Pleasingly Plump

[Swamp Girl]

I fished for the third day in a row and feel pretty good, considering I paddled many miles, lugged the canoe across a field and through the woods, launched at a boot-sucking swamp, explored two rivers, and so on. My pants tell the tale of how hard I worked to catch bass.

 

I caught 23 fish and my daily catch total keeps steadily rising as the water slowly warms. Photo-wise,  I start below with a river fish and once I reached the bog, the bass grew pleasingly plump. I include a smaller bog bass at the end so that you can see the bog behind it. You see that woody bush that rises out of the water? That's where they were! Yet another new place to catch bass in 2024.

 

My catch was pretty much split between my Keitech and a Whopper Plopper.

 

 

[Alex from GA]

Boy are you tough.  Good for you, those are healthy fish.

[Swamp Girl]

2 hours ago, Alex from GA said:

Boy are you tough.  Good for you, those are healthy fish.

 

To be clear, I did all I described over three fishing trips, so I'm tough/3.

[Functional]

Have to admit, I'm a bit jealous of your fishing spots. Secluded, no people, beautiful, quiet. I'd read a thread of nothing but pictures from the places you fish. 

[Swamp Girl]

1 minute ago, Functional said:

Have to admit, I'm a bit jealous of your fishing spots. Secluded, no people, beautiful, quiet. I'd read a thread of nothing but pictures from the places you fish. 

 

Perhaps surprisingly, most Mainers choose to fish other less secluded, more populated places. I think it's more than the ease of parking lots and cement ramps. I think some people would be uncomfortable being alone on a lonely lake or working their way up a little, winding river.

 

Not you. You are clearly drawn to such places, as I am too, but when I tell people that my father left me alone on a wilderness island when I was 15, they're aghast. They don't understand what a gift he gave me. That lake was true wilderness. If I'd had to return to people, I would have had to walk 30 miles of logging roads. 

 

FWIW, you're 14 hours and 40 minutes away...by car.

 

Anyway, I'll keep posting some pond, bog, and shoreline shots with the bass pics. Others have shared that they enjoy them too.

[T-Billy]

All that flooded brush....

[MediumMouthBass]

All the times i was in Maine i never thought it would have so many unpressured spots loaded with nice sized bass, i honestly only ever thought about trout, panfish, or mackerel off the docks.

Maine really is a nature enjoyers paradise, even for people who dont fish.

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, T-Billy said:

All that flooded brush....

 

You're right, Tim. I have always thought of laydowns as the only wood, but those woody shrubs are wood too. I caught one bass when my Keitech got hung up on a branch; I jiggled it free and it fell into the mouth of a bass. 

[Koz]

Very nice. I can’t remember the last time I caught something on a Whopper Plopper. Years ago they were money and it seemed like I caught one every few casts.

[T-Billy]

6 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

 

You're right, Tim. I have always thought of laydowns as the only wood, but those woody shrubs are wood too. I caught one bass when my Keitech got hung up on a branch; I jiggled it free and it fell into the mouth of a bass. 

I love pitching brush like that. Bushy stuff like that, especially if it's still alive and leafy, or choked with weeds, is some of my favorite cover to fish in summer. Bass love that overhead cover. 

[Functional]

@ol'crickety nope definitely not me if I can help it. We lived on a mountain in the woods when I grew up in NY. My dad used to take me hiking all the time and it was just us for as far as you could imagine. Also used to take me back fishing and we would walk all day to the farthest parts to be no where near anyone. 

 

Now when I can find them,  like you I'm dragging a small kayak through the woods on a leash. Craziest one was when my brother in law and I had to use a tree as a pulley to lower our kayak and pull it up a really steep embankment to get to a pond. I hooked into what was probably a DD there 3 times in a row and she broke me off every time. She was a beast. 

 

I'll be back in NY in a few weeks 🤣. Only about 4 or 5 hours away then haha. 

[Swamp Girl]

2 hours ago, Functional said:

Craziest one was when my brother in law and I had to use a tree as a pulley to lower our kayak and pull it up a really steep embankment to get to a pond.

 

Wow. My kind of adventure. I'm too old for such a feat now, but five years ago, you could have counted me in. 

 

2 hours ago, Functional said:

I hooked into what was probably a DD there 3 times in a row and she broke me off every time. She was a beast. 

 

I'm not surprised. 

 

Your childhood was perfect. Mine was less than perfect, as I was raised in a suburb, but I babysat to buy a bike and I used that bike to pedal to Canada twice. I remember looking at the family calendar once and seeing that I'd marked, "On my bike," nearly every day. I skipped my high school graduation to hike the Appalachian Trail. Some kids aren't made to be raised on streets with sidewalks.