Swamp Girl

Jesse, I assume you had a guide at Lake Baccarac. If you did, how do you think you would have fared without one? For me, time alone doesn't always mean I can crack the code. I lived on the Wisconsin River for more than a year. I fished nearly every morning and if I caught half a dozen, that was a great morning. There was just so much water that didn't hold bass. It had strong current, it was shallow, and sandy-bottomed. Tough conditions...for me. High, muddy water would intimidate me. You're also casting into trees and barbed wire for DDs...in high winds. That's akin to fighting Siberian tigers on an icy tightrope over a thundering waterfall.

ICD is the best. And Al @Lottabass is morphing into @Pat Brown!

Yep, you're dancing with the Grim Reaper.

@FloridaFishinFool: Thanks for helping those kayakers. However, I sure wouldn't want to paddle with them. I've spent enough time in wilderness areas to have learned that you must know where you are at all times. In the wilderness, there are no kindly @FloridaFishinFools to save you. I spent a week in the wilderness with a woman who never knew where we were. I'd ask again and again, "Which way is camp? And again and again, she'd point the wrong way. "Why do I need to know?" she asked. "You know!" I explained, "You need to know in case I die so that you don't die too." I never paddled with her again and never would. The brain matters more than the boat. Proof: More proof:

That's it! I fish cover. Pelagic bass would best me. Thanks for the link, @GreenTrout. That's a good read.

I'm guessing that some of you think bass are bass are bass, that they're simple creatures that behave pretty much the same wherever they're based. I don't think that way. I've NOT caught bass in enough places to conclude that changes in latitude (and water clarity and cover and seasons and so on) bring changes in bass attitudes. So, here are the five places I can consistently catch bass: Ohio farm ponds Rocky, tannin-stained lakes in northwestern Ontario The upper Mississippi The north shore of Lake Michigan The bogs and ponds of Maine I see the photos of the places you guys fish and I think, "I wouldn't have a clue how to catch bass there." It might take me a day or a week to solve the puzzle. And I might never solve the puzzle to catch them consistently. "I've NOT caught bass in enough places to conclude" that sometimes we win and sometimes they win. So, where can you catch bass? I'm talking about environments or specific places, however you want to frame it. So, to answer my lead question, "No. I can't catch bass everywhere. I've failed in enough places to have learned this."

I just googled "fisherman drowned in California." There are hundreds of accounts because 100% of the water in California can kill you. My point is that angling carries risk. Fishing the prespawn amplifies risk. As does fishing without a PFD. As does fishing the wind. As does fishing into one's sixties, seventies, and eighties. As does fishing at night. Yet we cast on after weighing the risks. I'd fish water with gators.

My PB was caught pre-spawn and she was deformed by the eggs she was carrying. She looked like she'd swallowed a softball. She fought as well as you'd expect given her condition, which is hardly at all.

My best luck comes when there's enough current for me to see it. Even better when there's enough current to pull my canoe. Better still when there's enough current to make me work hard to paddle my canoe free of the current. These conditions occur in the spring and after four-inch rainfalls. They don't last long, but they're gold. I see zero current in your photos and would only fish it, as @Big Hands wrote, as cover.

I'm dark fraidy. Better to be doing anything than watching General Hospital!

I forgot to share that we didn't launch late and fish into the dark because the forecasted thunderstorms missed us. So, we launched early enough to catch enough bass to satisfy us.

Yeah, Pat's a bass whisperer. Mid-day is hard for me too.

I fish from small boats and catch lots of bass. Heck, yeah! Go get 'em, tiger!

We caught 32. We caught nine at one spot, but left that spot (I know; dumb, dumb, dumb) and struggled to catch three more, but one of the three was his PB smallie, which I netted just before it broke free: Then we smartly returned to the area where we first caught them and they were still there and biting. The lad caught some nice lmb too: I caught a 19-incher, our evening's biggest, which he netted just as it broke free. We both got a kick out of my saving his PB smallie and him saving my biggest lmb with the net: And I caught some other solid bass. This one was 17.5 inches: Working together as a team was fun. Our best lures were a Rage Bug and an underspin with Crush City Mayors in different colors.

@Joedodge: Poppers were my number one lure in the second half of 2024.

I will troll, but I plan to troll a big, black Whopper Plopper. I'll leave the casting to the kid. I'll be his motor and netwoman. I'm going to the garage now to rig his rods. Me too!

Thanks, Mickey. I love to see the kid catch fish.

Your fishing life is about to change big time.

Nope, not for me. I enjoy them all. That's why I count them. That's pretty much my cutoff too. However, I've had a few sessions where I caught more 17-inchers than Bass Resource would let me load.

That's a beauty, Alex!

Joe, I reviewed my trip reports from July of last year and I was catching about half of what I'd caught in June of 2024. The doldrums continued into August. Summer is tough. However, I did catch some long girls here and there:

Remember my teenage buddy? Well, he arrived in Maine yesterday and because of the wind report for the next few days, we're launching this evening between six and eight, depending upon whether forecasted thunderstorms arrive or not. We'll fish reeds, grass, and pads, and just off-shore too. I won't be casting. I can paddle without pain, so I'll paddle and net my young buddy's bass. I'll post the pics in this thread later today. Fingers crossed he catches some big gals like he did last year!

That's where I'd be casting. July is tough. That's the ticket, but then again, what do I know; I'm on injured reserve.

Holy brownie, Batman, you pow-bammed them!

It is fun to fish new water. I've gotten to the point where I might know my pond and my pal's pond too well. Time and again, I can predict when a bass will hit. I've learned where they lurk.