Swamp Girl

What happened to it, Alex? Whoa! I didn't know that there was a such a lake. A 4.5 average is stunning. I work so hard to catch a four-pounder here and there. However, this makes me happy with my three-pounders.

Bob's on FIRE! A big smallie followed by a big largie. Go, Bob, go!

When you come fish my pond, Bob, you'll add a caveat, which is "except at Ol' Swampy's pond, of course, where the green fish outfight the brown fish."

I agree. I love it here, but when I lived in Wisconsin and fished the Mississippi, Lakes Superior and Michigan, and northwestern Ontario, I loved that too. Me too! Fingers crossed for you!

Great question. I caught the first two smallmouth exactly where you'd expect to catch them, on a rocky flat about two feet deep. I buzzed my underspin over it, but even then the spinner was tick-tick-ticking the bottom. I caught one at the flat's drop-off, another normal smallmouth spot. I caught the thick 18-incher exactly where I wouldn't expect to catch it, I.e. a weed field. She rocketed out of the water and flashed brown and I thought, "Huh?" Yeah, that's typical of my pond, where the bass are nearly always well fed. It's my pal's pond where they can be skinny, like this girl who's all head:

I actually wore long pants and a long-sleeved shirt the last two mornings lest I be cold. So true. 2024 might have been the best fishing year of my life: my PB, my first 25+ pound bag, and more than 2,000 bass. I'll break a thousand this year, but there's no way I'll break 2,000 as I won't be fishing for nearly all of August due to cataract surgeries and between my tendonitis and a death in the family that put me on the road during the fishing peak, I just can't match 2024, but I'm still happy with 2025 and mornings like this one are a big part of that. Some local bass anglers that I know are struggling, but I'm still bringing thick bass into my canoe. They keep moving on me, but I keep finding them.

That's a good-looking bass, @DaubsNU1. Yours too, @12poundbass.

Yes, yes, it will. I bought my five-acre waterfront lot for $75,000 last year.

I did not know this. Great tip. Thanks! I googled both pondweeds and I think it's American.

I photographed it hoping someone would identify it. It's an easy weed to fish. My underspin can snag it, but most of the time, it goes right through it.

Whoa! You should know, Alex, having tussled with so many big ones of each species.

Is anyone still dazzled by Al's 52 bass over five pounds? Now, I've probably hit 50 with four-pounders, but five-pounders are much less common in Maine. I can't imagine EVER catching that many five-pounders in a single year. Not even half that number.

Yeah, it never stops changing in July. I could foolishly believe that I now have a steady bead on the bass now because I know the weed where they hang...and I will try that weed again (Plan A!), but I better launch with Plans B, C, and D too. Thank you! My neighbor fished my pond with his two sons this week and they caught two bass total. It can be tricksy finding fish in July.

Funny!

As I fished this morning, I thought of @softwateronly, with his Lake Michigan fatties, @A-Jay, with his gobie-gorged beasts, and @pdxfisher, with his big river brownies. I didn't expect my thoughts to wander to the brown brethren, but they did, and here's why. This was my first bass of the morning at my green bass pond: And this was my last bass of the morning, again at my GREEN bass pond, a thick 18-incher: I caught 13 bass total and four of them were smallies, the most I've ever caught there. The other two smallies weren't like the ones above, but not bad. Here's one: My biggest bass was an lmb: I caught other fine lmb too: However, this one was slender enough to look a little like a river walleye. And here's its twin! Back to thicker bass: I'm coming to accept that there are no milk runs in July. In May and June, I'd determine a pattern and milk that for a few days or weeks. In July, it seems like everyday is different. I return to where I caught bass the prior morning and they're no longer there. Yesterday, I caught bass at a drop-off, but that fishing sure dropped off this morning. Here's where I caught bass this morning, from this kind of weed in the middle of nowhere: Now, what I'm about to say is heresy, but it only applies to my pond. At MY pond, the largies outfight the smallies. The largies at my pond are dogged, tear off line, burrow into weeds, and jump just as much as the smallies.

