11 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

 

 

I always love a good sunset over the water photo. It's so beautiful when the surface is perfectly still and mirrors the sky to such a degree that without a frame of reference (in this instance your canoe), you wouldn't know which way is up or down. The treetops catching fire with the last rays of the sun's light. Sunset is always a magical moment. It reminds me of a line from a Rich Mullins song: 

 

"There's more that rises in the morning than the sun. 

And more that shines in the night than just the moon."

1 hour ago, IcatchDinks said:

I always love a good sunset over the water photo. It's so beautiful when the surface is perfectly still and mirrors the sky to such a degree that without a frame of reference (in this instance your canoe), you wouldn't know which way is up or down. The treetops catching fire with the last rays of the sun's light. Sunset is always a magical moment. It reminds me of a line from a Rich Mullins song: 

 

"There's more that rises in the morning than the sun. 

And more that shines in the night than just the moon."

 

Thanks, ICD. I took several photos to get the one you like. I don't know if you know this, but Maine is thick with artists. They settle here for the quality of the light. 

 

I like how the bow of my canoe is in nearly all my landscape shots. I was bemoaning the relative demise of canoes in Maine with a pal recently. Sure, there are still canoes, but they're far outnumbered by kayaks and motorboats. Canoes are beautiful to me. I love their simplicity. They're simply a hull as tricked-out canoes are rare. Canoes remind me of the famous Shaker song:

 

"Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight."

@NorthernBasser very nice fish! And your camera takes crystalline photos! 

@NorthernBasser: What a day!!! Don't forget about this thread. It's a lively one. It would be great to have you join the gang that frequents it.

41 minutes ago, IcatchDinks said:

@NorthernBasser very nice fish! And your camera takes crystalline photos! 

Thank you sir. Just a basic Samsung Galaxy S24.

15 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

@NorthernBasser: What a day!!! Don't forget about this thread. It's a lively one. It would be great to have you join the gang that frequents it.

Absolutely! I enjoy going through and not just seeing pics, but also reading the stories that go with them. And I love how you show that you don't need some big bass boat to get out there and chase these beautiful creature. I'd actually like to get a kayak or canoe myself so I can get on some of these smaller bodies of water that bigger boats can't. Maybe someday...

 

Tight lines!

1 hour ago, NorthernBasser said:

Fish were very active, only interested in moving baits.

 

Those are the best days.  Chuck and wind, catch big fish.  No dicking around with the worms.

26 minutes ago, NorthernBasser said:

And I love how you show that you don't need some big bass boat to get out there and chase these beautiful creature.

 

I am thinking of putting a casting deck on my canoe and mounting a 250 hp Merc on it. I'm looking for a test pilot. Interested?

 

I used to live in Wisconsin and I once fished a northern Wisconsin lake down a long trail that was full of five-pounders. I wish I could remember its name as I'd share it with you, but I'm guessing it's one of hundreds of such little lakes holding big bass.

So many awesome fish, and this thread really comes alive when the folks up north finally get back on the water.    You guys sure do make up for the lost time during the winters.  

 

I love seeing the fishy places you folks fish, @MIbassyaker and @ol'crickety look like they fish in a Thomas Kincade painting.  

3 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

So many awesome fish, and this thread really comes alive when the folks up north finally get back on the water.    You guys sure do make up for the lost time during the winters.  

 

I love seeing the fishy places you folks fish, @MIbassyaker and @ol'crickety look like they fish in a Thomas Kincade painting.  

 

Yesterday evening was glowing, Alex. I think the photos I took yesterday are the ones I like best of all my BR photos. I'm going fishing again this evening. I have soooooo much more energy for fishing when I don't have to haul my canoe, but it's back to hauling next week so I can fish two of my favorite big bass bogs. 

I'm glad you posted that first pic especially Katie, now I understand what you're talking about when you say pencil reeds.     I've never fished around anything like that.   My home lake has Water Willow which is native, and Alligator Grass which is "invasive" even though it's wonderful vegetation for fish.    It's very thick stuff, and you can only really fish the perimeter of it.   If you lay the hammer down upon hookup and move the fish from the edge, it's not a problem at all.   

 

I can see how those would be heart break fuel, sparse enough to fish effectively, yet clumped up enough to catch a treble outside a fish's mouth, or all together wrap your line up.   

 

I haven't seen anybody get to fish 100% unaltered nature like yourself.   To me the idea of fishing water that hasn't been altered or effected by mankind is priceless, and something that we don't really have down here.    You're already getting your money's worth on that property, love to hear that.  

 

It always amazes me no matter how remote a piece of nature I find down here, I always find at least a piece of trash.   

@AlabamaSpothunter:

 

Alex, there are acres of those pencil reeds at my pal's pond. They're so stiff and fibrous that when a bass attaches my lure to one, I have to paddle to the reed to free the lure. Oh, well. Sometimes I win and sometimes the bass win. I'm going to try a spinnerbait and buzzbait tonight. 

