6 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

fished alone this morning, the first time in a couple weeks that I've done that. It was a little creepy because a paddleboarding woman was murdered near here a few days ago and some are thinking that New England has a serial killer, as other women have been found murdered in the woods and on the water. I go slowly in the woods, stopping a lot to listen. And I have my military-grade pepper spray and knife ready, but it's still creepy.

This may be an outside the box thought but ( outside of a sidearm) maybe carry one of those portable air horns with you, you know the kind that deafens someone at ten feet. Just to broadcast your presence for help should the need arise.  

Summer afternoons are tough. This work schedule switch to being off at 1pm instead of going in at 11 am has been tough haha. I love being off work at 1pm instead of 7pm though. Got one today on a crush city mayor and a underspin. They wouldn’t touch anything else. That’s said blue bird skies and 90 degrees and no wind I wasn’t there long. The ponds I fish have virtually no shade around them like trees or bushes and such. So I haven’t exactly got them figured out when the sun is overhead lol. They probably go to the deepest part of the pond. 

16 hours ago, Joedodge said:

Got one today on a crush city mayor and a underspin.

 

My main lure! I'll be casting it this evening. I love it. Pitch it into grass and reeds? No prob. Twitch it atop lily pads? Easy-peasy. Troll it? It excels. Low and slow? Of course!

 

I hooked a big one with it the other morning, but couldn't keep it pinned.

 

16 hours ago, Joedodge said:

The ponds I fish have virtually no shade around them like trees or bushes and such. So I haven’t exactly got them figured out when the sun is overhead lol.

 

We'd all struggle in that situation. Well, maybe not @Bluebasser86. 

Got another double on tbe Harry 'n Charlie rig today!

Froggin was good today until lightning run me off.

19 minutes ago, Lottabass said:

Got another double on tbe Harry 'n Charlie rig today!

 

 

That amazes me.

 

I hate to assume but is the second bass hooking itself?

 

I can't imagine setting the hook with one bass already on.

 

Are you bending the hooks up?

 

That's just crazy!!!  LOL

3 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

My main lure! I'll be casting it this evening. I love it. Pitch it into grass and reeds? No prob. Twitch it atop lily pads? Easy-peasy. Troll it? It excels. Low and slow? Of course!

 

I hooked a big one with it the other morning, but couldn't keep it pinned.

 

 

We'd all struggle in that situation. Well, maybe not @Bluebasser86. 

Aweosme! I really should throw it more but I just don’t. It always produces. Like you said great versatile lure. 
 

yeah is what it is it’s hot and summer here on the Midwest lol 

My boy came up to visit and we did some fishing.  Unfortunately the fish didn’t cooperate.  Didn’t do so hot in terms of numbers or size.  But hey we got some quality time and had fun and that’s what matters.

I caught mine 50/50 between a jig up shallow or the drop shot over the ledge.  He caught all his with the tube.   Here’s the highlights if you can call them that.

@bp_fowler: I'm glad to see those PFDs, Dad. You set a great example for your son.

13 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

@bp_fowler: I'm glad to see those PFDs, Dad. You set a great example for your son.

He’s good kid, didn’t give me any pushback about it.  I’m grateful that he’s not a knucklehead like his old man was at that age.  😅

@Lottabass that is one awesome rig you made. Doubling up on a two-frog rig is just insane. 

I caught nine at my pond in 1.5 hours. Four were fine fish. I lost another four fine fish. They are just so strong at my pond. One managed to rub my line on something to break it. It came up frayed for about the last two feet and I could feel it rubbing on something underwater right before it broke. Another leapt beside the boat, threw my lure, and broke my heart. More and more, I don't think I could land a 15-pound bass. I struggle with the three and four-pounders...in this:

 

 

A couple of the bigger ones I managed to land, with the first one being bigger than it looks in this photo. It was 18.5" and had the head of a four-pounder:

 

 

This one was solid too, as were two others:

 

 

I misplaced my camera and had to use my cell phone, which is VERY difficult for me to use one-handed. I'll go looking for my camera tomorrow. I hope it's somewhere in my canoe or on the dock.

13 hours ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

 

That amazes me.

 

I hate to assume but is the second bass hooking itself?

 

I can't imagine setting the hook with one bass already on.

 

Are you bending the hooks up?

 

That's just crazy!!!  LOL

I'm pretty sure they are wacking them at the same time.  All I see is the explosion in the duckweed and get them out in open water and there's TWO!

If the hooks are pointing in toward the center of the frog I bend them out.

I'm not seeing any increase in bites with the double rig.  I catch just as many on a single frog and it's much easier to cast.  So far the only advantage is the opportunity to catch a double, which is fun but rare.

