Swamp Girl

You guys know I was a professional writer. As such, I've had many conversations with other writers and editors about effective writing, which I summarize as, "Be clear. Be concise." So, it drives me crazy to see how lure makers describe colors. Whereas "red," "blue," and "green" are all clear and concise, luremakers chose descriptors like 'Double Butterscotch Wavy Gravy Palooza.' Okay, I exaggerate, but here are some real lure color names: Sexy Ayu: no clarity here Clear Lake Hitch: neither clear nor concise California 420: Huh? They're not cute. They're cutesy. 25 years ago, women's clothing manufacturers succumbed to goofy, meaningless color names too, like "canteen" and "crush," but have largely reverted to clarity, going nowadays with "black" and "white." I wish the boys would follow the girls and use words that convey, not dismay this old writer.

Why would you want to keep your rod's manufacturer a secret? Heck, why would anyone even care what rod you use? As far as tipping, I tipped once and like @HawkeyeSmallie and @michaelb, I tipped reaching for a snagged lure that was hooked on a tree. My canoe is designed to be tippy. It's like an ornery horse always wanting to throw me out of the saddle, but it's also designed to not flip. So, it threw me out, but didn't capsize. I was the only thing in the water, which was very, VERY convenient.

2024 was a great year for me, topwater-wise. 2025 has been a real struggle up top. I did catch three yesterday on a Spook-type bait, but if you remember my 2024 trip reports, three is nothing to write home about. I don't believe that all the bass in my pond are topwater-savvy. According to my research, my pond has 8,500 to 17,000 bass. I haven't already caught them all on surface lures. My pal's pond has twice that number. So, double-ditto. I think the surface fishing will pick up. I was sub-surface for the first half of 2024 and focused on the surface in the latter half, with surface fishing going bonkers in the fall. I'm hoping for the same this year

I'm just glad you launched. I've missed your trip reports. And I'm sad you're feeling poorly.

Well, since I don't use electronics, I'll have to fish the deep water weeds that I can see. You guys have encouraged me to buy a simple sonar, but I'm already carrying my tacklebox, water, six rods, camera, and phone through the woods. I can't carry anymore. My pond is ten feet at its deepest. Right now, with little rainfall, it might only be eight to nine feet at its deepest. My pal's pond is the same. Anyway, thanks for the detailed explanation. I've been catching bass this July mostly through precise casting along the edges of the wetlands. When I land my lure under an overhanging bush at a point, I have a pretty good chance at catching a bass. My pond, being shallow, has a LOT of mid-pond weeds. The grass and lily pads hold some bass, but I've discovered that the Pondweed holds the most bass. So far, I've only caught bass on the edges, but come Monday morning, when I launch, I'll try the middle of the Pondweed patches too with a weedless wacky Senko, which I've never tried. Pondweed, thankfully, is the weakest weed in the pond, as opposed to reeds and lily pads, which are strong and bass use their strength to free themselves. So, when a bass plunges into Pondweed, I'm probably still going to land it. I sure feel like I'm late to deep water weed party, but now that I've finally arrived, I plan to party like it's 1999!

Thanks, Tim. I'm fishing Monday and Tuesday mornings and am going to rig two jigheads with Senkos, one weedless and one not. I'm going to try dropping the weedless jighead right into the weeds. My canoe is quiet enough that I can park atop them and they won't spook. Just about every morning, I bump a bass with the bow of my canoe because they don't hear me coming. FWIW, most of the deep water weed patches I'm fishing are much bigger than what I photographed, but there are smaller, isolated ones and I'll be sure to hit them as you suggest. Thanks for the guidance, Tim. @JonB2: There are those high quality photos again. All those handsome bass from the shoreline are impressive too.

By deep weed line, do you guys mean working the edge of weeds in deep water? Like these, which are in 8' of water: I ask because this is where I caught them a couple mornings this past week.

Yeah, musky fishing was the first to go for me too. My main musky lake was reached by paddling across a lake, portaging a hilly quarter mile, paddling across another lake, portaging a swampy tenth of a mile, paddling across yet another lake, bushwhacking through the woods because there was no portage trail, slogging through a swamp, and then doing the final portage. However, I once boated five muskies in an hour. Amen, my friend.