 

My pond doesn't have those pencil reeds. It has lily pads, meaning, according to Glenn, a softer bottom. However, my pond also has rocky bottom and that's where I catch smallmouth. 

 

If I find trash, which I rarely do, I always pack it out. 

 

As far as my pond property, I took a couple friends down to it and the wife said, "It's wild. It's you." 

 

 

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

I am thinking of putting a casting deck on my canoe and mounting a 250 hp Merc on it. I'm looking for a test pilot. Interested?

Hold my beer. I got this.

3 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I love seeing the fishy places you folks fish, @MIbassyaker and @ol'crickety look like they fish in a Thomas Kincade painting.  

 

I do try to keep all the residential development, agricultural machinery, and industrial waste just a bit out of the frame...

 

To be fair, while it is an honor to be categorized with @ol'crickety, there are about the same number of people living within an hour of my house as the entire state of Maine, and every place I fish is within that radius --even the quieter places are not as untouched as I sometimes try to make them look. 😎

 

1 hour ago, T-Billy said:

Hold my beer. I got this.

 

We need video of this.

1 hour ago, MIbassyaker said:

I do try to keep all the residential development, agricultural machinery, and industrial waste just a bit out of the frame..

Like an old tire sitting on shore. “Pure Michigan” 🤣

Guy on the left came from a spinnerbait during a quick trip last Saturday.  Guy on the right was on a Texas rigged lizard after a pretty tough day today.

Quick lunch break bass on the Heavy Poop.

Water chickens.

Sunny, light north wind, air and water both 80-82 today. Water vis almost 9 ft. Ended the afternoon with 10 bass, including the first smallie I’ve seen since moving here. Wasn’t big, but the surprise factor made up for that 😎

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 hours ago, MIbassyaker said:

 

We need video of this.

 

@T-Billy: Those kids are crazy! I can't decide if it's a good or bad crazy.

7 hours ago, PhishLI said:

Quick lunch break bass on the Heavy Poop.

Water chickens.

 

 

This photo makes me laugh.  We don't have pickerel or muskie or bowfin or gators at the ponds I fish.  

 

But I do find myself cussing under my breath at geese at least once a week 😂😂😂😂 

 

They somehow manage to be loud and obnoxious and good at scaring fish away right when I'm about to make a perfect cast in a way that no other species can come close to.  

@Pat Brown, had 4 geese at our dock all winter/spring. They love honking wildly at 3-4 am in pitch black darkness.

 

fast forward to now and there are about 24 of them….. bunch of little fluffy %*+!> that will be night honkers before you know it 

 

I hope to turn some of them into pastrami if my buddies can shoot them this fall 

On 5/28/2024 at 9:21 PM, ol'crickety said:

I caught 28 and the biggest five were about 18 pounds, as there were at least five 18" or longer, but the best part of the evening was simply being close to 68 years old, but still on the water, still in a slender, tippy canoe, still hearing the owls hoot, and still smelling a distant fire. I am a north woods girl, born in the suburbs, but happiest on dark and distant water. See the third photo of the grass, third pic down? That's were they were. It was too windy for me to fish the reed stump fields, so I tried grass in a protected bay and did okay.

 

I did catch a skinny 17.75-incher and put her on the bump board because she was too thin for a good lip and grip showing. I hoped the bump board might make her seem a bit thicker. It didn't.

 

The last bass looks smallish, but she wasn't. A couple of them took line under my canoe, which is always exciting and challenging. I lost a few nice ones too. I nearly always do.

 

P. S. - I'm fishing a pal's pond this week. It has potential for a bigger bass than my pond. I haven't caught a bigger bass yet, but fingers crossed as I'm fishing it again this evening. However, I'm starting to worry. There are more and more weeds and the bass are so strong. I lost some nice ones last night to weeds and as the summer progresses, that'll happen more and more. I hope to fish 3.5 hours this evening instead of last night's 2.5 hours. Hoping the wind lets me!

 

 

Well done ! You caught 28 in 2.5 hours?😮. Is that on your lake ? Those are some healthy , beautiful fish.

47 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

Well done ! You caught 28 in 2.5 hours?😮. Is that on your lake ? Those are some healthy , beautiful fish.

 

Thanks! It was a pal's pond. On my pond, on average, I'd catch forty-some in 2.5 hours, but I like fishing different ponds. 

4 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

But I do find myself cussing under my breath at geese at least once a week

 

Its almost a daily occurrence here.  There is a small pond down the road and all kinds of lush, green, manicured lawns this spring in my neighborhood so they love it.  I refuse to allow them in my yard though.  They sh** all over the place and its disgusting.  And they carry avian influenza.  Once they step foot in the yard, I release the beast.  That sends em squawking outta here.  Whoever came up with water chickens has obviously never tried eating one.  They taste nothing like chicken lol.  Taste more like hockey puck.  My wife calls them pothole filler.