Swamp Girl

Yeah, I do.

I focused on white bass for a few years and outfished everyone on the Mississippi River and the Fox River. Just as I stealth fish for lmb and smb, I stealth fished for white bass. No trolling. All drifting. I'd set up a drift over a flat where white bass were known to roam and use 4 lb. test, Aberdeen hooks, and minnows. Light line was the difference maker. I'd be hooking them two and sometimes three at a time (You were allowed to fish with three single-hook lines in Wisconsin.) and other boats would often park next to me. Many would troll around me. And 99% of the time, they'd glare at me as I continued to catch bass and they couldn't. Even in the murky water of the Mississippi, light line was essential. Also, barely hook your minnows so that they wiggle like crazy. And use thin wire Aberdeen hooks and the least possible sinkers. Also, if you jump fish, kill your engine way before you reach the school and cast to them with yellow jigs or Little George lures.

I like mixed bag fishing and miss it. The best I ever did was one day on the Mississippi, when I caught nine species: walleye, sauger, largemouth, white bass, mooneye, crappie, pike, drum, and smallmouth.

@Mike L: WOW!

I ended my 2024 season fishing similar water. I'd paddle around look down and see every rock and weed six and eight feet down. I didn't like it. I felt seen by the bass.

I kid you guys not: I get up some mornings and imagine it's spring and imagine where I'd be launching and where I'd paddle first and second and third and what I'd be throwing. Sometimes I even dare imagine a bass hitting.

I thought 20 was a pretty good total too. You, on the other hand, never fail to catch fun.

How exciting!

@A-Jay: You could be an idiot like me and keep casting. For me, hope springs eternal long before spring.

To directly address @Scherbacj's question, I'm guessing that there is a bit of a lull in feeding irrespective of temperature, but I only base this upon southern deciduous trees taking a feeding break even though southern temps don't demand that they do. I know that bass aren't trees, but the rhythms that trees follow (feed by day and grow by night and reboot over the winter to begin again refreshed come spring) might make sense for bass too. However, I've never fished southern bass, so I don't have a clue. @Zcoker might know. He's fishing way south. Same with @king fisher, who's fishing even farther south. King and Z, is there a winter's lull in bass feeding where you fish?

I just know that no matter what bait I throw, I can't catch a winter bass. I've dragged surface lures, soft plastics, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, and jigs across the ice and didn't even get a hit. Seriously, @gimruis is right. Bass vary by location. I can catch bass in Lakes Michigan and Superior, on the Mississippi, in northwestern Ontario, and Maine, but drop me on a lake in Texas or Arizona and I wouldn't have a clue. Give me enough time in Texas or Arizona and I'll start catching bass, which is @Mike L's point: We all need to take the time to crack our lakes. There's a lake in northwestern Ontario where I've spent months of my life fishing, from four in the morning until last light. One time, I was fishing in a canoe with my dad. We were both steadily catching smallmouth, including a 21-incher that I landed. A pal was in another canoe about 25 yards away, catching nothing. "They aren't there," I said. "Come fish by us." "How do you know they're not here?" he asked, clearly disbelieving me. I knew from fishing his spot many times over many years and catching nothing there. Not in June, July, August, September, nor October. So, a HUGE part of fishing is failing on a particular body of water, which is how we learn where they're likely to be and what they're likely to hit. So, when you fish and fail, that was time well-spent. You've learned what not to cast and where not to fish next time. Last May, at one lake, I learned that the bass moved into a zombie reed field to chase golden shiners and that for about two weeks before the new reeds emerged, it was game on. The new reeds ended my bassfest because they were so numerous and tough and the bass freed themselves by banging into them. So, all winter long, I'll be thinking about that zombie reed field on that lake and becoming ever more excited to return to it. I learned the cover and learned the baitfish. When the reeds started to grow, they were still in there and feeding, but harder to catch. Still, I caught quite a few this size before I started losing them on thicker, taller reeds: But catching bass in an emerging reed field works on ^this^ lake in Maine in May. I have no clue if it works anywhere else. I got lucky and saw bass chasing shiners in the reeds, which is why I spent many fine mornings there.

@Fishlegs: Cool story and beautiful bass!

This reminds me of the moment in "The Quick and the Dead" where Gene Hackman tells Sharon Stone, "I'm faster than you." and she replies, "Not today you aren't."

That meanmouth looks so perfect. Not a nick or a scuff.

I am nowhere as particular as you guys when it comes to kinds of line and test poundage. When I fished smallmouth in rocky lakes, six-pound mono was just fine, but nowadays, catching lmb from weeds demands line much heavier, so I'm casting most of my lures with 30 lb. braid. Since I throw surface lures the majority of the time, I'm throwing them with 30-pound braid. When I do use mono, it's 12-pound. I do fine without a different rod, line, and reel for each lure I throw.

Yep. And a canoe is often even lighter.

I bet the grandbaby sitting was fun!

Yeah, we just grind to a stop, like the Tin Man in the rain without oil. #bassareouroil

To help develop some mercy for us northern anglers, open your freezer. See the ice cubes? That's how our water looks. I can only look at my old trip reports so many times and I go back in time and read other old trip reports, but go back too far and the photos are no longer there. So, I rely on you southern anglers to share your tales of glory and woe. They keep me warm and limber. Otherwise, I'll lock up solid like our ponds and bogs and the coroner's report will read, "Calcification by bass deficit," which, in case you don't know, is the number one killer of northern anglers.

@lunkerboss923: I caught a pumpkinseed once and caught yellow perch on two trips, but other than the occasional chain pickerel, I just catch bass. There are white perch in all the water I fish, but I've never caught one, even though I wanna. I did catch a pike once.

Cool beans, Bud!

This thread is a good read, so I'm commenting if you want to enjoy it too.

Oh, Crow, you nailed it with style.

Again, if you were simply a funny, paddling, DD angler, I'd admire you, but your lucidity here is your sundae's cherry.

Yikes! So your winter began in August. That's tough. I'm prepared to offer you a one-day contract. Let's see, $150k divided by 365....