Swamp Girl

You guys know I'm mostly a green bass angler in large part because the green bass grow bigger in Maine than the brown bass. Hank Parker fishes Maine a lot and I've watched many of his videos. He catches the same size smallies as me, I.e. 15 to 17 inches on the skinny side. Well, last night, I caught a thick 18-incher. Here: And I did it again this morning. I know this morning's bass looks smaller, but it wasn't: Catching a couple solid brownies gets this ol' gal excited about smallie fishing again. I caught 24 bass this morning, bumping my 2025 total to 555. You know how some guys create an account to post a photo of a big bass they caught and then ask us to guess how much it weighed? Well, @Glenn once wrote that he doesn't guess a bass's weight from a photo because there are too many variables. His point is proven by my bass pics from this morning. For example, looking at the photos, if I didn't know otherwise, I would guess that this bass was my biggest: It was a solid bass, but only 18 inches. This skinny one was also 18 inches: This was my biggest at 19.75 inches: Counting the smallie, I caught a 19.75-incher, three 18-inchers, and some 17-inchers like this one: If I'd been in a kayak tournament, my total would have been 90.75". It was in the fifties and raining most of the morning. A pretty morning: I caught my bass with a green ribbon-tail worm, a blue lizard, a black Whopper Plopper, and a purple Cut R worm. I was expecting to catch more, but I'm happy with the quality. I left my canoe at my pal's pond and will fish it again tomorrow morning. I'll try some different spots and would love to catch another thick smallie!

Ole Dad (TM) sure has taught his son well.

I fished with six rods tonight, but I sometimes launch with just two. I do it because it's easy to walk through the woods with just two rods.

I'm back in the saddle again. I fished my pond for 3.5 hours this evening and will fish my pal's pond tomorrow morning and Sunday morning, energy permitting. I like to avoid fishing weekends, as I saw three other boats on my pond this evening and a shore angler too, but I still managed to catch 30 bass. I had five of my six rods rigged with soft plastics, but they were hitting those weakly. My sixth rod was rigged with a loon-colored Whopper Plopper and that's what they wanted. Here's one of the small ones that I was catching at first: Then I caught some bigger ones: I even caught a smallie, which are rare at my pond: Pretty pic: And a few more to say bye-bye! I'm at 531 bass for the year

I did not know that! Thanks for the info.

They need to erect "Canoes ONLY!" signs in the swamps to keep the bass boats out:

I have focused on four ponds/bogs in 2024 and 2025 and in doing so, have increased both my total bass catches and my bigger bass catches, but I've been pining to cast where I don't know every bush and weed bed.

Yikes! Got any fish pics?

@Eric 26: Yep, that's Eric and me. We formed our own squad after the "real" cheerleaders cut us in the first round. "And stay out!" they yelled at us as we left. So we did just that, cheering under the bleachers and by the parking lot. Such. Good. Memories.

Wait. Why am I celebrating? I'm still behind by half a gillion.

My childhood reel was a Zebco 404 and I didn't understand drag, so, like @LrgmouthShad, I cranked my drag to maximum and the bigger bass broke my line. Like @MassYak85, I've over-acquired lures. I like @Bird's story and envy Bird. I wish I'd had someone when I was young to show me how to catch bass. My brothers and dad knew as little as me. So, we blundered our ways to eventual success.

Oh, I know. I now longer fish current, but when I did, those bass moved even more than my bog bass do...and my bog bass move pert near every dang day.

But I posted video evidence of Glenn calling me a slacker! It was taken before @Glenn grew his trustworthy mustache and somehow Michael J. Fox photobombed us.

Current plus weeds plus specific depth zones would be difficult for all of us. I lived on a smallmouth river once and fished it every morning. I never mastered it. Every morning, it was a different river depending upon flow. And I DIDN'T have weeds.

Your level of difficulty surpassed mine because I don't contend with current.

@Pat Brown: I like my blue lizards too. And I love a heavy bag. I've said many times that anyone can luck into a single big bass, but to land five big bass, you have to have their number. I returned to Maine yesterday evening after driving 2,500 miles this past week. I wanted to rise early and fish this morning before the wind rose. I set my alarm clock for four in the morning, but I just couldn't answer the call. Perhaps I can fish a couple hours this evening if the wind dies enough. So many fine bass have been caught and posted this past week and I didn't catch a single one of them. This is @Glenn scolding me:

A fishing father casting homemade lures: You're a cool cat, @IcatchDinks. I think I found your photo online:

@bp_fowler: I love those AEP ponds. You could be skunked on something that pretty and still have a great day.

I would have loved it. You have likely gleaned that I'm a pinpoint caster, hitting pockets within weeds.

Your top bass is dark and deep...just the way I like 'em.

My pink Shimano Flashboost popper has also caught hundreds of bass and I expect it'll catch hundreds more later this summer.

Bird nailed it. Soft plastics are way more expensive.

@softwateronly and @thediscochef: You guys catch biiiiig bass. Congrats on creating such a productive crankbait, ICD!

You're a heckuva fisherman.

Tank!