Super User Swamp Girl Posted June 26 Super User Share Posted June 26 It was 84 degrees when I launched, which is hot for Maine and hot for me. I fished four hours, from 4:15 to 8:15. I caught two fish in the first hour. Others hit my lures, which were a red crawfish-colored Mayor and a T-rigged green pumpkin crawfish, but I wasn't hooking them for more than a second or two. Here's where I was fishing at first. The pace picked up in the second hour, from 5:15 to 6:15, as I caught nine bass, mostly in open water and up against barely shaded shorelines. Here are some of the bass caught in the first two hours. Then I reached my favorite shoreline. The bass are bigger here. I caught nine bass in the third hour and 14 in the final hour, thus the 2-9-9-14 of the trip report's title. Yep, I started catching bigger bass on my favorite shoreline. Then the most exciting moment of the evening happened. I worked up a narrow channel that holds bigger girls. I cast my loon-colored Whopper Plopper three times, but couldn't trigger a bite. So, I then cast my red crawfish Mayor and a bass crushed it. She was barely 18", but she fought like a ten-pounder. Actually, she fought like a 20-pound pike. She ran off line and then went on another, longer run. She ricocheted from one side of the channel to the other and then seemed to plow the bottom under the boat. She wasn't thick, but she was the strongest bass of my life. She was bonkers and such a thrill. I worked the area just outside the channel and caught a couple nice ones. Then I caught the biggest bass of the evening. In 2022 and 2023, I caught only two 18-inchers total. This evening, I caught a couple. This one was thicker than the wild gal in the channel, but not nearly as strong. Another nice one. A sweet sunset. And my final bass. I exited the pond with a little light remaining so I wouldn't have to walk the woods back to my car in full darkness. I came home so happy. 34 bass in all. My happiness was due to being on my pond and catching a good number of bass, but mostly due to the fight of that somewhat slender gal in the channel. We measure the length and weight of our bass, but have no way to measure their fighting spirit and that's a shame. My lifetime PB, caught earlier this spring, was a dud fightwise. She was 22.25 inches and oh-so-thick, but she had no spark. This evening's old warrior was all fire and fury. I didn't catch as many as I'd caught earlier in June, but better than my last two trips, when I caught 10 and 19, which I attributed to the weather extremes we've had, from the mid-nineties to the mid-fifties and lots of lightning. The other possibility is that Dr. Evil stole my mojo and I'm slowly mustering more. 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User NorcalBassin Posted June 26 Super User Share Posted June 26 Awesome job! Landing 14 over the course of an hour was an incredible way to close out the day. Be carrying out that canoe like Kramer... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Swamp Girl Posted June 26 Author Super User Share Posted June 26 @NorcalBassin: Yeah, the final hour was sweet. I was fishing my pond, so I leave a canoe there. And I'm fishing a friend's pond on Thursday morning, so I'll use his canoe. I love when I don't have to carry my Kevlar canoe. Your Kramer GIF made me laugh! Thanks for that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator Mike L Posted June 26 Global Moderator Share Posted June 26 That’s the way to do it!! Great Job! Mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Swamp Girl Posted June 26 Author Super User Share Posted June 26 Thanks, Mike! I watched a YouTube video where a bass pro said that fishing early and late wasn't worth the effort, but catching just two bass in my first hour when the Sun was highest and hottest and having them hit so weakly suggests otherwise. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IcatchDinks Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 That's a great trip. I wonder if there's a size to fight ratio: if they're too small, they have so much fight in them but it means literally nothing cuz they're tiny. If they're huge it seems the don't have the same kind of vim and vigor the little ones have. The best fights I've had all came from good sized, yet not enormous bass. The 15" smallie I caught a couple weeks ago gave me the best fight of the summer so far. My PB green bass definitely gave me some fight, but not like a river smallie. Then again, I've only caught one bass I would consider enormous, so I really don't know what I'm talking about. 😄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Swamp Girl Posted June 26 Author Super User Share Posted June 26 ICD, nothing outfights a river smallie. Well, maybe a tidal striped bass because they both fight current. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Swamp Girl Posted June 26 Author Super User Share Posted June 26 Great news. The satellites that photograph the Earth just photographed my pond and it's a highly detailed image. I can see my boardwalk and even my canoe. More importantly, I can see the marsh that I fish and it's MUCH more extensive than I've thought. The narrow channel I fish is actually a stream mouth and it also goes back much farther than I've been fishing. So excited to fish these areas where I've never cast. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IcatchDinks Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 Oooh, that's cool and exciting! I love using Google maps' satellite view to find new places to fish. Also, I dig your new signature, Katie. (Although I always chuckled at "stealthy as an F22"). