Swamp Girl

You guys are always so supportive. I do like using new lures and adding to my options. One of my proudest achievements this summer was landing a 19" bass on a frog and one morning, catching seven on a frog. I also caught largemouth bass on a jerkbait, soft plastic swimbait, lipless crankbait, spinnerbait, fluke, and wakebait this summer, all for the first time. I still need to work on my technique with the soft plastic swimbait and frog, as I miss most of my hits, but I love how I can cast both of them into cover. I'll never be able to carry as many lures as the rest of you because I'm literally carrying my 15' 6" boat and the approach to the water is rarely flat and it's often dark. My tacklebox is the size of a purse, so I can wear it on my shoulder while carrying the rods, paddles, and fish measuring trough. My one luxury is five rods and I do use all five. Sometimes I'll make two casts with one rod, another two with another, and all the way down the line. I often catch a fish with one lure and change immediately to another. I'm a curious fisher. I don't commit to one lure/rod until I'm pretty certain that there's a pattern. I made that mistake one morning, casting and casting and CASTING the Whopper Plopper because that's what they'd wanted many mornings. When I finally switched to the wakebait, I caught 48 that morning. That one morning, they L-O-V-E-D the wakebait. Another morning, they wanted a jointed, shad-colored Rapala with a rattle, but that was a one and done event. Sure, I caught bass on those same lures other mornings, but never like those two mornings. Another change I made my last two outings was barbless hooks on my lipless crankbaits and jerkbaits. I am pleased with their performance and am thinking of swapping more hooks on other lures to barbless. The barbless hooks remind me to maintain tension and I can always use reminders on technique. Yesterday, in the first ten fish, only one came on a Whopper Plopper. Four came on the wakebait. Yet, it was the Whopper Plopper they eventually wanted. I love how their mood is always shifting. Sometimes I think I know why, but I'm probably just deluding myself. They are mysterious and I love that about them. I am so excited to do more froggin' next summer. That is the most exciting way to catch a bass that I've ever experienced. They often hit within a couple feet of my canoe and frequently hit the frog twice or even thrice in a single retrieve and I can't imagine a better boat for froggin' than my canoe, which is so long and light that I float over the lily pads and don't incur much drag. Here's that 19-inch froggin' bass. She came out of a break in the wild rice that was merely five feet across. See how convex she is, like a contact lens. She hit like a tsunami. You know how a tsunami will suck the water away from the shore before it clobbers the shoreline? I think I saw something like that, like she drew the water down a millimeter or two a nanosecond before she hit. I've seen big smallmouth bulge the water under a surface lure a sliver of a second before they hit it and I wonder if she did something similar. There wasn't much water in her hole, which increases the odds of her moving it. See the crawlers too? I eventually quit on them. They simply didn't catch many fish and they're not nearly as fun as lures. Thanks again for all the encouragement! Any women who complain about men not welcoming them into fishing have never been to bassresource.com.

I like when you guys talk tackle. I am so far behind all of you in tackle knowledge. I am shopping hard swimbaits this evening. Phish's fish persuaded me.

You are correct. I was fishing a lake today. I only catch largemouth in the bogs. And the lake I fished today, as you could see from the photos, has both largemouth and smallmouth. Whenever I'm over rocks, that's where I catch the smallmouth.

Thanks for the suggestion, Phish. Alex, I always want to think the best of people. However, if something befell me and I became homeless, dozens of people would open their homes to me. That no one will welcome those people in the cars into their homes tells me about their lives of bad decisions. You're right about the homeless having little to lose. I just hope they mosey, but I fear they'll set up one of those tent encampments and take the lake. However, I can't imagine a gun in a canoe. A canoe is so wet. Every time you switch sides, you're dropping water in the boat. Then there's the weight: I'm already ground to a nub by what I'm carrying to simply catch fish. Then, when the canoe is over my head, I'd be pretty helpless. However, I'll think about it. I do love catching healthy fish. Say, Alex, I'm thinking of fishing a smallie only lake on Friday morning, a lake I've not yet fished, but I have scouted it.

On Sunday, I wrote that the "Early bird gets the bass." That was not true at all today. I drove to a pond I love, which is really a river with a dam that turned it into a bog. Unfortunately, there were two cars there with homeless people in them. Considering it was dark and they were parked in a gully and I was alone, I left. If T-Billy or Alex or Eric or any of you had my six, I would have stayed and launched, but none of you were there. Sigh. So, I went to another pond and launched in the dark. I caught a fish on my fifth cast with a Whopper Plopper, but over the next 2.5 hours, I could only catch nine more with no pattern whatsoever. There was a gob of lures in the bottom of my canoe that I tried without much success, which was weird, for the conditions were perfect: 56 degrees at 6:00 a.m., no wind, foggy, and occasional drizzle. Then it all changed. It's like someone dropped a goofy roofie into the water, for the bass were suddenly giddy. Slap happy. Not trying to eat my Whopper Plopper, but beat my Whopper Plopper. I caught 17 of them in the next 1.5 hours, but lost at least that many. They put on some air shows too and pulled like terriers. It was like a Bruce Ward Batman episode: Wam! Blam! KaPow! The photos start with a couple of the pond. Then the first fish in the dark. Then some of the 27 I caught. Again, there were no dinks, like Sunday. Weird, huh? Don't the little ones have to fatten up too for the winter? If Maine bass were a candy bar, they wouldn't be the Snickers. They'd be the Chunky, short and thick. Phish, I don't own a single jointed swimbait, but seeing the fish you catch with them, I'm going to have one next spring, for sure. Beautiful bass, Alex. I've never fished with an Alabama rig, but I wanna. I think I would catch two or three bass at once with one up here.

