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Getting Bigger


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To recap, I bought five acres on a 170-acre pond in Maine. It checked the following boxes:

 

Five minutes from my house

No public access

No ramp, so no larger motor boats

Only one shoreline can be developed, as the other three shorelines are wetlands

The wetlands are loaded with bass.

The ten homes on the developed shoreline are all set back 250'.

Plentiful largemouth

The smallmouth aren't plentiful, but they're all fat.

Big trees on my lot, plus the lot is flat and has electricity where it starts

The action can be fast. Earlier this year, I caught 48 in two hours and 15 minutes and I had several other 40+ evening and morning sessions.

 

The only downside was the size of the bass. When I started fishing it three years ago, they were 15" to 16". The other bodies of water I fish have bass up to 22"+. However, I felt that the pond's lmb were growing bigger and this morning offered further evidence. I launched at 5:30 a.m. in the rain. This was the first bass and representative of the average size I used to catch, albeit a little fatter:

 

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Then I caught some thicker, longer bass that I would not have caught three, two, or even a year ago. I'm not saying that I never caught any of the following size, but not like I'm catching them now, with multiple 18+ inchers in a session. In the end, I think the bass are bigger, but I also think I'm learning where and how to catch the bigger ones:

 

B1.jpg.65c5f226b3f36d32b909b9a9cec4a8e9.jpgB3.jpg.c0c38a34c09818985952d428f71632ab.jpg

 

I caught a skinny bass on a frog, but snarled my line on the very next cast.

 

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I continued to catch bigger bass then I've caught in the past years and bigger too than the average bass I was catching earlier this year.

 

B4.jpg.d1b3b6410096fd6acc87785b1b24fb54.jpgB5.jpg.e15f86dcadcaee818c9aaa2e00561c1a.jpgB6.jpg.4be0ca9e860f59b615970fc9fdf3116d.jpg

 

Of course, I caught smaller bass too, like this one:

 

A2.jpg.0e5df6cabbb971ff91a895c9b4f04fb7.jpg

 

Then a couple more bigger ones. I caught all my bass on the frog, spinnerbait, and Whopper Plopper.

 

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I had to quit after three hours to help with the new puppy. Only 17 in all, but I'm sure happy to see the bass getting bigger. You can see in their bellies that they're eating well and I can see that they're growing longer. This was my last bass, a pretty nice one:

 

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If I can, I'll go fish again today. I love fishing gray, wet days. See the second bass from the bottom? What a fight she gave me. I hooked her in about 12" of water, with weeds and bushes everywhere. The wind blew me into the bank and she ran under the canoe, right into big, thick lily pads. At one point, I had utter slack in my line as my line tangled with three rods sticking out the back of the canoe and she snagged what looked to be the biggest lily pad in the pond. Whew!

 

 

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NICE! Glad to see it improving. If I ever get up to Maine for a visit, I'll make sure I bring my Whopper Plopper collection.

 

I've actually always wanted to visit there. Pretty country from the pictures and videos I've seen. I just don't care for winter that much.

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@Bazoo: My main/Maine lure this year, by far, is the underspin with a Crush City Mayor. No other lure has caught as many bass and it's not even close. It's perfect for pitching into reeds, grass, and pads. Some days, I slow rolled it on deep, rocky bottoms. I've caught hundreds of bass with it in a foot of water. It's also great for trolling when paddling from one spot to another. It's so versatile, so that's the lure I'd bring if you ever come to Maine. 

 

I keep doubting myself as to whether the bass are getting bigger. I doubt because I want them to be getting bigger, but I did measure many bass from this pond two years ago and the fish I'm catching now are far thicker. Longer too. Some 2022 bass from my pond are below. They're scrawny runts compared to what I'm catching now. I added a bass from this morning's catch for contrast. It's the last bass:

 

16.JPG.52ff4b079391d437c30d4c065194d912.JPG14.JPG.60635ad4eeace53df3f7a7c384cd1056.JPG4.JPG.d3ab7b7b328b458ca92737371613d2f9.JPG5.JPG.ae12cbb0efa9377f05efce9caada32cc.JPG

B6.jpg.4be0ca9e860f59b615970fc9fdf3116d.jpg

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7 hours ago, pdxfisher said:

Great report again. So great that you have your own slice if paradise!

 

Thanks, pdx! I never thought I could afford waterfront. One day, when stairs are too hard for me, I might buy a little, energy efficient modular and live there. There are two local firms that make such homes. Then I could walk out the door and walk the 100 yards or so to my canoe. 

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