My wrist is starting to hurt.

[Jmurphy87]

That looks like a good time, sorry to hear that your wrist is bothering you 😥. I had an old town predator Mx 12 kayak that I used to fish out of. Was very stable to stand and fish in, even in 1.5 foot swells. You just had to keep your rhythm correct. I agree with it feeling like you don’t have enough space in one. There very fun but you feel constricted a lot, I use to take 4 combos and a large tackle bag. From experience you don’t need everything that you want to take, keep it simple to make it more enjoyable. 2 combos and some terminal and plastics and a couple top water lures and you will be good to go for sure.

[Swamp Girl]

2 minutes ago, Jmurphy87 said:

That looks like a good time, sorry to hear that your wrist is bothering you 😥. I had an old town predator Mx 12 kayak that I used to fish out of. Was very stable to stand and fish in, even in 1.5 foot swells. You just had to keep your rhythm correct. I agree with it feeling like you don’t have enough space in one. There very fun but you feel constricted a lot, I use to take 4 combos and a large tackle bag. From experience you don’t need everything that you want to take, keep it simple to make it more enjoyable. 2 combos and some terminal and plastics and a couple top water lures and you will be good to go for sure.

 

Yeah, I took too outfits and my little waterproof tacklebox. I also took a net and two paddles. So, I didn't take a lot, but it felt crowded because I'm used to a canoe. 

[Fishlegs]

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I do understand that it's easier for me to develop relationships as I'm an old woman and no one is afraid of an old woman.

We've never met, but based on your BR personality, I'd venture to say that there are plenty of reasons people let you fish their waters.

 

At BR you're in a mostly male group, you out fish us all...by far, and everyone loves you for it. You genuinely enjoy fishing, you work hard at it, you are very skilled, and you encourage/inspire others along the way. I feel like that has more to do with it than age.

[T-Billy]

3 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I figure I'll rest when I'm dead.

I like the way you think. 😉

[Jmurphy87]

42 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

Yeah, I took too outfits and my little waterproof tacklebox. I also took a net and two paddles. So, I didn't take a lot, but it felt crowded because I'm used to a canoe. 

Yeah the difference in room between a canoe and kayak is really polarizing to say the least. I am a fairly young fellow and I got tired of taking the kayak off the deck and through the apartment and then down the stairs. Just to load it on top of the suv plus my gear first otherwise you could not open the hatch. Then unloading it all fishing for 6+ hours just to load it all and fight the stairs and apartment to get it back onto the deck. A 90lb kayak is not heavy but after all of that it gets quite fatiguing. Along with it being 12 foot long, it just got old really quickly and I wished that I bought a truck lol.

[Swamp Girl]

Thank you, @Fishlegs. You embody your tagline: Think about good things. (Phil. 4:8) Do good things. (Gal. 6:9)

 

@Jmurphy87: A kayak is too heavy for me, which is why I fish from a Bell Rockstar at 32 lbs. Even that is almost too heavy for me. When I can, I strap wheels to it, but I can't always do that or the distance to the water is too short to take the time to strap the wheels to my boat. I sure understand why you quit using your kayak. Through the apartment? Down the stairs? Brutal.

 

@Fishlegs: Regarding the number of bass I catch, I am fishing less-fished water, which I've shared many times. The average age of Mainers is the oldest in the nation. Plus, there are only 1.4 million of us. We are also more forested (90% trees) than the rest of America. That adds up to a lot of old Mainers who don't want to carry/drag/pull a canoe or kayak through the woods to reach water. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

20 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

Thank you, @Fishlegs. You embody your tagline: Think about good things. (Phil. 4:8) Do good things. (Gal. 6:9)

 

@Jmurphy87: A kayak is too heavy for me, which is why I fish from a Bell Rockstar at 32 lbs. Even that is almost too heavy for me. When I can, I strap wheels to it, but I can't always do that or the distance to the water is too short to take the time to strap the wheels to my boat. I sure understand why you quit using your kayak. Through the apartment? Down the stairs? Brutal.

 

@Fishlegs: Regarding the number of bass I catch, I am fishing less-fished water, which I've shared many times. The average age of Mainers is the oldest in the nation. Plus, there are only 1.4 million of us. We also more forested (90% trees) than the rest of America. That adds up to a lot of old Mainers who don't want to carry/drag/pull a canoe or kayak through the woods to reach water. 