A fellow canoeist! You are my brother! Sisterly yours, Katie P. S. - Of course, I love, love, LOVE the color of that bass.

Go get 'em, Tim!

You're sensible, Tim. In my way, I am too. I often get wet launching my canoe with no docks or ramps. Sandals and bare legs dry quickly and my wool socks are still warm when wet. Plus, my canoe is Kevlar,, which means it's delicate. I need enough water to float it or I'll shred the hull. Anyway, any man who wears that hat need never apologize for his clothing choices. You are stylin'! That is a gorgeous fish, Phish!

^Gorgeous photo!^

Bob, your bass made me laugh. What a belly! She looks like she's got biscuits in the oven way too early. That's great fishing, Mr. 86. I'm going to buy a Clutch Glide. I've never fished a lure like that. The fish sure love it, huh? I'm going fishing again tomorrow morning. Conditions will be perfect. It's raining all day today and tonight. It'll stop early tomorrow morning, be foggy, and warm (56 degrees) at 6:00 a.m. I'm going to hug the shoreline to stay safe.. I appreciate the suggestion, but I can't imagine carrying a canoe with outriggers through the woods. The canoe is hard enough. Still, I'd like to see the photos. I was a writer for Canoe & Kayak magazine, so everything about canoes turns my head.

I'm ordering a wetsuit top, bottom, and boots, Tim. In the meantime, I'm going to limit my fishing to two ponds with solid shorelines, as the swamps would mean misery atop misery if I tipped, as there are reeds on the shorelines and mud beyond that. Both of the ponds I'll be fishing have a few houses too. Thanks for encouraging safety, Tim.

Whitewater + Bass = Heaven on Earth I know the Yough has both. So does the Potomac. What's your river?

Mr. 46, I'm thinking about buying a wetsuit long-sleeved shirt, wetsuit booties, and wetsuit shorts. I don't think I'd try to pull my canoe to shore. I'd swim to shore and hopefully survive with the wet suit. It's cool that you whitewater canoe. I did that in my youth. It's as exciting as bass fishing.

The problem, Tim, is getting back into a tipped canoe. It's possible, but difficult.

In a pinch, we could replace the fishing articles and fishing shows and YouTube videos with this gem: You are right about the quality of the fishing today, Alex. You know how guys say, "You should have been here yesterday?" "Yesterday" was today! Tim, I'm thinking about buying a dry suit.* *Correction: Make that a wetsuit. I just shopped dry suits and they are above my pay grade.

Thanks for the play-by-play, TriRiver. It was thrilling! I especially liked the moment when you were skiing in the pontoon chop. Great pics too! I also like how the bass got to bite you. They deserve to bite us from time to time.

The average size was good this morning, Alex. I don't remember a single dink. I've been grinning ever since. Fishing in the dark fog was also cool. Literally cool, as it was 41 degrees and I was wearing shorts, but also figuratively cool and thrilling. I'd put barbless hooks on two of my lures and that helped a lot in the dark. I hope to fish two more times this week. Ironically, what makes my fishing possible, given my age, is also what makes my fishing dangerous. I paddle a light (32 pound), swift canoe. Because it's light and speedy, it's tippy. As far as paying for mornings like mine today, there are plenty of places where you can catch plenty of bass. I used to fish Lake Michigan's north shore and tributaries like the Whitefish River. They're LOADED with bass.

Eric, you are so kind. I'm a professional writer, which means I've written millions of words. It's like fishing: Do it a lot and you learn some tricks. Glenn has my first article for bassresource.com. It's about fishing northwestern Ontario for smallmouth out of a canoe. That trip would be within your reach. The fishing is even better than Maine's fishing. I had a couple two-hundred-plus smallmouth days up there. I fished from can until can't because the bass were bonkers. I once caught seven fish in seven casts and had many two, three, four, and five-fish in a row. On the third day, I rested. My hands looked like they'd been hammered with a meat tenderizer. I've had many 100-fish days up there too. This morning, I also had a Bald Eagle do a low flyover...twice. I wouldn't have been more thrilled it had been its titanium cousin, an F-22 Raptor. And I saw a couple Great Blue Herons, who are simultaneously ungainly and glorious. Fishing rewards paying attention, so when we're on the water, I think we see the critters and the shoreline as vividly as we watch the water. That's a long fish, Mike! What did she hit? How did she fight? Steve, I hope to catch a peacock bass before I die. Do they outfight our native bass? GreenPig, I'm a little piggy when it comes to bass!