@Bazoo: Looking at your beard, I'm thinking that men don't actually lose hair. It just starts growing down instead of up.

You're smart to keep your pedal to the metal, as the years are coming fast when you won't have the stamina to fish hard.

I enjoyed the short arm/long arm pics. Thanks!

@10,000 lakes Bassin: Ah, you know me well! Thanks for the pic of the bluegilly bass.

Way to fish, Gim!

Gim and @Glenn put me on bass this morning. I wanted to catch fish differently this morning, so I launched at 5:30 a.m. and started with a skinny white walking lure. I've caught soooooo few bass on the surface this year, so it was fun to catch three, two lmb and one smallie. Here's one of the three: I'd also tied on a wacky worm on a jig, something that Glenn suggested in one of his videos. I've always fished wacky worms weightless, but because I'd be fishing mid-pond weeds like Gim suggested above, I wanted it to sink faster. Well, that was the ticket. I ended up with 14 bass in two hours, which is a pretty good rate for July. Here are some of the bass, starting with a 16.5-incher (approx. 2.5 pounds) and then bigger ones: Then I hooked a challenging bass. I hooked her on the edge of a patch of Pondweed, but she ran for this tree, pulling my canoe into it: I'd lost bass in the past to that tree, so I paddled with one hand and maintained line tension with the other. I could feel my line rubbing on the branches, but she followed me out of the tree and I was happy to land her: I was also happy to spend the morning with loons and ospreys and I saw something soooo strange, a vertical branch moving across the pond. Then I saw the beaver's head. I also saw this, a shoreline looking like fall, but it's still actually green: And this: Thanks, Glenn and Gim!

I've had some luck plucking bass from mid-lake weed beds.

Great post. They sure muddle me. I just went out and changed the majority of my lures, hoping that one of them will work better tomorrow morning than this morning's lures did.

' I used to ride my bike to Lancaster and worked in Chillicothe and South Bloomingville, so I should know it, but I don't.

@FloridaFishinFool: I know two women more die hard than me. One launched her rowboat in snowstorms to troll for muskies and the other fishes every year from the Everglades to my haunts. We're rare, but we're out there.

@bp_fowler: That stream's as pretty as Heaven...and you were just wanting to catch smallmouth too.

Al, you know those old covers too, don't you? I miss 'em. @FloridaFishinFool: Thanks! Good luck finding a woman who loves dancing...with bass. Thanks too to @pdxfisher! Now I'm waiting to see @JonB2's July 2025 bass. I love to see thick fish!

I get my first cataract surgery on the 30th, so I'm fishing as much as possible before then as I can't fish for all of August. It's good, I think. Some of the bass from my pond are crazy thick, like this one, caught this week: I like 'em skinny and thick. The skinny ones fight as hard as the thick ones. The bogs I fish grow the thickest bass. Here are three, all from the same bog:

How old are your kids and are they catching fish?

I caught 11 at my pond this morning and four of them were so fine. I'll got stories for three of the tanks. Shortly after launching at 5:05 a.m., I cast parallel to the shoreline and felt the sharp tap of a bass hitting my underspin with a dark blue Crush City Mayor. I set the hook and the bass posed for a painter of a 1957 Outdoor Life cover, coming completely out of the water, flaring her gills, and shaking her head. If she'd sprayed Godzilla's blue fire, I would not have been surprised. Here she is: I was working another shoreline, casting parallel to it. I like to be inches from the shoreline as the bass tuck under the woody bushes along the shoreline, but I miscast and my lure was a couple feet away. Well, I saw a bass dart out from under a bush to snatch my lure. I saw the clear line as it charged. So exciting! Here's that bass: With the third bass, I was working dense reeds along the shore. It was both rocky and muddy and SHALLOW, so I felt the tick-tick-tick of my lure striking rocks, wood, and weeds. Then I felt a tick that felt ever so slightly different. I pity new anglers having the learn the difference between a subtle hit and a lure striking a rock. Here's that bass and you can see the reeds behind her. Thank goodness she didn't plunge into them: This bass completes my quartet of long fish: And this open water bass is pretty nice too: As I wrote last year, I am proud of my consistency. Give me a spinning rod and underspin, drop me into a canoe, plop me onto a pond or bog, and I can find a few bass and convince them to hit.