Swamp Girl

Fishing conditions changed in Maine. It's no longer summer. It was 45 degrees this morning after three days of the wind blowing in cold air, from 14-18 m.p.h. I feared the sudden cold might clamp some mouths and it did. I took five rods and caught bass with all five lures, but determined no pattern whatsoever. The one bonus is that when the bass did hit, they hit hard and I caught 19 of the 20 bass I hooked. The first one was 17.5 inches. There were some small ones like you see in the last photo. Then there were also some in the 16-inch class. I did catch one thick fish: 19.75 inches. She hit a pumpkin Senko with a chartreuse tip. There were two tiny taps and then nothing. I watched the line and thought I saw it moving. I didn't wait long because I don't like to gut hook bass with Senkos. When I set the hook, it was barely in her lip. I actually managed to photograph her with me. I'm holding her with my elbow behind my head to situate her right beside me for perspective. I always have a hard time discerning size when fish are thrust toward the camera and maybe I'm not the only one who prefers a fish positioned right beside the fisher. Note how thick her tail is. The state of Texas has a length to weight table and that says she weighs 4.5 pounds, but I think Maine bass are thicker than many bass in other places. What do you think? I think she might weight five pounds.

Phil, if your wife "never complains about the weather," then she's the perfect fishing partner. I'm going fishing this afternoon and again tomorrow morning. I usually don't fish back-to-back, but tomorrow morning, it will be raining. I love to fish in the rain, but I understand that my wet Heaven is other people's wet Heck and I love that they feel that way, since I'll be on the water alone. Alex, I think I catch fish for one obvious reason, which is that I fish water that isn't pressured, and two less obvious reasons: The first is that I'm a sneaky snake. I paddle my canoe so quietly that the fish don't hear me coming. The second is that I can cast a long ways and cast accurately into pockets, which are other ways to surprise fish and trigger those reaction strikes. But mostly it's that I fish water that doesn't get fished much. When I chose lakes in northwestern Ontario, I would never fish one with a cabin, not even a single cabin. In Maine, I pick water that looks too shallow to hold fish and too weedy to catch them. And I pick lakes that required a little suffering to reach. So many people want comfort first, but I'm like Phil's wife: I shrug at a little cold, a rocky or muddy path, and a lot of rain. However, I leave in an hour and we'll see if I get humbled today or not!? The pond I'm fishing requires driving down dirt road. Then the road ends and I have to portage down a path and then bushwhack through the woods. However, I fished it once already and I know it holds big bass, so the grunting will be worth it. I HOPE!

The scale I ordered has a clamp and I won't weigh them all. I won't even weigh 5% of them. I too want them back in the water ASAP. I would like to weigh a 19-inch MAINE bass to see how heavy a fish that long is. I'd like to do the same with an 18 and 20-inch bass. Then I'll have an idea of weight going forward. I promise to be as quick as possible and I won't weigh every long fish I catch.

Thanks for the fish pics, guys! Some real beauties! I love this line: "I wish I could have frozen time this afternoon...." We should all be on the water with such awareness and gratitude.

Alex, I haven't been hooked largemouth for life. I've fished and fish for what's available with all due joy. For years, it was panfish and farm pond bass. Then fearless, slashing pike. Then bonkers white bass on the Mississippi. Then skulking muskies in Ontario. Then aerobatic smallmouth in the same area. Now it's big-shouldered largemouth in Maine because whereas smallmouth lakes are the norm in northern Maine, on the mid-coast, largemouth thrive. Yeah, I've loved them all. The thought of a dancing bobber excites me nearly as much as a green musky latching onto my figure eight lure canoe-side. As someone noted above, muskies are likely beyond me now not because of my gender, but my age. Heaving those big lures broke down my back when I was young, but when you're young and hurting, you simply have to sleep to recover. Nowanights, if I fall asleep sore, I wake up even more sore. I too wish more women fished. I made a local call yesterday to a sporting good store looking for a SPRO frog and the woman who answered the phone clearly fished and we talked froggin' and that was great, but you guys are great too when we talk fishing. I have fished with a couple fairly famous female fishers and that was fun, but I wouldn't want to be one of them. When you have a modicum of fame as a female fisher, you are constantly being watched...and judged. You even have to apply lipstick before you pose with a fish! I'm happiest in my stained clothing and weed-splattered canoe, snaking through the reeds, watched only by the eagles. And I'm happy at bassresource.com because of you guys, who are so generous with your time and wisdom. Now I'm going to spool some 50 lb. braid onto my Shimano Curado and tie it directly to my frog, which is what you guys taught me yesterday. No more time-consuming leader and HOORAY for that! And I found a stiffer, longer baitcasting rod in the basement this morning in case my just-ordered one doesn't arrive before I leave to fish mid-afternoon. One more thing: Thanks to all you guys who want more women to fish.

