Swamp Girl

I have no aversion to fishing with technology and if Lockheed Martin ever builds a canoe with their F-35 stealth tech, I'm buying it!

I can't even cast a crankbait that runs 2'-3' deep because I hook weeds, so it wouldn't work in my pond because there are weeds everywhere.

Fascinating.

To live in Maine, you must be a Maniac and considering the goofy fun quite of few of you are having with "a bag of chips," some of you already qualify. I've seen where Tom @WRB-2.0 fishes and I think those California lakes are perfect for FFS.

You're welcome and thank you right back! I'd love to try FFS, but I worry that it would hook me and I couldn't throw the hook. I played one video game in my life and I was gut hooked. I'd play the game until four in the morning. I'd be so tired I couldn't quit. The Internet has hooked me and my phone has hooked me and I'd worry FFS would hook me too. I'd love to try it once if I could go immediately into rehab. @Gera: Hey, I'm scarfing up all the chips the others don't want! @Tennessee Boy: You did a great job explaining why FFS is fun. Thank you.

I do. I don't just want to catch fish today. I want to catch them next year and the next and the next. A spawning female drops soooooooooooo much weight to make eggs and some don't survive it. Why make it even harder on them? Thank you. Now, I'm 100% certain I've caught bass on beds, but I'm also 100% certain that I've never knowingly cast to a bass on a bed. I do think that most people generally don't pay attention and I also think that some of those people might consider me a simpleton if I were to wax about geese landing. They, on the other hand, might be giddy about Disney World or Club Med and I shrug at such things.

Wow, Jig Man. That's a wicked cool motor!

I fish on rocks more and more as our drought deepens and I keep running a ground.

Well done.

What's wrong with you guys???????? Chips are delish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You're right, Mike. It's not a one-solution-fits-all situation. However, I don't think I'd be fine wherever I went: I'd be lost at O.H. Ivie in my canoe, utterly overwhelmed by the water, just as one of those FFS bass boaters down there would be lost trying to fish my water, utterly overwhelmed by the woods.

I think you're right, but I couldn't fish the water I successfully fish now. No one could launch a bass boat on my pond. No one could drag a bass boat across a field and through the woods to launch at one of my bogs. So, I'd have to fish a lake with a parking lot and a concrete ramp and in the end, I don't think I'd catch more than I currently catch. I watch the YouTube bass boaters with FFS fish lakes in Maine with parking lots and concrete ramps and they don't outfish me on my ponds and bogs. Mike, I think power poles are cool, but I'd worry that they'd scare bass when they hit the bottom. If I bump any part of my canoe, the nearby bass are bolting.

If I had a bass boat, FFS, SpotLock, and a bag chips, do I think I'd catch more? No. Here's why: Sure, I'd hook more bass bass if I were able to stand and use my leg muscles to set the hook and a heavy bass boat would mean the bass couldn't turn my canoe and pull me into cover and I could launch on windy days with SpotLock pinning me in place. Plus, I'd be able to locate off-shore bass, which would be hugely helpful. HOWEVER, I'd have to launch at big lakes with ramps and there'd be other bass boats with FFS and SpotLock and I wouldn't be able to fish my less fished ponds and bogs. Also, standing on the casting deck would scare bass as I've seen bass bolt when my little lures fly overhead. And I would be way noisier than I currently am, with two props churning the water and FFS sending sound in every direction. So, they wouldn't work for me.* How about you? Do you think you'd catch more bass if you had the full toolbox? *However, I would like a bag of chips.

Thank you, Al. Yesterday morning was my last of four straight mornings I fished and I won't fish again until Saturday, so knowing it was my last trip for a few days, I didn't fish harder. Rather, I watched harder. I paddled and watched the funny feet of loons pedaling like the most maniacal Peloton trainer as they tried to achieve takeoff. And I saw some bird, smaller than an osprey, but bigger than a kingfisher, land on a branch that it bent perilously. It was in shadow, so I could only wonder what it was. And then there was the deer that stepped out of the forest shadows to drink and when it did, the light gilded it. When I see such things, the rod goes down and I do my duty: I watch. When I came to the end of a trip in the wilderness, I often spent my final morning the same way, more focused on witnessing than fishing, trying to remember as much as possible for when I'm too old to reach such places...and I'm already too old to reach the wilderness of northwestern Ontario anymore, so I'm glad I watched when I still could.