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Swamp Girl Posted June 26 Author Super User Share Posted June 26 9 minutes ago, IcatchDinks said: Oooh, that's cool and exciting! I love using Google maps' satellite view to find new places to fish. Also, I dig your new signature, Katie. (Although I always chuckled at "stealthy as an F22"). Thanks, ICD, about my signature. After fishing in the rain the other night, being chased to shore by lightning, and then paddling home in the dark, I thought of it. I'll be fishing in heavy rain tomorrow morning too. The ONLY thing I don't like about fishing in the rain is that it's hard to take a good photo because rain gets on my camera lens. I am amazed at how many places I've never fished on my pond. The marsh is more extensive than I thought. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator Mike L Posted June 26 Global Moderator Share Posted June 26 1 hour ago, ol'crickety said: Thanks, Mike! I watched a YouTube video where a bass pro said that fishing early and late wasn't worth the effort, but catching just two bass in my first hour when the Sun was highest and hottest and having them hit so weakly suggests otherwise. Sure it does That’s the problem I have with people, regardless of the subject, who post videos like that. People who are proficient and successful in any area (like you just did) disprove so much of what is said. The problem is that they can influence the novices or even people who just want to learn more, in such a way that they can hurt their learning curve more than help. Mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Swamp Girl Posted June 26 Author Super User Share Posted June 26 4 minutes ago, Mike L said: The problem is that they can influence the novices or even people who just want to learn more, in such a way that they can hurt their learning curve more than help. I think you're right, Mike. Giving bad advice can leave to poor fishing and a person might quit before they ever had a real chance to succeed. So many of those YouTubers use clickbait titles because YouTube pays their bills. My title is math and I like how I counted the bass caught by each hour as it really illustrates how fishing improves as light wanes. Whenever possible, I launch on overcast or rainy days for this reason. Sunshine is for beachin' girls, not bassin' girls! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackstrawIII Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 Beautiful fish and an incredible outing. Congrats!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted June 26 Global Moderator Share Posted June 26 7 hours ago, ol'crickety said: Thanks, Mike! I watched a YouTube video where a bass pro said that fishing early and late wasn't worth the effort, but catching just two bass in my first hour when the Sun was highest and hottest and having them hit so weakly suggests otherwise. You don’t strike me as someone who would believe everything she hears on the internet, the proof is in the pudding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Swamp Girl Posted June 26 Author Super User Share Posted June 26 14 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said: You don’t strike me as someone who would believe everything she hears on the internet, the proof is in the pudding Well, I noting more and more how YouTube anglers will catch a single bass and then proceed to tell the audience how to fish. I watch those anglers less and less. My new motto should be: "Catch ten bass in a row and then teach me." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted June 26 Global Moderator Share Posted June 26 I don’t think many people on YouTube can teach you much 😂 maybe a select few but I think you do just fine 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Swamp Girl Posted June 26 Author Super User Share Posted June 26 1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said: I don’t think many people on YouTube can teach you much 😂 maybe a select few but I think you do just fine That's kind of you to write, but there's so much I don't know. Yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishingmickey Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 Fine work, Katie! Love your posts. Your making me think much more about my annual trip to Maine! FM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxfisher Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 Great report. It is really interesting to see the different spots that you are fishing. Those fish all look nice and healthy. I think the sunset is my favorite picture. That is just really beautiful! So glad you had a great trip in such pretty conditions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Bird Posted June 26 Super User Share Posted June 26 Nothing like a beautiful sunset after a thrilling day of fishing....... great post. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User Swamp Girl Posted June 26 Author Super User Share Posted June 26 Thanks, guys, and no sunset photo tomorrow. I'm launching at 3:50 a.m. and it will rain hard all morning. I'm taking two dry rags in Zip-Lock bags to keep drying my camera lens. I've rigged two, red Crush City Mayors, one pumpkin green T-Rigged worm, one Rapala popper in traditional black and silver, and one loon-colored Whopper Plopper. One great thing about launching at 3:50 a.m. in the rain is that I'm sure to have the pond to myself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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