Swamp Girl

I know where Mr. 46 lives! Hawg City, USA.

What do you like about urban fishing?

I think you're right. I think you caught a Coosa bass. I've always wanted to catch one of those and an Aurora trout too.

The top one was bigger. I could feel it in her jaw and when I lifted her. She was half an inch longer too. I'm guessing they're both four-pound fish, more or less. Maine bass are thicker than some of the bass I see posted on this board, so I don't know how much I should trust length to weight charts. I just might buy a scale someday. I won't call you Jelly. I like Alex better.

I fished the bog right down the road this evening. I caught 22 fish. 19 were largemouth and 3 were chain pickerel. One chain pickerel was thick enough to fight like a hefty largemouth. I did use the fluke and got half a dozen fish that I hooked for a second or two. I know I'm setting the hook too soon. I also caught a couple bass on the fluke. Again, the Whopper Plopper was the most successful lure for me. I caught a 18.75 inch bass and a 19.25 inch bass. I'm kind of stuck on two big bass each morning or evening. I did have a third big fish hooked, but lost it to reeds. Here are the two big gals. Tomorrow morning I'm fishing a gully. It's a river that runs deep through a gully and then widens with some weeds on the edges. I'm excited and a little intimidated. It's just so different than any water I've fished this summer. I figure I'll troll my Whopper Plopper through the gully with the deep water and then frog and fluke fish the wide, shallower, weedier part. Gosh, you catch beautiful fish!

Thanks, Alex. You get it. You truly do.

Heck, yeah, Alex! Now I'm going to tie a double uni knot. I HATE that knot.

10, 9, 8, 7.... Don't you just love the countdown to a fishing trip? I've been in Sarasota and D.C. the last four days, so I've been in a world of cars, cars, and more cars. Now I'm counting down to traffic/strip malls/fast food franchises detoxification, which happens on a lonesome pond or bog with my paddle and my rods. I'm going bog fishing tonight and then gully fishing tomorrow morning. I can hear the countdown in my head, as exciting as any at Cape Kennedy. I'll let you know how I do tonight and again tomorrow. I spent part of the morning changing line, retying, and rigging some flukes, which I plan to use tonight and tomorrow morning, as well as my green frog, a loon-colored Whopper Plopper, a red spinnerbait, and wacky Senkos. Gosh, I hope I catch a 19-incher or bigger. They make my heart race! 6, 5, 4, 3....

You are so right about loose lips sinking the best bass trips. When I was young, my brothers and I pedaled to farm ponds and over the years, we saw some fine ponds reduced to Dink Towns by gluttons. What's your first name, Mr. SpotHunter? I'm Katie.

Well done, Mr. Spothunter. That big one's a beauty!

The next best thing to fishing is not fishing and seeing the fish that others are catching!

Thanks, T-Billy. I'll compare the three reels.

You can learn so much here. One member told me to troll a Whopper Plopper, others have been tutoring me in frogging, and I'm going fluking tomorrow morning. Roboworming is in the batting circle!

Do tell the story of the lost fish. I lived in Mass, but now live in Maine.

Ah, thanks for clarifying. I have three baitcasting reels. I'm in Florida right now, but when I get home, would you mind if I listed them to have you suggest which one would be best for frogging? Anyone else, of course, is welcome to suggest too.

Nooo! Say it ain't sooo! I've already spent so much money. Why do I need an 8-speed reel? Great tip. I'm going to do this too.

Oh, I'm not 50%, but maybe. Someday. Someday way yonder. I hadn't considered turtles, but I fish in PickerelLandUSA and I know their strikes. They're T-Boners. Side-swipers. They don't rise from the depths like bass, Trident missiles, and the Kraken.

Froggin' has been Heaven and Heck. Here's what's heavenly: I love the challenge and being freed to fish the slop. I love the explosive strikes. I even love the improbability of it, i.e. pulling slabs of meat out of the salad. Here's what's heckish: I miss so many strikes. So, I've been reading bassresource.com articles and watching YouTube videos and bassresource.com videos. Last night, I bought a heavy action 7'4" rod and I'm upgrading my braid to 50 lb.These upgrades should help, but reading this also helped: "And speaking of lost fish, the biggest downside to frogging is it has a very low hookup ratio. Bass are somewhat blind in their attack on a frog, ambushing from below and through the weeds to get the lure. You’ll have some big blow ups that don’t even touch the bait, which can be disheartening. But remember you wouldn’t even be able to get to these fish without a frog so the fact that you even have a chance at them is something to smile about."

Mr. Dinks, here's my life motto: "Whenever you're frazzled, report to the pond."

Heck, yeah! And I love in a populated part of the state. Go up north and there are hundreds of ponds/lakes that they don't even bother naming and they're full of smallmouth, salmon, and brook trout. To reach them, you bounce down logging roads and then portage to the water. Then you're casting to fish that are seeing a lure for likely the first time.

T-Billy, I have no delusion about why I catch good numbers of thick fish: I'm simply catching bass that aren't pressured because most human beings don't like to sweat. As I wrote in another thread, I avoid water with boat ramps. I like where the approach to the lake is uneven terrain. I like where there are weeds and rocks to snare motors. I avoid lakes with houses and docks. And I love to fish on rainy days. Luckily, Maine has plenty of ponds and rivers that are lonely and lovely and a blessing of rainy days to chase folks away. However, it is clear that I don't know as much about fishing as most of you guys. You reference all kinds of lures and techniques that I don't know, but I wanna know, so I ask and you guys are kind enough to teach. I try to use a new lure or technique every time I go fishing. I'm still lousy at frog fishing, but I sure do love it. Next time I go, I'll be Super Fluking, which were explained to me in another thread, as I just ordered some from Cabela's. And I'll be plunging into those reeds. I did try to stand in my canoe on the edge of them to see if there was open water, but my balance just isn't what it was, so I quit that attempt when it became clear I was about to join the bass in their home. I also tried to scout openings from the shore, but the mud just about swallowed my sandal. I do think I'll find open pockets. Even a pocket a couple feet wide might hold a big ol' gal, I'm thinking. Well, I'm hoping. I'll see and I'll let you know.

I lived in western WI for 30 years and I've lived on the coast of Maine for 10 years, so I'm confident in asserting that MN is way colder than coastal Maine. We have winters where it doesn't drop below zero. However, I do love MN.

So far, my catching ratio with popping frogs is catch one and miss five.* So, well done! *It doesn't help that I can't cast far and so the bass explode right beside my canoe and my reaction is to yelp and yank.

It sounds like you already know a lot, at least compared to me. I don't know what stick rigging is. I do a lot of googling as I read this site, so now I'm off to google stick rigging!

They do, Gimruis, but they freezing doesn't kill the fish because there are deep pockets. I am so excited to fish this fall when the bass grow feistier! Sadly, I can't fish for the next four days as I'm flying to visit my mom. She actually lives on a lake in Florida and the lake has largemouth, but they're pale. I like the dark Maine bass.