Al, as time passes, I love my pond more and more. You know how one can tire of a place, no matter how lovely? That's not me, not with my pond. Since I stumbled upon that underwater ridge that draws smallmouth, I'm excited to return to it and see if I can entice a couple to strike a little popper. If that doesn't work, I'll try a small floating Rapala. If that doesn't work, I'll....

Clayton did do a great job of telling his tale. Clear and riveting. He doesn't just wrangle bad guys, waves, and bass. He wrangles words too.

15 to 30 minutes. I'm restless.

What an angler. What an adventure. Bass Resource is lucky to have you, Clayton.

Tom, I know you love the northwoods too, so I'm glad I have photos to share of your lifelong love.

I think that the bass I catch are stout too! Do I catch some skinny ones? Sure. However, most of them are bellying up to the aquatic equivalent of the Golden Corral. Like this one: Sure, she's not a bog bass like the one below, but she's not on Ozempic: Now, I have caught MANY skinny smallies at my pal's pond, but even many of those brown bass grew thicker this summer...for whatever reason. The brownies are always thick at my pond:

F3, thanks and send those schoolies my way. If I had some schoolies, I might still reach my goal instead of catching a bass every quarter mile of paddling! Schoolies bass coming to you is like Door Dash bass. That's how I fish too. As Mister T nearly said, I pity the FloridaFishinFool who isn't stealthy on my lakes. Make noise and the bass swirl and scoot. You can even see the lines in the water as they scatter in shallow water. That's why I love fishing rainy days. I can even bump the boat here and there without penalty. Florida bass are harder to catch. NLMB are more aggressive. If Maine sounds like Heaven, just remember that a Florida bass CAN reach four pounds in one year with optimal conditions. It takes a Maine bass 20 years to reach the same weight. If we were fishing in Maine and you weren't stealthy, I'd bet against you. Our bass aren't acclimated to noise. Same with bass in the Ontario wilderness. In other places, stealth wouldn't matter much.

I only own one Gary Loomis rod and I wish I owned more. Mine is a low-end Loomis, the Bronzeback model. I wonder how much better the high end Loomis rods are. I'll likely never know, but I sure do enjoy my cheapo Loomis!

I had such a beautiful morning. It was my fourth straight morning of fishing and it felt good to be able to do that. I ran aground on a ridge. We're in extreme drought according to the US Drought Monitor and that's why I hit it, but when I did, smallmouth spooked and I realized that they were relating to the ridge comprised of bowling ball-sized rocks, likely hunting crawdads. I could even see white crawdad pinchers. So, I'll fish that ridge going forward, likely with a little surface lure cast from a good distance. And I had a weird thing happen. I frequently sneak up on bass, but I think a beaver didn't hear me coming because something smacked my canoe hard and then swirled underwater. It was bigger than any bass and it really thumped my canoe. I only caught ten, but nine were good-sized, all between 17" and 18." I didn't photograph my first one, which was a nice one, because I caught it in the dark and my nighttime photos have been terrible. All were caught on a white spinnerbait with a shad-colored Keitech. There was no pattern. I caught them by covering ground. My landing percentage with a spinnerbait is high...for me. I think I lost two. I'm at 1,375 for the year. Again, I don't think I'll reach 1,500 in 2025 unless I somehow manage to fish a bog or two. However, I secured permission to fish a new pond and it might be loaded with bass. We'll see. I'm not fishing again until Saturday morning because it's going to turn windy and cool. I put my last bass on the bump board in case some of you prefer to see them that way. Here: And here's that same bass in a lip and grip: The bump board does do a better job of showing their girth. Speaking of girth, here are some more girthy bass, all except for the skinny one at the end: And here are two pretty pics! Because of our drought, the colors are muted, but they're still pretty. See the gap in the treeline in the second photo? That's the only gap on the pond and it's a pumpkin farm. I love that my pond has a pumpkin farm!:

Me too, BP!