Swamp Girl

I get excited about a new lure and want to share, but then I remember that all my new lures were recommended by you guys. For example, I had success this morning with a Strike King Rage Bug and a part of me wants to say, "TRY THIS," but then I remember that all of you have likely fished Rage Bugs for half of forever. Same with my blue lizard. Sigh. I'm always behind the rest of you.

I retired just one. It was a F13 Rapala that I cast against a cliff, fishing for smallies. A musky erupted on it and sent my lure back at me, whizzing past my head. The lure was mangled and the wire inside the balsa body had been yanked out, like a lion yanking a spinal column out of a zebra.

Me too. I'm happy whenever you launch, Alex.

Wow. What a morning. I fished my pond again and I could tell the bass were ready to dance when I walked through the woods and down my boardwalk to where I dock my canoe. My boardwalk continues to the pond and so I tiptoe onward, past my canoe, with one rod. Then I hunker behind a tree and cast into the little canal that leads through the wetlands from my canoe to the pond. On my first cast, I caught a beauty, but my camera was back at my canoe. On my second cast, I caught another beauty and walked her back to the canoe for a photo: You can see some of the boardwalk here and the inlet too, as well as the pond behind it: Those two fine bass boded well for the rest of the largely overcast morning. I caught 58 total and so many quality bass that I didn't photograph many of them. I caught them all on soft plastics: Strike King Rage Bug, ribbon worm, Zoom worm, underspin with a Zako, and a blue lizard. I was going to quit at 57 bass, but as I paddled back to my dock, I realized I hadn't caught a single bass on the surface, so I stopped at a river mouth and cast a black Whopper Plopper. A cooperative bass hit it on my first cast. You can see the little river behind her: I fished 45 minutes less than Wednesday morning. Here are some of the many fine fish I caught: I was down to my last bullet sinker. I'll buy some more locally today. My landing percentage was much improved and I felt good about that. However, I felt bad when I thought about fellow anglers like @IcatchDinks who work so hard to catch bass and my pond is chock full of fish. I'm at 451 for the year. I could have caught more than 100 bass today, but I just don't have the energy anymore for hundred-bass days. More bass: I'm going to share just a few more. On Wednesday morning, I didn't get to fish my favorite place, which is another river mouth, because a beaver was tail slapping. He wasn't there this morning, so I got to nose up into this marshy river and caught some fine fish in about 15" of water.

@Lottabass: SWEEEEET!

Me too.

Your buddy, good ol' Hank Parker, YouTube's Old Lady Angler, and Ol' Swampy would all be happy to guide for you. I've bass fished in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Florida, Maine, and Ontario. Ontario was the best fishing.

You are a kind guy. If I could arrange it, I'd have a DD hit the very next lure you cast! Thanks, Mickey. It was so weird that the rare part if I needed was in a shop 30 minutes from me.

You're so kind, but I found the exact part and my canoe is back in action.

It was great for you. I remember scrolling through your THICK smallies. So true. If I'm struggling, I turn my attention from fish to other critters...and the sky...and trees. The weather was rough. There is, isn't there? One thing I've learned from @Pat Brown is that the most consistent anglers earn it. Pat goes fishing again and again and AGAIN. Heck, he fished a wedding event. And Pat fishes like a father and husband, that is he fishes with Jake and his wife, so the Venn diagram of his family life and fishing life have major overlap. Yep, I did this year...and I always share when I do because it's part of the angler's journey. There are anglers who believe bass are simple creatures and that one can predict where they'll be. Whereas there is some truth to such predictions, bass are more complex than many assume. LMB have been swimming for 7,000,000 to 8,000,000 years. We've been here a mere 300,000 years. Give Mother Nature eight million years and she'll fine tune a creation as well as Enzo Ferrari. So, when I launch, I have Plan A and Plan B and Plan C. If you read "The Right Stuff," I try to fish like the test pilots flew...with backups. Even then, I fail. We all do. I'm just amazed that you're juggling young fatherhood, your work, and fishing. That's like juggling a greased newt, a feather, and a red hot bowling ball.

I lived on a pig farm once. I've seen how much slurried mud a pig can move. And I've seen videos of hippos dancing on crocodiles. It's fearsome. The strength of both big beasts, i.e. pigs and hippos, remind me of how much water a big bass can move. Ha! Double ha!