Wh-wh-WHAT? I'd drive over a hundred miles of pasture to fish that lake!!!

It is such a circus!!!

I read these reviews and think, "I want to fish there. And there. And there."

Nope. Too scary. I hope you look like this to get those bass into your boat:

I invite you to rate your water and by "your water," I mean the river/stream/lake/pond/swamp you fish the most. First, tell a bit about it. Then rate it one to five stars and explain why. For example: A bit about it: My water is a 170-acre natural lake that's 10' at its deepest. It's bordered on three sides by wetlands. It holds mostly lmb, but a few fat smallies. It has three streams, which all hold bass at various times. Its rating and why: I give it four stars. It has a LOT of cover for bass, the bass are exceptionally strong, and it's beautiful, with largely wild shorelines. Plus, beavers, loons, eagles, and ospreys are commonly seen and heard. Because I own five acres of its shoreline, I'm able to keep two canoes there and it's five minutes from my home, so it's convenient. It also challenges me, with plenty of cover to tangle lines and free fish and whereas I consistently catch bass there, it can skunk other anglers, so it keeps me engaged and thinking. Lastly, three to three-and-a-half-pounders abound. Why not five stars? Well, the bass top out at about four pounds. Plus, whereas it's beautiful, it's not the most beautiful water I fish.

I'm checking it again tomorrow morning, Scott. I only fished one side of the drop-off and tomorrow, I'll fish two sides and possibly three. The third side, I think, doesn't have a sharp drop-off, but a slow slide to deeper water. The drop-off is created by a reef that's 1-3' deep and slopes sharply on two sides. It'll be cloudy when I launch tomorrow, so the bass holding off the reef today might be on the reef tomorrow. We'll see! I felt like I was living on Easy Street hooking bass in deep, weedless water. I love to troll, Al. I remember your most recent double on the twin frogs. Well, sometimes I double up while trolling when both rods snap back.

I see all those books, you learned man!

It was 59 degrees when I launched at my pond this morning. Considering we've been in the low eighties and high seventies, it was quite a drop and I feared the cold front and clear skies might change the rules. It did. I started out fishing the edge of the wetlands, tucking my underspin under woody bushes. I caught a couple and lost a third. Here's the first I caught: The second one was quite nice, with a bulging back and belly: I picked up this smaller, glowing gal a little later: However, I was getting my normal number of hits, so I paddled here and there, trying a laydown, a couple river mouths, lily pads, a shaded shoreline, and a rocky flat. I picked up another two, but established no pattern. Because I'm meeting a pal for coffee, I started heading home by way of a drop-off. I trolled over the drop-off and caught a nice one: I cast back to where I'd hooked her and had another one hit my falling underspin: Then another, a well-shaped bass! They kept coming, really smacking my lure. I think I was casting into a school and they were racing to get my lure first: A terrible photo, but a fine fish: This might have been the biggest: A fat one to finish my morning: I finished with 15, but ten of those came from the drop-off school. It isn't often I get to catch open water bass with zero wood and weeds. I really enjoyed solving this morning's puzzle. I'll launch again at my pond tomorrow morning. It will be cloudy and the bass might return to the edge of the swamp...or they might be schooling at the drop-off...or they might be somewhere else. Finding them is the fun, huh? Say, I caught a dink this morning and whenever I do, I think of @IcatchDinks. I held it high and yelled, "I caught your dink, ICD!" He should return the favor with the next fat bass he catches, I.e. hold it high and yell, "I caught your bass, Swamp Girl!"

Yep. Last year, it was underspins for the first half of the year, followed by poppers. This year, it's underspins so far. I keep trying poppers, but they're not producing...yet. Of course, I keep trying a dozen other lures too and most of them catch a few fish, but for me, in my ponds and bogs, underspins rule. YMMV.

Bob, you're 6' 4", you were raised in a swamp, and you dig ponds and build houses. Anyway giving you grief will have to deal with a man with VISE-GRIP hands. Bob's hands: #SwampGirlhasBob'sbackhoweverhairy