Swamp Girl

In a way, she's still with you. That photo of her in the water is stunning and you'll always have it. We really should photograph them in their homes more. Not always easy to do, of course. I've returned more than one bass to the water that immediately went berserk as soon as she reached H2O. It's almost as if they get a kick out of splashing me. Regarding Clayton's bass, I've since gone back and looked at my fattest bass. As you know, I catch some thick fish, but NOTHING like Clayton's or your recent whale. P. S. - I never tire of seeing your little, old boat. You and I both fish from small, cheap platforms. I paid $1,000, $600, and $500 for my three canoes. Our measly boats should encourage others to go catch bass without dropping five or even six figures on a bass boat.

Just imagine that he's singing "Love is in the water...."

So, let me get this straight. You were fishing in Alabama and shredding your thumb. Then you somehow cast all the way to Kansas, hooked one of Clayton's preposterous bass, and reeled it across the country, presumably by rivers and lakes. Seriously, you've caught so many big bass this winter, but I think this latest one is my favorite even though it's not the biggest. I just love when they look like they're about to burst.

Since no one can build like you, Bob, we just pose with our hammers and drills and pretend. I Googled that bottle cap and you won a new Ranger bass boat if you redeem it by 6-1-92. I do have a flux capacitor.

Those are excellent photos, GreenPig. I wish I'd been beside you, catching bass too!

I like this and it might be why I prefer five four-pounders to one six-pounder. I can luck into bonking a six-pounder on the head by chance, but to land a bag of bigger bass requires cracking the code...for that day...at that pond/lake/bog.

I'm going to combine @Fried Lemons you-need-to-fish-bigger-baits and @Zcoker's you-need-to-think-you're-going-to-catch-bigger-bass and cast a 24-foot swimbait that @Bazoo will whittle to catch the world's first 60' lmb! Sadly, it will sink my canoe and I'll become tangled in the line and be taken to Davy Jones's Locker, but I'll go down fighting just like this guy:

There are members at Bass Resource who state that they target big bass. If you sit on the deep water abutting the spawning beds like some of us do or pounded Castaic Lake in its glory years like @WRBdid or chuck and wind big swimbaits like @Fried Lemons does, then you're targeting big bass and have a big bass portfolio like @Fried Lemons's, Tom's, @AlabamaSpothunter's, @Catt's, @Pat Brown's, Andy's, etc., then you do indeed target big bass. I'm not part of the Big Bass Crew, but I do catch big bass for my nearly 45 degrees latitude. My approach is to catch a lot of bass and the big bass will come. I average about one four-pounder for every 30 bass. Remember that In-Fisherman said that a bass weighing X in the north is equivalent to a bass weighing 1.5X in the South. If In-Fisherman is right, my four-pounders are Everglades six-pounders and my six-pounders are Texas nine-pounders and my PB is a southern California DD. So, a northern four-pounder is a fine catch. Just ask Minnesotan @gim or Canadian @The Baron, who know how rare they are up north. My approach is basically attrition. I dance with a lot of bass and sooner or later, I dance with a big gal. And some sweet mornings, I get to dance with five or six big gals, but along the way, I get to dance and dance and dance. I do know at least three spots that harbor big bass and when I'm casting at those three specific spots, I'm absolutely fishing for big bass, but otherwise, I'm just fishing and hoping and happy.

For a long time, I thought he was called @Bluebasser86 because he protects and serves, but I learned today that he's also called Bluebasser because he catches bass shaped like Bluegills. I think he's called 86 because he 86s all our hopes of ever catching bass as fat as his.

The BR crew is doing it all, catching big numbers, big bass, and even big drum plus delicious bream. All the weights are up except for @thediscochef's scale!

You're also the King of Fun. You always appear to be enjoying your fish, friends, and trips.

@Bluebasser86: I laughed out loud at your bass. They're, they're preposterous!

You also excel at telling the stories of your fishing trips.

169 acres. I know, I know, I'm a lucky duck.

Once again, I want to live like @TnRiver46. He lives with gusto! 40 lbs.??!!?? That deserves a Texas yee-haw, @thediscochef!

Positioning is key. If we ever have a Bass Resource barbecue, I'm going to find @keagbassr and @MonsterZero. I have soooooooooooo many stories to tell them!

You're living our dream, Bob. So many of us have long pined for our own pond. Beautiful, Bob.

You are Bait Monkey immune!

Boy, Bob, you sure are pond-smart! A pond's a tricky critter, isn't it?

Will you also buy me a floatplane whether I want it or not?* *I do, I do want one!

Oh, that is sooo cool, Bob!

I thought a fluke would be the solution to my 2023 wolfpacking bass, but it wasn't. It was rod tip up and reeling like crazy that fooled some 2024 wolfpackers. Of course, YMMV.

Thank goodness they get thirsty and hungry! Reading about your challenges makes me even happier that I have local water without ramps.

Is it really that busy where you fish? I would not enjoy waiting in a de facto queue to cast.

Oh, I know that feeling. I fish with my head on swivel, always looking, even when I'm retrieving a lure. I'm sweeping for a ping, that certain, unnameable something that tells me where to cast next. Of course, sometimes you can even see the ping, a slight swirl off yonder and sometimes you're in the middle of a PING, where the bass surround you, like happened to @AlabamaSpothunter yesterday.