Swamp Girl

I've written some for Gray's Sporting Journal and whereas I'm barely a good enough writer to occasionally write for them, I'm nowhere a good enough photographer to shoot for them. Gray's favors unusual perspectives. Like this: And this: Note how the fly reel is working like a Coke can or quarter. And this: And this: And this: Whereas I appreciate such pretty pics, I fear the fish pay the price. I'm guessing MANY photos are taken to obtain a magazine-worthy shot.

Anyone who's read my posts knows that I struggle with photography. It's not that I can't take a good photo. I've shot photos for many magazines, like this one: Part of my problem with photographing bass is that I don't want the bass to be out of the water long. So, a lip and grip is my quickest way to return the bass to the water: The plus of a lip and grip is you can see where I caught the bass. The disadvantage is there's no perspective, no Coke can or quarter beside the bass to give you an idea of its size. There's the ever popular full arm: The plus is the bass looks big. The minus is that the bass looks bigger than it is. The woman holding it is 5' 10". The bass appears to stretch from the top of her head to her waist, an impossibly long smallmouth Then there's the half-arm, which only half inflates the size of the bass: There's the bump board photo, which has the advantage of showing you exactly how long the bass is: There are two disadvantages. One is that it's an ugly photo. The other is the bass often flop, so I get a blurry photo of a flopping bass or I try again and delay returning the bass to the water. My preferred photo is when a competent partner takes my pic and I jam my arm behind my head: I've observed that a few of us favor sticking our arms behind our heads to place the bass right beside our head for accurate perspective, using our heads as Coke cans or quarters. More than once, well-meaning Bass Resource members have suggested that I mount a camera in my canoe to achieve the effect immediately above, but I'm at the limit of what I can carry through the woods and loading my canoe is already complicated enough. I'm thinking of reverting to bump board photos, interspersed with pond shots to show where I'm catching them. At least you guys will have a clear idea of the size of the bass I'm catching. I just hope that most of them lay still.

Great info. I'll apply it. Thanks!

You're a tough hombre. "The big C," for sure. I have kayaked thousands of miles on big rivers, like the Mississippi and Ohio, but the big C would have me on my toes. Ha! It's the same on the East Coast, where I think I have the pattern and then it fizzles. The kid and I launched two straight mornings at four a.m. and both mornings were hot. The second morning, reaching the dock, I just sagged and dangled my legs off the dock, feeling and looking thoroughly beaten, but the kid's dad saw something else, saying, "You're a warrior, Katie." Well, you're a warrior too, PDX. You remind me of this quote: One final thing: I loved how that train was wailing as you caught your first bass. That was evocative for me, reminding me of the countless smallmouth I've caught on the Mississippi and in northwestern Ontario as trains passed. Oftentimes the engineer would be hanging out the window, waving at me while my smallmouth leapt. I'm too old to reach those lakes anymore, so I'm sure grateful to hear your train and see your bass and remember.

Your lake still has green weeds somewhere. I'd find those green ones and fish them because they're still producing oxygen, whereas the brown ones are consuming oxygen. I'd also fish hither and yon. Whereas there are maxims in bass fishing, like the one I stated above, bass are mysterious too, hanging in places that make no sense to me, so I both cast to the places I expect to find them, focusing on those places, but also fire off random casts to places where I see no reason for them to be. The kid and I caught a couple 19-inchers in such a place a couple mornings ago, a place where we have rarely caught bass and where there is no cover nor structure to attract them. Even though I don't have electronics, the water at the kid's pond is low and clear and we could see the featureless bottom.

I've read hundreds of your trip reports and have observed more than once that you are the King of Fun. You have so much fun fishing. We all should follow your lead, your Majesty.

19-inchers are special fish.

I bet that was thrilling.

A seven-pounder on your third cast? Was your first car a McLaren and your first date with Halle Berry?

Respect.

@T-Billy: Tim, what's your musky total for 2025? Are you hoping for one hundred again?

Oh, goodness.

That's bait, @gim.

It's that way in the states too. In the spring, bass load up on energy to get through the spawn. In the fall, they load up on energy to get through the winter. In the summer, there's not the imperative to feed. I own a LOT of crankbaits, but I still chose soft plastics 90% of the time in the summer. I did catch a couple four-pounders this morning with a popper, so if you're not throwing the occasional surface lure early or late in the day, I would.

I'll be happy with 1500 bass. Last year, my numbers dropped in July and August, as they do for many of us, but in the beginning of September, if 2025 goes like 2024, I should start averaging twenty-some per outing, with possible mornings of 60 or more as I move into the fall. I just hope to catch another bass like this 2024 monster: And I hope you guys also catch the bass of your dreams! I truly want my fellow anglers to succeed. You should have seen me this morning when the kid landed a couple 19-inchers.

Fish on.

You might remember that back in the early spring, I stated that my goal for 2025 was big bags, which for me is anything north of 18 pounds. For me, big bags mark my consistency. Even an occasional kid with a Snoopy rod can stumble onto a six-pounder, but big bags require an angler to puzzle through to a pattern. Well, this morning, the kid and I landed 20 pounds of bass or close to it, with five bass measuring 19 to 20 inches., but I only took two photos good enough to share. Two were caught on a big, bone-colored River2Sea popper, which pleased me because it might mean that Maine bass are finally looking up. Here they are: I caught 11 of the 21, giving me 968 bass for the year.

Bulging brownie! Thanks for the report.

Love this. It amazes me how far @Pat Brown has come in just a few years.' I'm really enjoying these origin stories. When it comes to knowing nothing, I knew the least: I remember sitting on a riverbank in Michigan, waiting for a bite. My lure was a cheap red and white spoon, which I'd cast and let flutter to the bottom. There it sat and sat and sat, while I hoped some fish would find it and inhale it.

On a whim, my dad bought a bunch of cheap rods, reels, and lures and spread them on the kitchen table with his considerable fanfare. None of us knew how any of it worked, but he loaded us into the station wagon and drove us to the metropolitan park where he worked summers as a ranger. We proceeded to fail, but kept plugging, fishing everything from wee creeks to farm ponds, never knowing what we were doing, but persisting and dreaming of big bass. Darth's experience parallels mine.

Heck, yeah Waska!

I fished with the kid and his dad at my pond this morning. Fishing was slow, but we cobbled a total catch of 21. I caught eight, bringing my 2024 total to 957. Their average size was good. It was already getting hot, so we quit early,

My right eye is healing ahead of schedule, which is why the doc changed her mind and let me fish again, but come Wednesday, I'll be landlocked again as the team will do my second eye. I'll likely sleep a lot on Wednesday, but the bandages will come off Thursday morning and hopefully I'll see clearly from both eyes. Meanwhile, the kid and I are going fishing tomorrow morning. Thanks for wondering, guys!

If nothing else works, hook a nightcrawler in the head. Cast it with no weight, which is hard to do, but that combo provokes hits.

I launched to more wind than I prefer because I wanted to fish a good solunar evening. The bass were willing, but I didn't bring my good stuff to the mound, losing some good ones. I managed seven bass. Six were good-sized and four were about as big as they grow in my pond. These four: I caught one trolling into the wind, one on the edge of some lilypads, one from a laydown, and one trolling with the wind. These two were smaller, but still solid, both caught on a T-Rigged worm: Here's a pretty pic! Thanks, F3, for the app suggestion. I think it works. The bass were bigger than normal. FWIW, I've caught 948 this year.