I've found so much of an angler's success is predicated on what they're willing to do that other anglers around them simply aren't.   

 

That can be as easy as throwing baits that other don't throw, but more often times than not it involves accessing places others don't want to hassle with, or fishing at times when it's too uncomfortable to fish for others.     

 

This is why dead of winter and night fishing are my best fishing times by a huge margin.     Yesterday I fished from 530-830am......then fished from 530-130am.   

 

Give that wrist a little rest Katie (I promised the Maine Bass I would say this), you've absolutely destroyed em this year.   You've caught more fish in a month than 99% of BR members will catch all year long.   I will have periods where I'm chunking a big swimbait/A-Rig, or a buzzbait for several days in a row, and my shoulder and elbow start to seriously bark.    If I make myself stop doing that for a couple days, it almost always resolves itself.    

 

Also, the older I get, the more I realize just how important having the right rod/reel for the job is.........having the right action on the rod as to not overwork you as you make cast after cast, and having a combo as light as possible are getting to be more and more important the older I get.    

 

Lastly, this isn't an age thing imho.   It's a level of commitment and dedication deal.  Most folks who consider themselves avid Bass anglers fish a couple times of months if they're lucky, on the other hand you'll fish multiple days in a row sometimes, and almost always fish several times during a week.    I don't care if you're 25 or 75, fishing multiple times a week, especially in your manner is going to tax the human body.  

 

I bet your hands look worse than construction worker's 🤣

[bp_fowler]

Actual photo of @ol'crickety ‘s arm from hoisting so many Maine linebacker bass. No wonder her wrist hurts.

 

[Swamp Girl]

@AlabamaSpothunter: I've always caught a lot of fish by going when and where others aren't willing to go, whether it was Lakes Superior and Michigan in my measly 14' Lund and its puny 10 HP motor, wilderness lakes in northwest Ontario, or the Mississippi River when the howling wind bit. I've observed you fishing through the winter and through the night and thought, again and again, "Brother."

 

2 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I will have periods where I'm chunking a big swimbait/A-Rig, or a buzzbait for several days in a row, and my shoulder and elbow start to seriously bark. 

 

^This^ is why I quit musky fishing. I'm sure Tim (@T-Billy) knows the toll that casting over-sized baits takes.

 

As far as my hands, I'm wearing full-fingered gloves most of the time, so they look fine.

 

My arms are another story. I don't know how @bp_fowler acquired it, but that photo of my arm was taken just yesterday. 😉

 

2 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I've found so much of an angler's success is predicated on what they're willing to do that other anglers around them simply aren't.   

 

For a while, I was writing for bicycling magazines and I will never forget what one pro told me: "The person who wins is the person willing to endure the most pain."

 

Whereas that's always true in professional cycling, it's only sometimes true in bass fishing. Sure, we have times when it hurts, but we also all have moments were deer are bounding on the shoreline or owls are hooting in the woods or the sky and water harmonize in grades of gray:

 

 

My all-time two favorite moments in fishing and one didn't even involve fish, although when I did launch, I caught some big smallies:

 

1. I was solo fishing in northwestern Ontario, camped on the edge of a cliff. I awoke to wolves and their pups howling. Geese flew overhead so low I could hear their wings pounding the air. A kingfisher flitted back and forth. Bass were rising below me, but even then, I just sat and realized that no amount of money can buy a moment like that. Sure, you could hire a guide to half-carry you there, but you wouldn't be alone with the wolves and bass and kingfisher and geese. And you wouldn't have earned it. 

 

2. I was wading a point on the north shore of Lake Michigan, looking for a particular rock mentioned in a 1969 Field and Stream article. I'd fished for two days and caught nothing. Then I finally saw it and proceeded to cast to smallies who hit about 95% of the time. It was deep, so I was up to my armpits in water and bass. When they jumped, they were higher than my head. My prior failure made that success even sweeter. When I came to shore, my waders were full of water and I must have weighed 300 pounds!

[Fishlegs]

 

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

@Fishlegs: Regarding the number of bass I catch, I am fishing less-fished water, which I've shared many times. The average age of Mainers is the oldest in the nation. Plus, there are only 1.4 million of us. We also more forested (90% trees) than the rest of America. That adds up to a lot of old Mainers who don't want to carry/drag/pull a canoe or kayak through the woods to reach water. 

