Swamp Girl

So exciting. I cast a clear Heddon Torpedo to smallies sucking mayflies off the surface and would get three/four/five hits before one managed to hook itself. It took several attempts each time because the mayflies were sticking out of their mouths.

Same here. It's howling outside right now and is 18 degrees. It's been well below our historical average for February, so our ice is thick.

You whisper the big girls. Once they're warm enough to hear your whispers, they'll be coming to you too. Pat, I added your 4.5-pounder to my post up thread. You're representing now!

Baron, let's ask @Bankbeater if we can go fish with him. Skunking schmunking! I just want to fish.

I saw one once and wanted him to ask me for my license, but he just pulled away. There was a TV show featuring Maine's game wardens and I was hoping to meet one of the guys I'd seen on the show. Sigh.

I'm just glad you went! I expect to be skunked a time or two this spring and I further expect to enjoy that time or two.

Great trip report! Lots of photos and your love of bass fishing sure shines nice and bright as well as your love of Headwaters. I can't imagine ever fishing there, so I especially appreciate this detailed report. This way, I can experience it via osmosis.

Whoa! That is some seriously sour luck.

There are always exceptions. I live in the northeastiest state and only used a salamander one time. It was bright blue and I caught twenty-some bass before I switched to an underspin because the salamander bass were smaller than the ones I usually catch. I bet it would work again, that the bass learned to avoid it, but have since forgotten to avoid it and weren't alive to learn to the initial lesson. Don't underestimate instincts. They are vastly superior to intellect in some ways. Imagine that some mysterious force suddenly hollowed your bones. That same force also made you grow feathers and wings and lose lots of weight. On paper, you can fly, but in person, do you really think you can survive learning to fly? Do you think you'll ever learn to do what a common sparrow can do, i.e. fly pell-mell into trees and never strike a single branch? Watch an infant learn to walk: It's slow and involves lots of falls...and that's after nine to eighteen months of maturation. A caribou calf walks within seconds of being born. So do many other animals. My point is that inferior intellect doesn't make bass dumb. They have instincts, which are arguably superior. Our species has only been here 200,000 years. Bass have been here 23,000,000 years. I wouldn't bet a dime that humans will still be here in 22,800,000 years. Yes, I understand that intellect has enabled us to fly and cross oceans in great ships, but those planes and ships were created by the rare giants who arise among our species. The rest of us are pygmies standing atop their shoulders.

Dang it, you just punched a hole in my punchline! No biggie. Me:

Behold what the BR crew has recently caught: You guys sure can cowboy.' And for the final beast, drum roll please....

I fished through those hatches and caught a lot of fish. Their mouths would be stuffed with mayflies, but they'd still hit a lure.

I too prefer a gray, leaky sky. Why? It's because I'm an old school angler: paddle, rod, and stealth.

True legend, for sure.

I was on the Mississippi River one gray, blustery day in October in Minnesota and I paddled up to a big jonboat to chat. He showed me his nine pound walleye and said he'd caught many that size. Then he said, "The other guys think I have a secret way to catch them, but look around." And he motioned upriver and downriver. "It's nasty today and we're the only ones out here. That's how I catch them, I'm fishing when it's too foul for everyone else. I just keep fishing no matter what the weather is." Reel, I think this dogged persistence might be the surest mark of a trophy hunter.

The giants are the supreme predators. @PhishLI knows of a night-fishing, BIG swimbait user who catches bigger bass than me. I've seen his fish photos. He's the real deal. So true. Talking about bass is keeping me from going stir-crazy...well that and seeing the fish pics! So cool to see the program working! Riffing off of something I once read on a t-shirt, I catch 'em all and let God sort 'em out. 😅

Great writing, Clayton. Amen. Don' cha love the in-the-water pic?

OMG!

Yeah, she was a Clayton-grade/Alex-sized bass.

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!