Swamp Girl

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.

So cool, Alex!

This is probably good, as it'll keep you vigilant. It works that way for me when I launch on water cold enough to kill me.

It's common knowledge among pythons that you don't mess with anyone with enough backbone to night fish the Everglades.

It's Erie how close you are to perhaps the greatest smallmouth spot in the world! Yeah, the smallies in my pond are all footballs. Still, the lmb outfight them.

Should I buy Livescope for my pond?

Ha! However, I asked the doc about paddling and he said I can't. Now, if I knew someone with a bass boat, then...

The smallies at my pond aren't abundant, but when it comes to eating, they're thriving. These were all caught this week:

Go get 'em, Mr. Bricker!

Great photos again, @JonB2! I fished my pond for 2.5 hours this morning. I caught 14 total, which is normal for July. My main lures were a T-Rigged blue Senko and an underspin with a shad-colored Crush City Mayor. I also caught one bass on a green T-Rigged ribbon worm. My last four bass were the best, so I'm showing them first: This was my very last bass caught. I wish she'd held still. She was an official Wilson football: I fish in some crazy, tight places, huh? I've caught many bass in this slot. Hooked one there this morning, but lost her. First bass of the morning, a skinny guy: And an open water bass. I had two bass hit a trolled underspin so hard that my canoe shuddered: Fun morning!

Thanks for all the reassuring words, guys!

Thanks, buddy!

I had just removed it, thinking my fishing was done, but once it was off, I made one last cast and caught that bass. It wasn't a big one, but lawdy, did it fight! Either that, or I'm growing weaker.

I fished my pond tonight. I landed five in the first hour and I assumed I was going to have a hot evening. Then I could only catch four in the next 2.5 hours. Nearly back to my dock, I landed another two for a total of 11. There was a kayak angler also fishing my pond this evening. He said he'd fished it for 50 years, but he skunked this evening. It's fishing tough right now. Still, I caught some fine bass: This was my last bass, a little smaller, but you can see even the smaller ones are thick with muscle: Al sure caught some big ones! I think that Iowa is like Maine, I.e. a sleeper bass state.

Thank you for explaining. I think IF I fished all day on my best days in Maine, I could land 150 bass, BUT I can't fish all day anymore.

Yeah, my world has been a bit blurry.

More like two a week given Iowa's winter. Plus, look at the photo of where he catches them. Those aren't open water bass.

I'm launching again today at my pond at four. It's forecast to be a rare, low-wind afternoon and evening, which explains why I fish mornings mostly. I might also launch tomorrow morning for three hours. I find that when I fish three hours instead of five, I have more energy the rest of the day.

When you say "hundreds can be caught in a full day," do you mean hundreds per angler? I ask because I had two 250+ bass days in a row ONCE in my life. I was in my twenties and those two days exhausted me. If you're catching hundreds per angler per day, how do you sustain the effort? I had a 70 bass and a 75-bass mornings last year and those two mornings drained my tank. I could have topped 100 each outing, but couldn't sustain the effort at 68 years of age, which leads to my second question: How old are you?

You and I should board his kayak one day. We can hunch behind him and just watch...and learn. Anyone else want aboard?

I'm only surprised by Clayton when he doesn't win. He sure can angle.

Go get 'em, Bazoo! Try to catch this one's big sister:

I've caught thousands of bass with my spinning outfits and surface lures. I throw all sizes of surface lures. My favorite rod is M fiberglass 7' 2". I use 30 lb. braid. I know that I'm doing this all wrong, but it works for me.

I get my first cataract surgery on the 30th and my second two weeks later. The eye doc said no fishing and no paddling. So, my remaining trips become ever more precious. I'm launching tomorrow evening and I'll be taking some pics with my clouded eyes, pics to ease me through August. P. S. - I'm counting on the rest of you to catch your share of August bass and my share too!!!!