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Walking the Dog


Swamp Girl

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I launched again this morning at my pond. I had a Heddon One Knocker Spook, Whopper Plopper, T-Rigged worm, underspin with a blue Mayor, and spinnerbait with an orange crawfish. They all caught fish and I finished with 11 before the wind blew me off the pond.

 

Here's my first bass.

 

FirstBass.jpg.84e0783d36b1debcf6ddd2695703dbed.jpg

 

And here's a spinnerbait bass.

 

Spinnerbait.jpg.eb97098eefb110b20062751f76828d6b.jpg

 

This one was a chunk.

 

Chunk.jpg.abe6dad011c9063d10d7f4f73fbfc6d5.jpg

 

The chunk came off this shoreline.

 

Shoreline.jpg.f30c49c7288ced40bf9812ea7848a37a.jpg

 

"The entree comes with a salad, ma'am."

 

salad.jpg.699f0f1e1bb8989e91c4163c2da403b4.jpg

 

Then I reached a river mouth with an area free of weeds and switched to my Heddon Spook. This spot and this Spook:

 

Spook.jpg.88327230c4233c1ca4d158baccdc4df1.jpg

 

And a special bass hit it. If you read my trip reports, you know my pond is great for numbers in May and June. And you know that the average size of the bass is good, but you might also remember that I don't catch five, six, or seven-pounders in it. Well, the girl I hooked wasn't a five, six, or seven-pounder, but she could be. She has the mouth to gain that much weight. And she has the frame to hold it. At one point in the fight, I was facing port and she jumped off starboard as she'd run under my canoe. Isn't she beautiful? Note how her jaw juts from her weight and note the size of her tail. I had to position my camera way back to fit her in the frame. She was probably four pounds. Now, I catch a lot of four-pounders and it might seem weird that this paticular four-pounder would thrill me, but again, she has the mouth and frame to be bigger, plus she's in her prime. Fingers crossed she lays a lot of eggs in 2025. 

 

Biggirl.jpg.1735558c221c6d6f7f4e9ce599a25c11.jpg

 

On my next cast, a bass exploded on my Spook, but I didn't hook it. On the following cast, I caught this one. Another beauty:

 

Secondbiggirl.jpg.90e679038a579d414014184d5c77c33f.jpg

 

I love walking the dog! In 2024, I learned how to catch bass with a spinnerbait and a Spook. Pretty cool, huh?

 

As always, thanks for going fishing with me.

 

 

 

 

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Nicely Done ~

Successfully landing spinnerbait bass with a spinning rod is a feat all in it's self.

Bet the bait moves your canoe on the retrieve too. 

Congrats

:smiley:

A-Jay

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4 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Nicely Done ~

Successfully landing spinnerbait bass with a spinning rod is a feat all in it's self.

Bet the bait moves your canoe on the retrieve too. 

Congrats

:smiley:

A-Jay

 

Thanks, Andy. Pretty much everything moves my canoe: wind, bass, pickerel, and spinnerbaits! 

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Your learning curve is advancing quickly with all the new baits. The southern bass population is probably lucky you are confined to the NE. 

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3 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Your learning curve is advancing quickly with all the new baits. The southern bass population is probably lucky you are confined to the NE. 

 

I'm thinking about a jig next. I did catch one bass on a jig a couple weeks ago, but that's my jig LMB total: 1

 

I also caught a fat smallie this morning, but it shook free from my lip grip just as I was about to photograph it.   

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You had better watch out.  If you get to catching them on a jig much of your other stuff is apt to get dusty and rusty.  I always have at least 3 jigs tied on in 3 different sizes.

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I've caught so many fine bass at my pond this year, but this morning's girl was special. The photo doesn't really display her attributes, i.e. her thickness and big head. Here are some of the other big ones, with the first and last being silly fat. They bode well for the coming years, huh? I measured the fourth one down and it was 18 inches:

 

2(2).jpg.b1ab5645e744283047f30b95d9b9a67f.jpg

3(2).jpg.4b9e01de57467475633497ca76f12da4.jpg

13(1).jpg.639e1f52d0bccc2035a275863de0d355.jpg

14.jpg.04f038298b43b2161b876c425b479527.jpg4.jpg.7b132ffa699b7cd7978c286369a0daaf.jpg

SecondBiggestBass(1).jpg.5cf38d56982671f2fb3da55c8a38826b.jpg

9.jpg.c50c1b42a32ba081ed6c01e90685aee1.jpgBiggestBass.jpg.6d7a333fd1e62c92135bdce38686175e.jpg

B6.jpg.43f5a20567fca60ff6982ae98d8fcfb3.jpg

B5.jpg.329d297647661c75efed19f118f249b3.jpg

NiceOne.jpg.b44d2e53d4d39c7f61522aedd99912c8.jpg

BestOne.jpg.f937011ea5853b1018cab00f4e17234c.jpg

 

3(1).jpg.837878bfaa62c4e8c938c402858da71f.jpg

 

 

 

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Great report and pictures! I love a walking bait except that I miss so many fish with it. Probably if they had mouths the size of the ones you caught I wouldn't have that problem!

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1 hour ago, pdxfisher said:

Great report and pictures! I love a walking bait except that I miss so many fish with it. Probably if they had mouths the size of the ones you caught I wouldn't have that problem!

 

Smallies have smaller mouths, for sure, but missing a walking bait is totally understandable given their zig-zagginess. I used to use walking baits for muskies and they often missed them, but I always had a follow-up bait ready and caught a few that way. I have a much higher hook-up rate with LMBs and I think their big mouths are a part of my success. 

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I was walking one of our dogs this morning and she wouid

have dragged a canoe ! 
 

nice bass, love the zaras 

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4 minutes ago, Rockhopper said:

Fantastic job!

 

Thank you. If you don't mind, I'll tell you about the fight of my first big girl: She clobbered a Heddon silver Knocker One Spook and immediately ran at the canoe, but at an angle, so I was reeling as fast as I could to maintain tension. When she was ten yards off starboard, she veered sharply and ran straight at me, going under the canoe to the port side where she jumped. She switched sides so fast that I was trying to keep her from breaking the rod and I heard, but didn't see her jump. I also felt the jump because she was so close to the canoe that she splashed it and me. I muscled her back to starboard where she ran from my stern to my bow and back again before I got the net under her. In the net, her belly bulged, which again, as pretty as her photo is, doesn't really display her attributes. 

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That sounds like a great way to start the morning! Those are all some really nice fish. I normally catch one or two that size each outing and then a lot of smaller ones. But you caught many! Sounds like that big girl just had her morning coffee and was ready to go! I love reading your stories.

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20 hours ago, Jig Man said:

You had better watch out.  If you get to catching them on a jig much of your other stuff is apt to get dusty and rusty.  I always have at least 3 jigs tied on in 3 different sizes.

Username checks out

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On 8/31/2024 at 10:17 AM, Dwight Hottle said:

Your learning curve is advancing quickly with all the new baits. The southern bass population is probably lucky you are confined to the NE. 

They damned sure not scared of me!  😁 

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