068477512577&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqoibBhDUARIsAH2OpWhYOnNr4XMIRF395vOxbvjx7zEbEBK7iab9TlblGsl6xyR-J2n5QO8aAo3jEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Yoo-hoo, Alex! Your photos are so sharp. What's your camera?

I played one video game in my life and that was so addictive that I'd be up until four in the morning, my head buzzing with fatigue, but I couldn't stop. So, when I finally stopped playing that game, I never started another. However, I admire your gaming station. Captain Kirk would too. I'm glad you're counter-balancing your life with fishing, which is both calming and exciting. So exciting.

You misunderstand. My Tetris has most of its buttons still. Plus, as recently as 1989, it sorta worked.

New question: How many of you would buy a trough board that also electronically weighed your fish? I sure would.

Hey, where is the heli-pad?

Welcome, J. The guys here are so kind and helpful. Pose some questions and they'll increase the quantity and quality of the fish you'll catch. Say, would you be willing to swap your gaming setup for my old, handheld, broken Tetris? Of course, you'd have to sweeten the pot with a couple grand, simply to be fair.

I love my hog trough measuring board, but it only measures length. How about a combo measuring board/weight scale? You set the fish on the board and it gives you the weight as you note its length. Better for the fish since it shortens the whole process!

You guys could start a tv show called, "I Tricked Out my Canoe!"

I didn't fish for the last five years due to someone needing caregiving, which kept me from northwestern Ontario, but then I discovered that there are bass pretty much in my backyard. Lots of 'em! So, I'm back to fishing. A four-year old attached to an 18-inch carp, given their power, must have been fun to see!

Phish, you're my coach, my mentor and my Yoda. I will fish that pond again next year! I wasn't sure I would, but with your encouragement, I'm sure now. I'm thinking about using one of these final days to return to the pond where I caught that fat fish. There's a ridge running out into the deep lake. I read that bass ambush prey on the sides of such ridges, so that's where I worked my Whopper Plopper, but I'd like to slowly work a soft plastic swimbait there too, like you suggested.

Phish, I will nearly do as you suggest. I won't use the exact baits and hooks you suggested, but I have baits and hooks that are almost identical. ^This sounds sooo right to me.^ Thank you. My problem is me. I thought I'd found the pond of ponds, down a wet and bumpy road that would deter many, without a boat ramp, with zero cabins, and abutting the pond that had some fat gals. My expectations were over the moon. And Venus and Mars too. What is wicked cool about this pond that I didn't mention is that there's an old bridge made of railroad ties over one of the waterfalls that Google Earth doesn't show. One day, I'll climb that bridge and follow its road.

Well, the new pond was a little anti-climatic. It was fed by the pond where I caught that 19-incher with the big belly a few days ago and it has ZERO cabins, so I figured it would be amazing. I did catch 29 fish, one pickerel and 28 bass. It was also gorgeous with a couple small waterfalls, beavers, an eagle, and cathedral white pines. I loved the approach too, down a bouncy dirt road with mud and pools. And I loved that I couldn't hear any cars. However, I was expecting/hoping to catch at least two 19-inchers. I did catch two 18-inchers, but one was so skinny I couldn't bear to photograph it. I caught three super skinny fish this year and wonder if they didn't have a parasite in them. I'll start the photos with some small fish, then some lake photos, one with a beaver, and finally some longer fish. I am amazed that it's November and I can still go out and catch bass in Maine. I figure we'll have snow in a couple weeks. Most of the bass hit the Whopper Plopper, but about eight hit the wacky worm and one hit the wake bait. I couldn't catch a fish on a lipless crankbait or jerkbait.

^This is why I decided against a swimbait.^ The dead bass would bug me too. In Maine, it would have fed an eagle. I was fishing a river mouth in Canada and I hooked a little smallie. There was an eagle there watching. It was there every morning. For some reason, the smallie was hurt. I didn't hook it badly or keep it out of the water for long, but when I released it, it was on its side, flopping. Five minutes later, it was in that eagle.