2 hours ago, Lottabass said:

So far the only advantage is the opportunity to catch a double, which is fun but rare.

 

And it's a true double, unlike most guys who post with "doubles" that were caught minutes or hours apart.

 

I haven't caught a double yet this year. I caught three doubles in 2024 and two in 2023. Fingers crossed!

One pale, skinny bass this morning. Haven't managed to go fishing in almost two weeks and I was starting to panic. Got my fix in, so I should be good until the weekend...

 

25 minutes ago, IcatchDinks said:

Got my fix in

 

I know how that goes, buddy. I get the jitters too if some thing hasn't tugged at my line recently.

18 hours ago, Lottabass said:

Got another double on tbe Harry 'n Charlie rig today!

Froggin was good today until lightning run me off.

That double rig looks like the best idea ever! Can't wait to give it a try! Those are some serious largies!

1 hour ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

That double rig looks like the best idea ever! Can't wait to give it a try! Those are some serious largies!

It's fun to mess around with this stuff on days when not fishing but I'm not sure it is the best idea ever.  Thank you for your compliment.  

The frogs connected with braid or a limp steel leader tangle on the cast.  I found more stiff wire and made another one this morning so we'll see...

BUT I'm not seeing an increase in bites with the double over a single so why use it if it's not more productive?  It's great to have an opportunity at 2 bass at once but that is gonna be rare I'm pretty sure.

I've been using this for a month now and have caught 2 doubles and many singles on it but I catch plenty with just 1 frog.  I will keep playing around with the Harry 'n Charlie rig just to see what works.

On 7/15/2025 at 10:37 AM, Swamp Girl said:

I fished alone this morning, the first time in a couple weeks that I've done that. It was a little creepy because a paddleboarding woman was murdered near here a few days ago and some are thinking that New England has a serial killer, as other women have been found murdered in the woods and on the water. I go slowly in the woods, stopping a lot to listen. And I have my military-grade pepper spray and knife ready, but it's still creepy.

 

 

https://abcnews.go.com/US/suspect-arrested-murder-maine-paddleboarder/story?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dhfacebook&utm_content=null&id=123832678&fbclid=IwQ0xDSwLmAktleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHnQAnnAVxycwfl790WgtRgokGK81cr9D1QjUnz1exPzzfgOYT4cUonCGgPgW_aem_lY8ZU1b2yqXuhLM7QDudew

1 hour ago, Don51 said:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/suspect-arrested-murder-maine-paddleboarder/story?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dhfacebook&utm_content=null&id=123832678&fbclid=IwQ0xDSwLmAktleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHnQAnnAVxycwfl790WgtRgokGK81cr9D1QjUnz1exPzzfgOYT4cUonCGgPgW_aem_lY8ZU1b2yqXuhLM7QDudew

 

Don, thank you so much for posting this link. I'm out of reactions again, so I'm thanking you this way. I'm going fishing again this evening, but was going anyway. 

I caught 15 at my pond in 2.5 hours, using an underspin with a green pumpkin Mayor, a black Zoom worm with a white tip, and a wacky blue Senko with a chartreuse tip. I only lost two bass, so I'm happy about that, and I only caught one dink. Gosh, they fought hard. You can see that several of them were still fighting as I tried to photograph them:

 

 

Third biggest:

 

 

 

This was the biggest. It was one of the bass where I have to lean back to capture most of its length, but still can't photograph it all:

 

 

 

This was the second biggest:

 

 

Last bass!

 

 

Such fun!

 

 

Me and a buddy went out Wednesday evening and got skunked for 2-3 hours. Then I finally got 2 bites, a SM and LM that both fought hard. Ole reliable, zoom finesse worm on jighead

 

Proud of the boy, he is learning to unhook them himself. He often can fix his worm too. The state record bass was caught on a junebug lizard, which I remind him of, and ya can't blame him for liking them.

 

Never had much luck with these Rebel Craws.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boy was tearing them up.

 

 

 

Fished last night from 11pm to 230am this morning in 89 degree water. Caught one nice one on a finesse jig, sadly it was the wrong species. I did have a good Spot on that came straight up, jumped & threw my Shakey head on a long cast. Fine slow night.

@Bazoo, these are the thing I like:

 

I like to see the boy barefoot. 

 

I like the boy's t-shirt.

 

I like to see the boy catching so many bass. 

 

And I LOVE to see you taking the boy fishing again and again.

42 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

@Bazoo, these are the thing I like:

 

I like to see the boy barefoot. 

 

I like the boy's t-shirt.

 

I like to see the boy catching so many bass. 

 

And I LOVE to see you taking the boy fishing again and again.

Ditto…. 👍