Maine has unfortunately led the nation the last couple years in rich people buying large lakefront lots, driving up prices. Nevertheless, last spring, a five-acre waterfront property went on the market at a price I could afford. I made an offer four hours after it was listed, giving me access to a 170-acre pond just five minutes from my home. I had fished it for the prior two years and the first summer, I caught a lot of 15 to 16.5 inchers. The following summer, I started seeing an occasional 17+-incher. Last summer, I had some outings where I caught a couple 18-inchers. Well, this evening, I caught the biggest bass I've ever caught from "my" pond. I caught them three ways:

 

Some big females schooled on a flat abutting shallows. I caught six this way.

 

Some smaller bass clustered around a laydown on a windy point. I caught another six this way.

 

A windblown shore. I caught four this way.

 

16 bass in all, plus one thick pick(erel). The conditions were tough for the first half of my three-hour session. The wind was blowing steadily at 14 mph and gusted to 20 mph. Even when it lessened, I kept getting blown into the laydown and windblown shore. Still, I managed to catch some fine fish. This was the only one I measured, an 18-incher that took out drag:

 

 

Here are some other thick bass I caught:

 

 

I feel so lucky to own land on a pond like this. It has no public access and its extensive wetlands mean it'll never have more than the nine homes that already exist on it, all at least 250 feet from the shore. I didn't measure any bass beyond the top one, but you can see they're long, thick fish and I'm guessing it was close to a 20-pound bag.

 

@PhishLI and @AlabamaSpothunter both encouraged me to focus on my pond, to crack its code. And Alex also believed, having seen many photos of my pond and read my reports, that there was real potential in it. Alex was soooo right. Look at the bodies on the bass above. They're eating well, huh? It's a healthy ecosystem. I wish you could have heard the thundering frogs this evening, one of nature's surest indicators of a thriving pond. And seen the ospreys and Canada geese. And smiled at the tail-slapping beavers too.

 

I could have fished late, into the dark as I so often do, but I was just so happy that I quit when the Sun reached the horizon. Happy and tired, for at one point, the pond was white capping and I'd worked hard to control my NEXT canoe. Happy, tired, and lucky.

 

P. S. - I caught every bass on an underspin with a chartreuse and white Zako. I did get one hit on a chrome popper, but didn't hook it. 

I'm so happy to hear that Katie, and equally thrilled to see it producing your typical fat and healthy Maine style Bass!

 

It's such a rare and special opportunity when you can find a small lake that isn't too big to eventually learn it all, but not so small that it doesn't take you very long to do so.  

 

The universe brought you and that lake together for a reason, and I don't think there is a better person alive to unlock the mysteries of it, or care for it and it's special critters.  

Thanks, Alex. I'm just relieved to finally land some thick fish. So many of the Bass Resource gang have caught big fish in 2025 and the few fish I'd caught weren't pulling their weight.

 

As far as taking care of the pond, I've already netted some trash from the bottom this year.

 

You might remember that my pond has thick smallmouth too. I focused on a couple rocky areas trying to catch one or two, but failed. 

 

I was amazed at how many bass were in that laydown. I caught six from it, but lost four or five others. 

Katie....you are indeed lucky. But I think you have made your own luck. Your forethought, planning, and talent make the luck. It is not just chance. And your talents as an angler seals the deal. I am happy for you and envious at the same time. You have been and will continue to be an inspiration for many of us.

11 hours ago, Kirtley Howe said:

But I think you have made your own luck.

 

You are kind, @Kirtley Howe, but I have nothing to do with the resurrection of the bigger bass in this pond. A guy who lives on the water said that the pond used to produce five-pounders, but then that inexplicably ended. For whatever reasons having nothing to do with me, the bigger fish are returning. It might be one of those cycles/up and down phases that @WRB and @Dwight Hottle have observed.

 

There is another five-acre lakefront parcel in the area on the market for $1.5 million. It's on a lake with jet skis and water-skiers. No thank you.

 

I forgot to mention the lures that didn't work: spinnerbait, pink Wacky-rigged Senko, and a shallow-running crankbait. 

 

And I also didn't share how I caught some thick girls on the flat. I used a technique I developed when fishing for white bass on Lake Pepin. The wind was howling and there was no way to avoid it, so I set up drifts over a deeper flat abutting shallow water that I suspected the bass used to spawn. Then I cast two underspins behind the canoe and they slow rolled over that flat, bump-bump-bumping on the bottom. I was trolling using the wind. The first drift, I caught two at once. I put one in the net and played the other, adding it to the net. The second pass, I hooked two at once, but one escaped. Those were my biggest bass and I didn't measure them because the wind at that point was blowing me into the woody shore and I had to skeedaddle before I hit the bushes and hooked two or three of my rods on them. The third pass, I caught one last one and then the wind started to die, killing the furious bite and my ability to wind troll. I did add another two casting that flat over the next 30 minutes.

 

The only part I played was checking Zillow every morning and acting without hesitation to purchase the property, plus seeing the potential in the property. 

