Swamp Girl

If Andy keeps fishing for green bass, I'm going to focus on brown bass to keep the universe in balance. You can't ask for anything more than that.

You are correct. I've been pond fishing this summer. The fatter bass are in the bogs, but the bogs are a lot more work for me. For example, these are bog bass of varying lengths, but what's weird is that the thinner bass from my pond outfight these chunks:

In case you're wondering about lengths, nearly every bass I post is at least 17 inches. I remember @gim stating that 17" is his cutoff and I thought, what's good for Gim is good for Swampy. The bigger bass that I post from my pond run up to 19". If a bass exceeds 19", I usually share its exact length. Sometimes, I post a smaller bass if it has a funny shape, like this one, which was probably 16.5":

@JonB2: I am amazed at what you catch off the bank. Cool that we both wacky scored today!

That's a big bass from the shore. You should be proud.

I assume you're losing lures because you're boat-less. I lose few lures. I'm learning that cover varies. The grass that lies flat on the top of the water is only good if you cast into it. Pondweed, on the other hand, produces more if you cast about two feet from it. I try to place my lure right along the edge of lily pads, as tight as possible, or in openings. Reeds and wild rice are great in May and again in the fall. Cabbage is consistently productive, but also holds pike and pickerel. However, what works in a Maine pond and bog might not apply to Kentucky.

When it comes to Mr. Howe, Never was heard A discouraging word And his skies are not cloudy All day! Thanks, Kirtley! Say, guys, I really am coming to trust my orange and green crawdad. I don't know the maker, but I expect they're all similar.

Ha! If it weren't my eyes in play, I'd probably fish on, but.... I have half a dozen books to read. And I can organize my fishing gear. Plus, I've already caught a thousand or so bass this year and I'll enter the fall fresh and raring to catch some big girls.

The Monkey gives you a cut, huh?

Hi, George. I'm a Mainer who fishes from a canoe. I'm a stealth angler who likes to sneak real close to bass.

First off, five from the shore on a hot day in July is pretty good. Second off, fish a Ned. Lastly, as others have stated, cast to cover. Here's a bass I caught on the edge of pondweed this morning: Look to the right and left of the bass. Look behind it too. See the cover pert near everywhere? That's where I catch bass. P. S. - Get a boat. I've seen canoes for as little as a hundred bucks. An old canoe can take you to cover. Warning: Once you start to fish cover, it'll be Mr. Toad's wild ride. Sometimes you'll be the bug and sometimes you'll be the windshield. I had a big bass this morning bolt for lily pads. I just couldn't turn her and she unbuttoned in the pads.

I was supposed to fish with a pal this morning, but he bailed when he thought a bit about stumbling through the woods in the wee light. So, I fished alone and caught 19, giving me 914 bass for 2025. I'm way behind last year and I won't catch last year's 2,044 total. My plan was to fish the edges of the mid-lake pondweed again, but between the blue sky and a breeze, I struggled to see the pondweed. So, I fished the pondweed when I stumbled upon it, but also fished the easy-to-see lily pads and a drop-off. I caught the bass mostly with a Senko wacky-hooked on a jig, but also caught two bass with my underspin with a dark blue Mayor and a T-rigged green and orange crawdad. Here are the two underspin bass, both caught trolling: Here are my biggest bass: When I just couldn't see the pondweed anymore, I fished some lily pads in a bay and caught three. The bass there weren't as big, but they were healthy. Here's one: Here's some other fine fish I caught: A clear sky made for harder fishing, but it sure gussied the pond: I won't fish for all of August per my cataract surgery doc's orders, so when I launch again, I'll have been away from the bass so long that I won't know where they are and what they'll want. Launching with only some hunches sounds exciting! In the meantime, you guys keep posting your bass so that I don't go into full withdrawal.

I just used a ball jig. Prior to trying this, I had only fished Senkos weightless and T-rigged. All three approaches have put bass in my boat. You are soooo right about the line jumping and then pulling tight. That's their M.O.! I am quick to set the hook because I don't want to gut hook them. I lose more that way, but it's worth it to me. FWIW, I'm taking a pal fishing tomorrow. The two other times I took him to other ponds, determined to put him on a big fish, but I caught a 6.5-pounder and a 4.25-pounder. Tomorrow morning's mission is for him to catch several four-pounders! I'll park him atop the sweet spots. Fingers crossed he can close the deal.