Again, this is great news. I've been using a 17 lb. mono leader and that weak link in my chain is no more. It's 50 lb. test from the bass to the reel. The bad news is that my rod didn't arrive today. Now it's supposed to come tomorrow, but I'm worried it won't arrive before I leave to fish. Oh, well, I'll make do with my old rod if this happens for one more time.

What a thrilling morning for you, Norcalbassin!

There are forever new and shiny lures and it's easy to forget the old ones which work as well today as they did half a century ago.

Tim, I lost a big one in wild rice reeds about a week or ten days ago. She powered into the reeds and I just couldn't turn her. So, I told myself to stay cool, keep the pressure on, and go plumbing for her, which required me to back my canoe into the reeds with one hand with maintaining pressure with the other. I could feel her tugging for about 30 seconds while I went digging for her into the reeds, but by the time I got to my lure, she was gone. However, I'm glad you won your fight. Go, Tim!

Wow! That was a gutsy move. I'll have to remember that, but I don't know that I'll ever have the moxie to try that too. What a gorgeous fish!

No leader? You should see the smile on my face! I hate tying that double uni knot.

Alex, you are so supportive. This site and I are lucky to have you! Before I started posting at bassresource.com, I did fish a local lake and caught only three. I spent 80% of my time fishing shallow water with seemingly no fish. When I went deeper, I caught the three fish, but quickly lost the light. Another trip, I caught 14 bass, but all small. I stopped fishing where the small ones were and started probing other areas, hoping to catch a nice one, but nada. I am so excited to fish my new froggin' setup! Do you think I should use a mono or fluorocarbon leader? And what pound test?

Alex, I decided to buy the scale when you describe your scale as an essential piece of equipment. Plus, I am curious about the thick Maine bass. Some of them are convex and I don't know if that comes across in the photos. I hope to catch one more (at least, of course) before the scale arrives. You've been shopping as much as me! We both better hit the brakes. I'm glad you guys like the look of the rod! I'm putting a Shimano Curado on it with the 50 lb. braid. My SPRO frogs won't be here by tomorrow afternoon, when I'm fishing again, but I'll make do with my Bass Pro Shop frogs, which they've been hitting with abandon.

It's this one, 7'4" heavy action. I think it'll help because the length will give me leverage and the heavy action will give me power and most importantly, the long handle will let me lever off of my PDF as I plant the rod's butt into my belly: Favorite EMPC-741H Emperor Casting Rod

This is an exciting week for me. My new froggin' rod arrives today. My 50 lb. test braid arrived a couple days ago. My SPRO frogs are on their way. And so is my SCALE! I will finally get to see what Maine bass weigh. I just hope I can manage to catch a few more thick ones before it's too cold to fish. It's going to be 45 degrees tomorrow morning. Brrrr!

Heck, yeah, because then you can catch a bass on a new lure and develop some confidence in that lure.

I appreciate King Fisher's analytical approach and try, to an extent, to mimic it. For an example, I'll be fishing a tannin-stained lake tomorrow afternoon. It's been windy and cool for three days, which can, in my experience, clamp bass mouths. It will also be cloudy, so with the dark water, I'll start with a light-colored fluke and slow my retrieve for the cold front. However, my restlessness won't keep that lure on my line for long, unless they're clobbering it, and I'll throw my tackle box at them. There's a lake in northwestern Ontario that I fished for decades from June to September. So, I'd be the second week of June with steady warmth and bluebird skies and catch them using a particular colored lure in certain places. The next year, at the same time with the same weather, they'd be in different places reacting to different lures. And so on, year after year and decade after decade. Bass are a conundrum to me, which is why they're so fun.