Your humility is one of your endearing features, but we recognize your skill, and dedication. There is truth to less pressured fish being, well...less pressured, but nobody catches as many fish as you do, as regularly as you do by luck alone.

 

There are many, many impressive anglers on this site, and you are one of them. Regardless of fishing pressure. I think @Bluebasser86, or @Team9nine could catch fish in the desert. @roadwarrior could throw a Senko into the Sea of Tranquility and catch a bass on the moon. @T-Billy has caught half of the Muskies on earth...twice. @TnRiver46 can name every species of freshwater fish there is because he's caught them all. Seems like @AlabamaSpothunter catches a 7 pounder every day before breakfast. @A-Jay, and @Dwight Hottle are smallmouth Jedi Masters. @WRB has probably caught more bass over 15 lbs than all of us put together. @Glenn knows how to catch bass in every way imaginable, and has videos to prove it. There are many other names I could list here, but if we took odds on who would catch the most fish...you'd be the favorite.

 

PS - Please don't be offended if your name is, or is not on this list. It's not meant to be an exhaustive list of quality anglers on this site. Too many to list them all.

[Swamp Girl]

@Fishlegs: I do love a busy boat! 

 

Again and again, you don't just talk this talk. You walk it: Think about good things. (Phil. 4:8) Do good things. (Gal. 6:9)

 

What you wrote about @WRB is flat-out amazing. Thousands of us here at BR and Tom's in-the-teens count likely surpasses everyone else's together. Now, I can surpass Tom's count if duct tape is permitted when weighing. 

[T-Billy]

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Sure, you could hire a guide to half-carry you there, but you wouldn't be alone with the wolves and bass and kingfisher and geese. And you wouldn't have earned it. 

Again... I like the way you think. 

[WRB]

How many have  I caught the past decade….0. Blessed to be at the right the right time. 
Tom

[T-Billy]

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

^This^ is why I quit musky fishing. I'm sure Tim (@T-Billy) knows the toll that casting over-sized baits takes

No getting around it. Big rubber, and big blades are painful to fish. There's no fun in throwing them, until one gets mauled that is. 😉

[Swamp Girl]

@WRB: If I'd been there at the right time and right place and I'd hooked a 16-pound bass, she would have pulled me around Castiac for a couple hours and then she and I would have become tangled in my fishing line and she would have gone deep. It would have looked a little like this:

 

 

18 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

Again... I like the way you think. 

 

Tim, to reach that lake (There were no portage trails.), I had to drag my canoe up through three sets of rapids. You should have been there. We both would have loved it!

[Swamp Girl]

Well, my wrist feels better and the wrist brace is on the way, so I'm going fishing again this evening. I'll be fishing my quantity pond again (I'll fish two quality waters, a pond and bog, next week.), but I'm not going to use my Rapala Crush City swimbaits with the Owner underspins nor a Whopper Plopper. I'm going to T-Rig a lizard and finesse worm and also use a popper for a change of pace. I expect I'll do just as well, but we'll see! 

[gim]

19 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

^This^ is why I quit musky fishing. I'm sure Tim (@T-Billy) knows the toll that casting over-sized baits takes.

 

I know that feeling.  Its not only physically exhausting, but mentally exhausting too.

 

There is an episode of River Monsters where Jeremy Wade goes to Eagle Lake, Ontario and spends over a week trying to catch one without success.  He admits that it has taken a toll on his body, sleep, and mind.  Towards the end of the show he says he has lost the expectation of a fish and is only casting robotically.  He gives up and puts on a small jig for lake trout, and piles into nearly a 50 incher "by accident" and lands it.  Only when he gives up does he succeed.  One of my favorite episodes.

[Swamp Girl]

11 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Only when he gives up does he succeed. 

 

I know this experience. Not to the same extent as a 50" musky, but sometimes I'll target big bass and fail and fail and then take a break and fish for quantity and land quality. 

 

The challenge all musky anglers face is staying alert when nothing has happened for eight hours or five days. I used to imagine muskies hitting on every cast to stay awake.

[gim]

22 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

The challenge all musky anglers face is staying alert when nothing has happened for eight hours or five days.

 

Ha.  I went 16.5 YEARS without one.

[Swamp Girl]

4 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

Ha.  I went 16.5 YEARS without one.

 

YIKES!!!