2 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

acting without hesitation

Right on !!!!    So glad you got that pond property. It takes nerves of steel to make an offer on land. You're always wondering if it's the correct decision. Sounds like it was!

6 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

It takes nerves of steel to make an offer on land.

 

I was closer to this guy...

 

 

...than this guy:

 

One of these days I'm going to have to make the trek up north and fish with you. But instead of my Autopilot I'll have to bring my pedal kayak so I can drag it through the woods! 😁

25 minutes ago, Koz said:

One of these days I'm going to have to make the trek up north and fish with you. But instead of my Autopilot I'll have to bring my pedal kayak so I can drag it through the woods! 😁

 

If we were to fish my pond, there are two canoes there, a tandem and my NEXT solo canoe/kayak boat. So, we'd simply have to walk through the woods with our rods. The bogs require a little more work.

Healthy looking fish!

 

I'm assuming the water is pretty clear up there??

58 minutes ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

Healthy looking fish!

 

I'm assuming the water is pretty clear up there??

 

Indeed.

Awesome report! Glad to see you wrecking them!

I'm fishing this evening for a couple hours and tomorrow morning too as the wind is finally dying. Clouds and fog are in the forecast too, so it should be perfect. I just hope the water is warm enough. Yesterday morning was in the high thirties and today's high is 51. Even if I'm not fighting a lot of bass, at least I won't be fighting the wind. 

I’m impressed by your ability to fish from a canoe in that kind of wind.  For me it’s frustrating trying to control the canoe and while making accurate casts. I think I’m going to try your way and let the wind work for me instead of fighting it.  Wind drift towards my target and then circle back for another pass.

27 minutes ago, bp_fowler said:

For me it’s frustrating trying to control the canoe and while making accurate casts.

 

It's frustrating for me too, mostly because I love to fish wind-pounded shorelines, but when I do, I paddle more than I cast. One of the reasons I've always caught a lot of fish is that I keep my lures in the water, but wind often forces me to take my lures out of the water. Yeah, frustrating.

 

28 minutes ago, bp_fowler said:

I think I’m going to try your way and let the wind work for me instead of fighting it.

 

Yeah, it's a nifty trick, but depends upon you and me picking the right starting point. 

 

33 minutes ago, bp_fowler said:

then circle back for another pass.

 

I troll back for another pass.

1 hour ago, bp_fowler said:

I’m impressed by your ability to fish from a canoe in that kind of wind.  For me it’s frustrating trying to control the canoe and while making accurate casts. I think I’m going to try your way and let the wind work for me instead of fighting it.  Wind drift towards my target and then circle back for another pass.

Tie a rope around a rock or tree limb, works wonders. I have to upgrade to cinder block in the motor boat 

On 4/29/2025 at 6:53 AM, Swamp Girl said:

And I also didn't share how I caught some thick girls on the flat. I used a technique I developed when fishing for white bass on Lake Pepin. The wind was howling and there was no way to avoid it, so I set up drifts over a deeper flat abutting shallow water that I suspected the bass used to spawn. Then I cast two underspins behind the canoe and they slow rolled over that flat, bump-bump-bumping on the bottom. I was trolling using the wind. The first drift, I caught two at once. I put one in the net and played the other, adding it to the net. The second pass, I hooked two at once, but one escaped. Those were my biggest bass and I didn't measure them because the wind at that point was blowing me into the woody shore and I had to skeedaddle before I hit the bushes and hooked two or three of my rods on them. The third pass, I caught one last one and then the wind started to die, killing the furious bite and my ability to wind troll. I did add another two casting that flat over the next 30 minutes.

Good stuff. Just read an article earlier this week in a 1981 Fishing Facts magazine by the late writer, Jim Brang, about wind-drifting with a two rod system to catch bass.

 

40 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Good stuff. Just read an article earlier this week in a 1981 Fishing Facts magazine by the late writer, Jim Brang, about wind-drifting with a two rod system to catch bass.

 

Cool! And thanks! I used a two-rod system in a different way on the Whitefish River in Michigan's UP once. I rented an old row boat and there was a train trestle. I rowed around its pilings, with two rods hanging over the stern, and hooked two smallies at a time, again and again. 

Living the dream!

Haven't been able to fish for a while but by reading your exploits it almost satisfies my fishing cravings.  Thanks.

40 minutes ago, Alex from GA said:

Haven't been able to fish for a while but by reading your exploits it almost satisfies my fishing cravings.  Thanks.

 

It's too bad we live so far apart. It would be fun to fish together.

Come on down I fish all year either in N GA or central FL.  We were in Maine a few years ago over the 4th of July and it was hot.  I brought a kayak and fished a few places but don't remember where.  There isn't a decent SM fishery down here so I concentrated on them.  I caught quite a few along with my first northern pike.  None of any size.  

23 minutes ago, Alex from GA said:

There isn't a decent SM fishery down here so I concentrated on them.  I caught quite a few along with my first northern pike.  None of any size. 

 

I also catch small smallies and in the YouTube videos of guys fishing for smallies in Maine, they're small too. However, we do have a LOT of them.