I love the Mepps spinner. I had a couple 200+ smallmouth days (That's more than 200 fish per day.) in northwestern Ontario. I fished from four in the morning to nearly ten and caught nearly every fish on a Mepps spinner with a brass blade and a plain hook, which is the most basic Mepps spinner made. On the third day, I rested, too tired to do it again. I've caught some thick largemouth on the same Mepps this summer in Maine, both casting and trolling. It's a great lure and underutilized, I think.

I fish out of a canoe mostly, but sometimes from a kayak. The guys with motors have a big advantage; They can go far and fast. However, we paddlers have an advantage too: We can go shallow and silently. I have snuck up to multiple fish within two feet of my canoe and kayak. I don't even know they're there until I bump the boat and I see multiple swirls and V's as they flee. So, my advice is don't bump the boat and go where the motorboats can't go. I even put felt on my gunnels so I can lay my paddle ever so carefully and quietly in front of me. And I move with all due caution. Then I can cast to fish that others can't. In short, fish shallow, fish the weeds, and be sneaky as can be.

Jay, it sounds like have a good system. I'm one of those fishers who starts on the surface with a big Whopper Plopper that lets me cast far in my search for active fish. If it's raining, which I prefer, I reel faster to create as much chop as possible so that the bass can hear my lure with all the rain splattering the surface. If that fails, I drop a notch to something smaller or slower, like a Mepps spinner, Wacky Senko, Ned jig, or Texas-rigged worm. If they don't work, I start fishing the weeds with a frog. So far, there's always something in the weeds. Is your system working for you? I would think it would, since you're using such a range of lures. We have restlessness in common. I switch lures frequently and carry four to six rods in my canoe to facilitate that. Even if I'm steadily catching fish on one presentation, I still switch because I'm curious about just what they will hit. I often have nightcrawlers in my canoe, but don't usually fish with them for long because I find it dull fishing, even though they always catch fish.

Tim, I don't think I've been pointing the rod tip at them and reeling out the slack before cracking them, but I will now. The new rod arrives Friday!

Tim, coincidentally, I ordered three SPRO frogs today. My 50 lb.braided line arrived today and my 7'4" heavy action rod was shipped today. So, we'll see! I generally don't think men have a fishing advantage over women, but when it comes to froggin', men do due to upper body strength. Froggin' is like carrying my canoe: I can't muscle it, so my technique has to pert near perfect. I landed one 19.25" bass on my frog a couple weeks ago and I "hooked" it right beside the boat, but the hooks weren't even in the bass. She simply clamped down on my frog and didn't let go and the cover was so thick that it couldn't dive, dive, dive and I got the net under her before she reopened her mouth. Last night, I was working on my hand placement to help hook them and I'll continue to tweak my technique. I'm already pretty good at hitting the pockets and sneaking up on them, so I provoke the strikes. I just need to start closing the deal more often. Then, if I ever figure out froggin', I'll have to learn Roboworming. Thanks, Tim, for the kind words.

Scott, it works the same way up north. I'll hook and lose a big bass and I go back to that spot and pound the water and nothing. Nada. Nichts. Zip. My thinking is that big bass can claim prime ambush points, like muskies do, and nothing can move them from that spot, but I think they mosey all by themselves.

Every big fish I've caught in my life is in my head. High res in my head. Perfect lighting in my head. Vivid and clear. Yours is too. And CONGRATS!

8 lbs.? Yikes! If that were my goal, I think I'd be dead before I caught an 8 lb. bass in Maine. I do catch lots of 4 lb. bass though. I think I'm going to keep two and duct tape them together. True story: I caught a 17.25 inch bass and a 19.25 bass on a Whopper Plopper at the same time this summer. That's about seven pounds of bass on a single cast, but I'm still a pound short!