Swamp Girl

Heck, yeah! Same thing for sure.

Jon, my pond is about 170 acres. My pal's pond is twice that. AI says that each acre of water can support 50-100 bass, depending upon their sizes. If this is so, then I'm fishing water holding tens of thousands of bass. I once fished a rock in Lake Michigan that was a size of a van. I think I pulled 80 smallies off that one boulder, my point being that a lot of bass can squish into a small space.

Ha!

It's been fun to count. I'll do it again next year.

I would be VERY surprised if I don't pass 1,400 bass today. I'm three away from 1,400 and if I could have designed a day to cross the finish line, it would be today. Conditions when I launch: Cloudy 62 degrees 4 mph wind dropping to 2 mph from the north A "Great" rating on the Solunar calendar I'll fish from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and if/when I catch three bass, I'll keep fishing. I've got my lures tied and my rods lined up in the garage! I checked my fishing reports for the fall of 2024 and I caught a dozen bass on Nov. 1st throwing an underspin with a chartreuse and white trailer, so I'll be throwing that again. I throw such big lures, which is likely why my quantity is down, but my quality is solid...literally.

That's an exciting afternoon, Michael. I'd love seeing those big ships too. Your bass was chunky! Good trip report, Russ. Another fun day with your crew. Big one, Mr. Face!

I need every advantage with my arthritic, old hands. Congrats on the glasses!

Thanks, @keagbassr: I can sleep easier now having seen you hoist a recent beast! And bank fishing too!!!

I bet you weren't swearing on that trip, Mr. TSA. Nice fish!

Indeed.

Wow, Adrift!

When I net a bass, I leave it in my big net while I ready my camera and bump board. Oftentimes, the bass in the net still have fuel in their tanks and fire in their engines and they fight their confinement..........and the cool thing is, when I go to unhook them, they're often already unhooked, telling me that if your line happens to break, bass are very good at dislodging hooks.

You're not alone, buddy. We all know "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat."

I also try, when my lure hangs on something underwater, to pull to one side or the other. I don't want the lure in line with my face if it suddenly breaks free.

Do you still think about your lost Leviathan? I do, usually when I'm on the water. I think about that Kraken jumping three times. I've had pretty good luck this year thrusting my rod tip into the water when they're about to jump. Anyway, I just checked the weather and I can launch tomorrow afternoon, so I'll put 2025 to bed then. It'll be 62 degrees too, so I won't be freezing like I was yesterday morning when I launched a frosty canoe. I caught more than 600 more bass last year, but I lost fishing time this year and I also fished the bogs much more in 2024. I don't expect to fish the bogs much in 2026, as much as I love them. It's just sooooo much easier to drive to the waiting canoe at my pond five minutes away or the the waiting canoe at my pal's pond twelve minutes away. And whereas my pond and my pal's pond don't grow six, seven, and eight-pound bass like the bogs do, I'm still so happy on them three and four-pounders.

^This^ literally made me laugh out loud! And you're right about bank fishing if I couldn't launch.

So much good advice in this thread.

I wear protective glasses and have little bolt cutters in my tacklebox.

Big bass, Daubs and Mr. 44. I like the garage shot, Daubs. Please come make mine look like yours.

Whoa! Titanic struggle, but you kept your cool.

I want one. I wish they weren't soooooooooo expensive. Still, perhaps for Christmas. Thanks. I think I'll make it. I checked my trip reports for 2024 and I caught 12 bass on Nov. 1st. So, they should still be feeding in six days.

I'm so happy for you. That is a beautiful bass. I didn't opine on how you might catch a fine fish, but I would have suggested casting a black and blue jig...with your wife...and a perky attitude.

I'm cool with that...as long as you give me the chocolate milk and A BAG OF CHIPS that you promised. Do you have any zombie reed fields where you fish, the rotted stumps of last years reeds that exist for a couple weeks each spring? It's a great lure for that situation, cast into the zombie field and quickly retrieved. It's also great for casting under bushes.