Heck, yeah, brown bass are addictive. For years, I only fished for brownies. Now I'm happy with either largemouth or smallmouth. Good luck with your kid!

Mr. 127, I just looked at your city on the map. I can see why fishing could be tough due to a lot of people nearby and not much water. However, have you tried accessing those ponds on I-65 that were created when they built ramps? I fished similar ponds outside of Columbus, OH and caught lots of bass. The trick is gaining access.

I was so excited to fish this morning that I didn't fall asleep until 2:00 a.m. I had the alarm clock set for 5:15 a.m., which was stupid because I haven't adjusted to the perpetually later sunrises. So, I arrived at the lake in the dark. It was Stephen King foggy too. I actually waited a few minutes in the car for the merest light. My flashlight was useless because its light bounced off the fog. Speaking of Stephen King, I had one of his creepy moments. I thought I saw something advancing on me. There was a beaver tail slapping, but this was too wide and high for a beaver. "It's your imagination," I chided myself. But it kept coming closer and closer. "The fog is tricking your eyes," I told myself. And it kept coming and coming. Again, my flashlight was worthless. "Are those birds?" I wondered. And they were. Three waterfowl in a tight formation. They were curious about me, I think. And fearless. I've never had that happen before this morning. I don't think they read me as human in the dark and fog. I used three stand-bys: A Whopper Plopper, a brass-bladed Mepps #3, and a pumpkin-colored wacky worm with a yellow tip. I also used three lures I haven't used much: a jerkbait, a swimbait, and lipless crankbait. Everything caught fish. For the first three hours, I averaged about 13 bass an hour. For the last two, I caught three bass an hour. The early bird really does get the bass! The smallmouth were aerobatic. Not long, but thick. This morning's pond is a numbers pond, but I still managed to catch a 17.75-incher. Most were in the 15-16.5-inch range. Fun, strong fish. I didn't catch a single pickerel and hooray for that! I know I said I was done fishing two or three weeks back, not because the fish had stopped feeding, but because I was afraid of the chilling water. I still am. Fear is good. It keeps me low and careful in the canoe. I caught 45 bass in total, which makes me Kate 45. You've heard of the Colt 45, an American classic. Well, Kate 45 is a Maine classic fisher in a canoe with no electronics. I can see that some of you are catching BIG fish. Sadly, I'm not. However, if I were to duct tape my fish together, tail to head to tail to..., I would have caught a HUGE fish this morning. I sometimes look at the shore and wonder, "If I were to tip right now, could I reach the shore? And then could I reach warmth?" I often don't know. Lastly, bassresource.com wouldn't let me upload a lot of the photos, but here are the ones it did permit.

I wish I'd been in the boat with you, North Bass Guy. Your day had everything: fat fish, lots of the fish, and no other boats on the lake!

Tim! Tim, Tim, TIM! What a day! What a bass! What a musky! What a wife! I love the head on that fish. And this is the gratitude that Alex and were discussing:

I will post a link! Speaking of fishing, I'm going tomorrow morning. As always, so excited! I'm going to start with a jerkbait. I've been watching the videos and I think I'm good to go. I'm also going to put a trailer on a spinbait and use that. I'm returning to the pond where they loved my wakebait last time, so I'll try that too. As far as the energy I put into fishing, when I lived in Boston, I walked to work. It was four miles each way, summer and winter, dawn and dark. If I was walking at rush hour, I'd walk as fast as the cars. I'd see the same drivers, again and again, at the intersections. They looked stressed. They were stressed. After all, at the end of the day, they had to reach the health club to stay fit. I needed no health club because I was a walking health club. It's the same with carrying and paddling a canoe. It's a full upper body workout: And it burns 300 to 500 calories per hour. For my lower body, there's the portaging. And like walking, it makes me happy. A well-executed paddle stroke is as beautiful as a well-placed Rapala. I take a lot of pride in tracking my canoe as straight as an arrow in flight and zig-zagging it through the reeds.

Coincidentally, I just wrote a fishing article for bassresource.com called, "This is Spartan." There was a boat show down on our town's harborwalk and there was a nifty, red Alumacraft with a 30 horse Honda four-stroke engine. So pretty. I ran my hand along its gunnel. A salesman approached me and I got the price ($16,500) and I considered it for about six seconds, but what decided it was this: I won't catch more fish with it. I'll likely catch fewer fish. I won't be able to fish some great ponds with it. Sure, it would be more comfortable and I wouldn't have to work as hard. I might be Ol' Crickety, but I'm not so ol' that I can't work hard. A wise man once wrote: And I like the whole of this so much that I copied it and now I'm pasting it: