Swamp Girl

Nice one this morning. Estimated four-pounder:

That's a beauty, Mike! I catch an occasional 21-incher, but they're rare this far north. I was going to fish my pond, but decided to fish my pal's pond this morning to have a chance to land a bigger bass or two. Well, success! Here's the first: Quite a head, huh? And here's the second football-y one, not quite as big, but still fine: After I caught my ninth bass, I stalled for more than an hour. I was determined to catch ten. Here's my tenth: I was about to take out, but then I saw a bass feeding down the shore. I wasn't going to paddle down to it, but I knew I was in water similar to what was down the shore, so I cast and... I finished with 11, bringing my 2025 total to 1,336, with 164 left to land. The lures that caught bass: spinnerbait, underspin, walking bait, and Whopper Plopper. The lures that didn't catch bass: T-rigged crawdad, jerkbait, and T-rigged Senko. Two pretty pics! I hooked a giant pickerel. It completely inhaled my 4.25" walking bait. "Uh-oh, I'm in trouble," I thought. And I was, as it cut the line.

Joe, what was it that was ailing for you a bit back? And how's it doing?

1,325. I scooted to my pond to fish the final hour. My pond runs north/south and I launch from the north shore, so I was at the windy end. The waves made it hard to see cover, but I still managed two and one was chunky.

Yep, nowhere near seven. Seven-pound smallies:

So true. It might not even weigh four pounds.

Gosh, I wish I could help, but I use the same spinning rods for all my lures.

Do you have a boat, Angel, and favorite lures/techniques?

Thanks! The smallies are so beautiful. I caught another one the same size as the one I photographed. The smallies at my pond have always been thick, but not the ones at my pal's pond before this year. The forage base must have increased to account for their greater girth. I'm going to fish hard Saturday through Tuesday as the solunar calendar says that the fishing will be hot. We'll see if the calendar tells the truth!

That's my go-to lure. I'm thinking a good thought for you. So exciting! Wise to shift gears to keep things fresh and fun.

Hey, Joe! I've missed your contributions and fish stories. Thanks for dropping in to say, "Hey!"

Caught this girl this evening:

1,323 bass for 2025 after catching another 11 at my pal's pond. The solunar app said the fishing today would be poor and it was tough, but I caught a big one. I'd been working a 4.25" walking bait all afternoon without success. I was casting into shallow water at the back of a bay when suddenly a score of shad leapt out of the water and then the girl below crushed my Duo Realis Pencil. She immediately plunged into dying weeds and I spent a half minute clearing weeds from her in my net. I wish my pond grew bass as big as the ones in my pal's pond: Here she is on the bump board: I caught this bass too with the same lure in the shallow back of the bay: And this bass hit the same lure! Here are four others I caught: 177 bass from my goal.

I also pick up a LOT of trash, but I hate, hate, HATE it. I figure someone too lazy to toss trash in a can is also too lazy to wash and as I finger their trash, I think about the filthy fellow who littered. Ewwww! If I see a discarded can on the bottom of my pond or my pal's pond, I also work to retrieve it. Not easy. If I hit the bottom with my net, that stirs the dirt. So, when I do net an old can, I'm as happy as if I netted a bass.

Here are two of the pics after editing them, making my pond look like the Caribbean and my bump board look like a daffodil:

I'm at 1,312 bass in 2025 after fishing my pond for 80 minutes just now. The wind was 13 mph from the north and the high temp today was 59 degrees. Given the conditions, I would have been happy with one or two bass, but I caught five bass. The first: The biggest: I put the biggest on the bump board so you could see her thickness. Lots of muscle and she used it all in our fight, taking line like a big pike: I'm fishing my pal's pond tomorrow afternoon and hope to catch at least 20 with one or more 19-inchers.

In the fall, I fish on the move. I'll fancast an area and move to the next. If I happen upon a school, I bolt my canoe to the pond bottom.

Well, however you do it, I sure enjoy the details. It lets me go fishing with you! Say, I totally understand you moving off the two spots where you were catching them. I'd do that too. I'm always so curious about what's happening yonder.

You are such a good guy. A few times this year when I met other anglers who were struggling, I gave them the lures(s) that was working for me and told them where I'd been catching them. Anyway, I'm so happy for you. There's nothing better than a Quality + Quantity Morning with perfect weather! Thanks for the detailed report. You have a heckuva memory.

Bird, I wish you were my neighbor. I have so many massive oak trees on my property on the ground. I'd love to have you use them. To reach my goal, I really need to fish a bog, but my anemia makes that hard as bog fishing requires energy. I am planning to fish my pal's pond tomorrow afternoon and it can produce good numbers...and good-sized bass. Jon, it's good to see photos of where you fish. I almost took a couple pics of my pond the other morning because she's strutting her colors right now, but I've taken and posted so many pretty pics over the years.

I have rechargeable hand warmers that I bought from Amazon. I slip them into my gloves or wear them on my body. Here: https://www.amazon.com/Rechargeable-Electric-Portable-Christmas-Accessories/dp/B0CG65PYBV/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=2B45Y4VDXO8R0&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.44TzHbFQYSdQOky6nIDVrf8-7mYmqb7rR1dqZZacSmmzJc1Qi0Ugynd7jr0p09yfTmD7RvnYTef1KCMnJvCLWsJHp7O8NyKpXxjxGG_oZmvQH6am_rf9Zs6oR0CD2fj1n1rJtlXJ28JIfGbngQ-k9pD1ZqYdVuLHZXtu3iDMvu-WbST4cIHQ1Btne1Imswla6PVkt8p35fLr_74s8F-7dq7bU8Kd08SNuXUDZXRlQ7pQNQ6377gJoKRXmSLrRepO9occ36DOHGZ_x8Z7PGtzG3hEx5bwJ8HyysGaAkbgn6A.tJ8mX8HeAm5VtTMlkNPGU07ElXkq97Hi0XC5CRF16sQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=rechargeable%2Bhand%2Bwarmers%2B2%2Bpack&qid=1759317824&sprefix=rechargeable%2Bhand%2Caps%2C146&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

Gosh, those are some sweet bass, Mike! Why are you done for 2025, Bird?

For two years, I built and ran a fishing booth at our elementary school's annual fall fair. The kids could catch an old tire, a dink, or a musky. The tire wouldn't fight, the dink would barely fight, and musky would fight like pit bull. The kids loved it.

Thank you. I do have two huge advantages over you: 1. A canoe. 2. I'm fishing my pond and at this point, I know it very well. For example, the bass are relating to limp grass right now. Well, I know where all the limp grass is. Earlier this year, they were relating to pond weed. I know where all the pond weed is. So, when a pattern develops, I can work that pattern with efficiency. FWIW, I do strike out on things I try. I cast and trolled a couple Mepps spinners this morning because I've stopped catching bass while trolling. I paddle a lot looking for bass and I hate to not fish while moving from one spot to another. I had good luck all summer trolling crawdads and paddletails, but recently, I'm not even missing bites while trolling. Since bass are feeding on smaller baits in the fall, I tried my Mepps spinners, but I whiffed with those too. I keep changing my trolling lines and speeds, but nada. I'll keep trying though. Like you, we're in extreme drought.

So cute. That's good dadding!