[F14A-B]

4 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

Well, my wrist feels better and the wrist brace is on the way, so I'm going fishing again this evening. I'll be fishing my quantity pond again (I'll fish two quality waters, a pond and bog, next week.), but I'm not going to use my Rapala Crush City swimbaits with the Owner underspins nor a Whopper Plopper. I'm going to T-Rig a lizard and finesse worm and also use a popper for a change of pace. I expect I'll do just as well, but we'll see! 

Which size WP and what color is working for you? 

Seriously, I’m wishing to hire you and @A-Jay to guide me on these pristine northern waters.. I’m about played out on fishing Florida lol 

 

Of course you all would consider Pro Bono right? 🤣

[Swamp Girl]

@alonerankin2:

 

I use the black one (Loon color) in low light conditions, i.e, mornings, dusk, and pre-storm skies. The brighter it gets, the lighter my color, so I'll progress up to bone and white. I like the chrome one a lot and have success with it both in bright light and low light. Size-wise, I go small in the spring and fall and big in the summer, from 3" to 4 3/8". 

 

I use a slow, steady retrieve. YouTube anglers suggest you vary the retrieve and I have, but slow and steady works best for me. 

 

Can you reach the Everglades, Skippy? At night? @Zcoker thrives in that gatory blackness. According to several who fish the Everglades, you don't even need a boat to catch big ones. If you live in Indiana, I'd go west and fish the Mississippi, which is a fish factory, or north and fish the Great Lakes. I've had many 100-bass days even farther north, in northwestern Ontario.

 

In Ontario, there aren't bass as big as @A-Jay catches, but there are four and five-pounders. I used to fish the U.P. and had some great days there. One day, I caught a 7-pound walleye, a 20-pound pike, and several 5-pound smallies, in addition to dozens of other bass, pike, and walleye. Lake Michigan, like the Mississippi, is a fish factory. 

[F14A-B]

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

@alonerankin2:

 

I use the black one (Loon color) in low light conditions, i.e, mornings, dusk, and pre-storm skies. The brighter it gets, the lighter my color, so I'll progress up to bone and white. I like the chrome one a lot and have success with it both in bright light and low light. Size-wise, I go small in the spring and fall and big in the summer, from 3" to 4 3/8". 

 

I use a slow, steady retrieve. YouTube anglers suggest you vary the retrieve and I have, but slow and steady works best for me. 

 

Can you reach the Everglades, Skippy? At night? @Zcoker thrives in that gatory blackness. According to several who fish the Everglades, you don't even need a boat to catch big ones. If you live in Indiana, I'd go west and fish the Mississippi, which is a fish factory, or north and fish the Great Lakes. I've had many 100-bass days even farther north, in northwestern Ontario.

 

In Ontario, there aren't bass as big as @A-Jay catches, but there are four and five-pounders. I used to fish the U.P. and had some great days there. One day, I caught a 7-pound walleye, a 20-pound pike, and several 5-pound smallies, in addition to dozens of other bass, pike, and walleye. Lake Michigan, like the Mississippi, is a fish factory. 

Thanks for the information. As far as the Whopper Plopper that’s my #1 color is the Loon, I use to crush the Largemouth in my youth at night on a black jitterbug, Gonna try this new WP soon and at night here in some of these surrounding farm ponds. There is so much water in Florida that it is practically impossible to fish it all. Having lived down there nearly a decade, the closest to the Everglades I ever got was the Big O.. alligators don’t bother me to bad, but those Pythons? No thanks lol. You mentioned chestwaders before and I use to wade fish the St. John’s river at Whitey’s fish camp and it’s amazing what you can see and catch when you are in that situation going really slow..

The lakes in Florida are vastly different now since the State sprays the lakes to kill vegetation and it’s just not the same for me anymore. I learned the art of flipping in Florida and I’ve done well with the tactic. Miss the choking hydrilla 😂another thing, the largemouth by and large do not look overly healthy anymore either.. I’ll still go and fish it, but I’ll spend more time doing the Gulf of Mexico now. 
 

Thanks again for the info. 🙂

[Swamp Girl]

I also threw black Jitterbugs in my youth and like you, I love farm pond fishing. I think the Loon Whopper Plopper would entice many Indiana farm pond bass. 

 

Wading is the best, isn't it? It's literally immersive. You're in their world. 

 

Sad about the effect that spraying has on bass. 

[Bankbeater]

Dang. At the rate you have been catching those bass its no wonder your wrist hurts.