Ha! I caught a few dinks. The dinks startle me because they hit so hard, as opposed to the cagey old gals who sometimes hit so softly that I wonder, "Weed?"

Thanks! I think the jig is just what my wacky-hooked Senkos needed. It made them fall faster, but not too fast. I own a similar lure as your bluegill, but have never worked up the courage to fish it. Let us know how it goes!

That's just what I did, Sensei! I figured it was a cover + structure = SUCCESS! equation.

One night I was in the middle of a pond the windows of the camps were glowing yellow and I could smell their wood smoke. I both envied and pitied them.

@wdp: It's this song from the movie, "Jeremiah Johnson":

I sure would look for pondweed, Mickey. However, bass being bass, they might not be under the pondweed again tomorrow morning. As far as doing as well as me, I am greatly advantaged by focusing on two ponds. I know them really, really well. When my sister was here a couple weeks ago, I took her for a paddle and also brought a rod. At three different places, I said, "Sometimes you can catch a bass here if you do this." And at all three places I caught a bass...on the first cast. And I told her, "Don't think that fishing is always this easy. I just know my pond."

Great story, Al.

Thanks! This morning was especially good quality-wise. I think this is because I was fishing where the big girls lurk, I.e. under the pondweed: It helped that pondweed isn't tough like lily pads or reeds. The bass plunge into it, but it doesn't free them. I tried dropping my wacky worm right into the pondweed, but that didn't catch bass. I caught them casting about two feet from the edge of the patches and twitching my lure back to the canoe. The hits were tiny taps and a couple times the bass picked up my worm and swam to me. I also caught a few with my orange and green crawfish, working it along the edges too, both slow and steady and twitching it. I'll fish again tomorrow morning, but then I'm done for a month. My young friend is coming in two weeks. I'll show him where and how to catch them, but he'll have to fish with his dad as my eye doc doesn't want me fishing or even in a canoe. I think I could have filled three seventeen-pound bags, which is consistent fishing. Lastly, I know four bassheads who fished my pond last week and caught two bass between them. That was their total catch. So, the bass don't jump into your boat. You have to find them and persuade them and land them.

See, you saved the day again, your highness.

Russ, I think everyday is a fun day for you. You are the King of Fun. Your majesty!

@Bluebasser86: Clayton could pert near catch bass anywhere under any conditions. If he posted this trip report, I'd believe him: I launched in a hurricane, but the straight winds weren't all that challenging. It was the tornadoes the hurricane spawned that were the real challenge, but I pinballed between them and ended up landing six bass. Two were 19-inchers.

I was hoping for 30 bass this morning, as I was armed with my new understanding of where bass in my pond hunker in July (pondweed) and how to catch them (a jig and a wacky Senko), but I could only catch 29. I launched at 5:00 a.m. and was home by 9:00 a.m. A cold front hit us last night, which was bad, but it was foggy this morning, which was good. What was very good was the size of the bass. More than half were three to four pounds. I did hook a 30th bass, a fine brown bass that I got to see when it launched, but it shook free. Oh, well. Keeps me hungry. I also used a T-Rigged orange and green crawfish and a shallow running crankbait. I didn't catch a single bass on my main lure, an underspin, but I didn't use it much. I had to keep an eye on the jig's hook. I'm used to fishing a thick 5/0 hook on my underspin and the jighead was a much thinner hook. The bass kept bending it and I kept straightening it. Here are the bigger bass, starting with my last one, which was long and strong: Lots of others were beauties too: Here's a smallie I did land. It was bleeding a bit, but I hurried it back into the water, which I read stops the bleeding. I shoot for 30 seconds or less on keeping bass out of the water. Here are four more. The last one was the first one I hooked this morning, on the spinnerbait while trolling to the pondweed patches. It's a terrible photo due to the fog, but it was a nice bass to get me started: Not all the patches held bass, but the few that did held three to five. I caught my last bass on the edge of some lily pads. That was rare. Throughout the morning, I'd try lily pads here and there, but the bass weren't there. P. S. - This morning sure tuckered me. Rising early, walking through the woods in the foggy gloaming with all my gear, launching in the wetlands and poling my way to the pond, paddling the length of the pond, fighting strong bass, and then working my way home drains my tank, but I come home happy too. I'm guessing my five best topped 18 pounds. I've caught a lot of bags in 2025 in that range.