Popular, but not my fave: Jerkbaits: I own a bunch and use them here and there. I've caught a few bass on them, but not enough to use them every trip. Jigs: Again, I own a bunch, but am intimidated by all the jighead shapes and so rarely cast one because I don't know if it's the right one for where I'd be casting. I like, but you don’t hear much about: I both power fish and finesse fish with my spinning rods. I'm both accurate and feel I cast farther with them. I think I use underspins more than most. I fish a lot of tight cover and the underspins both cast far and I can cast them into thick cover without producing a lot of noise.

Your storytelling skills are equal to your bass-catching skills. Well done on both accounts, Pat!

Thanks for this heads-up. I used it.

Thanks, Andy! It's the most bass I've ever caught at my pond in one trip. I dock my canoe at an inlet that runs through the wetland. I've learned that bass school in that inlet, so before I enter my canoe, I creep up the boardwalk to within casting range of where the bass lie. It's so fun to catch four bass before I'm even in my canoe! There are beavers, eagles, ospreys, loons, ducks, and geese too for the boy to enjoy. And owls and turkeys hooting and gobbling in the woods.

I forgot to share that I found a fishing rod and reel at my pond. The top third of the rod was missing and someone has stuck the outfit in a beaver lodge. I didn't want to fool with retrieving it, but I likely will at some point. The reel looked like it had been underwater. I'm guessing that a bass broke the rod and either pulled the rest of it into the water or the angler threw it into the water in disgust. Then someone retrieved it from the bottom and stuck it in the beaver lodge. @MIbassyaker: I've had great days bass fishing in Michigan, but that was smallies on the north shore of Lake Michigan.

It's 19" for me. I catch a lot of lmb, so I have a real good idea of what's rare and 19-inchers are rare this far north. Sure, I've had mornings where I've caught a bag of 19-inchers or bigger, but generally, I have to catch 40 smaller bass to see one 19-incher. I'll catch three or four 18 to 18.75-inchers in the same time. Now, my 1 in 40 ratio can be skewed by the month and my focus. For example, I spent a lot of time fishing for big bass this May, so I caught 14 that were 19 inches or bigger. I'll likely do the same come October when the big girls are at the trough again.

Ha! My right arm is aching, but that's due to my Schnauzer, not bass and paddling. I try to throw Frisbees for him 1.5 hours a day. I tell people that most of me is nearly 70, but my right arm is 45 because of all the throwing I do. He leaps like a Border collie. He'll go airborne and twist in the air to grab the Frisbee. I hope to work him up to the point where he goes fishing with me.

I am so blessed. I just wish my pond had bass like I catch at the bogs too (See below.), but the bass in my pond are well fed and fingers crossed they'll be krakens too in a few years.

I paddled some pals out to the island for a picnic a couple weeks ago. The action was fast, but I lost as many as I caught. The bass of my pond are soooo strong, plus I set the hook early with soft plastics so that I won't deep hook them. Yesterday was hot and sunny all day and that activated the bass, I think. At one point, I was playing a blue lizard bass and I'd left my wacky worm dangling over the side. Sure enough, a bass smacked it.

I caught 56 this morning at my pond, giving me 393 for the year. Launched at 5:00 a.m. and left at 10:00 a.m. Lots of fish 17" to 18.5". I caught them on a blue lizard, a Senko, my Shimano Flashboost Popper, an unweighted Burner Worm, and an underspin. Most came on the Senko, but even though I was using those little rings to extend their lives, I still ran out. The popper produced a great hit as a bass charged it from about six feet away and tried to obliterate it. After I was out of Senkos, I then leaned on the blue lizard with a bullet sinker. Here are few of them, just the first eight I happened to load plus a pond pic: Here are a few more along with a loon. I never got to cast at my best spot because a beaver was there slapping his tail: I was thinking about @IcatchDinks and @Bazoo this morning, wishing they lived around the corner so that they could bring their boys to my pond.

You're channeling Pat McManus here! Or @king fisher. And "The Bite was off the Hook" is clever word play!

I have two landowners that let me cross their property to reach water. I show them my gratitude in various ways: cookies, cashews, wine, fudge, etc. One of the men whom I've given permission to use my land was there last night when I fished. He offered to use his leafblower to keep my path clear of leaves. I declined because I'm not fancy, but I did remind him to that I'd love a tent platform. He said he'd be building me one (He's a carpenter.). So, give thanks in whatever way works for you.

I think most Bass Resourcers feel that way. I'm the oddball as I enjoy them all. Not me! I've only done that once in life, i.e. two six-pounders on the same day.

Well, you know I'm spoiled and have been most of my life. I've fished fertile water in many places. Plus, I have a knack for catching fish. Not everyone has it. You can watch shows and read articles and still not have it. I have good hunches, partly from decades of catching thousands of fish and partly from my wiring.