Swamp Girl

I caught 19 this morning at my pond. The thing about fall mornings is that I'm fishing two hours less than I did in June because the Sun is rising that much later. I got off to a great start because these were my first five, all 17" to 18.25": Then the bass shrimpified on me and my next 14 were this size: I'm at 1,307 for the year, leaving me 193 short of my target 1,500 in 2025. Al(exander the Great) would call catching 193 bass "my Iowa weekend." They were nearly all relating to the floppy grass and I caught all but two on a T-Rigged Rapala crawdad.

JonB2, you don't seem to like Senkos. If this is so, then why?

Lotsa bass in skinny water. Go get 'em, Tiger!

I lose a lot of fish. It happens. Strangely, I lose fewer bigger bass. I think I rise to the challenge that bigger bass pose.

Heck, yeah! It sounds like a blast to me. I WILL BELIEVE YOU! I know you da man!!!!!! Meanwhile, I'm still dog-sitting. I want to catch 212 more bass this year. I better get busy. The dog's owner fetches her pooch tonight, but the temp is about to plummet and that won't be good for fishing as my hands will be too cold to work well and the bass might not feel like eating. However, it gets warm again next week and I'll focus on fishing ponds with both high quantity/high quality potential then. I will fish my pond tomorrow morning and hope to catch another ten or so. Did you catch 212 bass today, Al???

I love it, Jim. It makes me want to do something similar with my old lures!

I got that idea from @Glenn and it caught a lot of bass for me this summer.

How about a Senko on a jighead, twitched just above the brush, or Senko on a weedless jighead poking into the brush?

I fished my pond for 45 minutes and caught three, taking me to 1,288 for the year and 212 from my 2025 goal. Nothing big, but so beautiful in the golden light:

I know, huh!

I love that bass, Al. Before seeing your photo, I might have said that a 16-inch bass couldn't weigh 4.5 pounds, just like I wouldn't have believed that a 19-inch bass could weigh 6.5 pounds, but then I saw Clayton's pic and now I'm a believer. These guys sang a song about seeing a fat bass's face and becoming a believer:

I got it, Tom. Thanks! She is beyond my ken.

Humility is so cool. That makes you so cool.

That's big.

This all appeals to me.

I don't actually surrender. It's far too late for my reels to look mint again. They'll keep grinding against each other when I clutch half a dozen rods and walk through the long shadowed woods.

I surrender.

Could be. I just don't have your certainty. And they're great photos of handsome reels. I've posted no photos of my reels. Not my thing.

I have scuffed reels that are more than 30 years old that are still in service. I was always taught to take the road less traveled. That road is bumpy.

What a good dad! I do love it. There are so many pleasures in life that have dimmed for me. For example, 60 years ago, if you told me we were going to an amusement park, I would have squealed. Now I'd shrug. However, I still love fishing as much as when I was I nine. When I'm padding through the woods to my pond, I'm old, slow, and creaky, but I still pick up the pace to reach it a second sooner. I hope it's the same for you, Al; I see you have snow on your roof too, but I hope your fishing furnace still burns bright.

Man, oh, man, Al sure can catch bass. I caught 11 in the final two hours of the day, not as big as Al's, but still well-built beauties. Here's a typical one: This thick one was caught on my second cast, dropping a T-rigged crawdad on the edge of grass: I caught three bass on a Whopper Plopper, a lure I haven't used for a long time. Here's one, the biggest of the evening: The bass are growing thick for winter: I caught this beautiful smallmouth too: @AlabamaSpothunter used to comment how beautiful Maine's bass are and I didn't understand what he meant, but now I see it. They're so dark and beautifully marked. My 11 bass give me 1,285 for the year. You might remember that I caught 2,044 last year, but that required a lot of bog fishing with a couple 70-bass mornings. I'm taking it easier this year, but having great fun. I also saw an eagle overhead while a loon sang. Perfection. Northwoods perfection. Well, close to perfection. I wish there'd been a floatplane overhead too. I'm 215 bass from my 2025 goal of 1,500 bass. P. S. - My nearly perfect evening ended perfectly. I hooked a 12th bass on my Whopper Plopper and because it charged my canoe, I couldn't fully set the hook and I couldn't feel its weight. Then it jumped and I saw her size and she swam free, leaving me hungry for the next time I launch.

Yeah, you've done your homework. FWIW, I love Rapala Cleanup Craws and Rage Bugs too.

I do understand your position and I respect it. We've just walked different roads. My roads have been bouncy. I've driven logging roads that delivered a violent ride. Everything was tossed, including me. Such a trolling motor is the piece of tech I'd like.

Well, sorta, kinda, maybe...IF you stay on paved roads and launch at ramps. However, I get your point.