Swamp Girl

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!

Dear Mr. Mouth, I am ashamed to say that I don't even know where Oxford and Raymond are. I am a hick and only know the little bogs and ponds near me. However, it seems that nearly every pond in Maine is good. I would focus on ponds that don't have ramps, if you have a canoe or kayak. They get MUCH less pressure. Here's what I do: I use Google maps to find the ponds in the area. I zoom in to find ponds with no or few camps/cabins. Then I Google the name of the pond, adding "Maine" to the search, and click on the Maine Fisheries and Wildlife PDF document. You'll see a map of lake depths, a list of the species, and a summary of the pond. However, the proliferation of largemouth bass nonofficial stockings means many of the bass have largemouth even if they're not listed. Many of the Fish and Wildlife docs also tell you have to access the pond.

You are always so kind and encouraging, Alex. I wish I were as good as my numbers, but I'm fishing overlooked water. There are lakes where I live with boat ramps and there are always cars with trailers in their parking lots. I would never fish those because they hold educated bass. I'm fishing ponds with prop-snaring weeds that only permit paddling. See the weeds in the bottom of my canoe? Those are just the ones I haven't chucked back into the water. I pull weeds off my lures every other cast and land many bass enrobed in weeds. It's a challenging form of fishing, but I've come to love it. It rewards a stealthy approach and accurate casting. I'm sometimes casting in a foot of water. Most boats could only dream of fishing that shallow. As far as my energy, I sure felt like an old woman tonight when I climbed the rocky slope to my car in the dark. It was a little scary too, since I was in a gorge and it was misting. The scene reminded me of a horror movie, but I tried to concentrate on the work at hand and mostly succeeded. I did catch a couple 17-inchers that I didn't photograph because I landed them in the near dark. No fishing for the next three days though. It'll be too windy for a canoe. So, I'll make do with the photos of fish that others are catching! I do love looking at the photos. Bass come in so many different shapes and colors.

A busy evening of fishing. I caught 42 bass and a single chain pickerel. I was proud to land 7 bass with my frog. I am embarrassed to have missed about 30 bass with my frog. I have never fished a lure that provokes as many strikes as a frog. I am sooo looking forward to my new bait casting rod arriving. It's seven feet four inches with a long handle that I can leverage against my life jacket. I just don't have the hand and arm strength to stick bass with those frog hooks. I'm also going to 50 lb. braid. Despite my many lost fish while frog fishing, I feel I'm making small improvements. I actually had about 10 of those lost bass hooked for a few seconds. I didn't catch any big fish, i.e. 18 inches and above, but I enjoyed the bass erupting on my frog and it was fun to keep busy with the bass I did manage to land. Here are a few of the fish. Look how skinny that fifth fish is! Alex, you are so right about bass connect us even though some of us are fishing in the deep South and some in Yankee Land and some in cities and some are fishing farm ponds. Mr. 215, did you get a chance to best that Ned stealer?

Alex, we're fishing in different climates. Your bass were baked by the summer. I live on the coast of the North Atlantic, so my bass never overheated and were feisty all summer. So, yeah, I think it's the temp. P. S. - Again, your photos are great. Mine are embarrassing. P. P. S. - I'm off to fish the pond where the bass bested me and I had a full night of sleep, so it's womano-o-abasso!

I'll go with yesterday's boo-boo. I hooked three 4-lb. lm and lost all three at the canoe.

Alex, I can see those "nice bellies" and it's cool that the weight gain is giving them more power and pep. I also like how specific you are on how you caught them. Your photos' quality is also high. Well done!

Alex, I HATE that moment when the bass is beside my canoe and I can choose to play it with two hands or lose one hand to reach for the net.

Mr. Shad, I don't fish enough! ? Alex, you can see my net in the first photo. And I am tuckered. Lifting the canoe on and off the car and carrying it to the water and paddling for miles drains my tank. Luckily, it also fills my tank! Clayton, great fishing, great photos, and great storytelling! I am proud of you and happy for you too. I love the shape of that 18.25 inch bass.

Roadwarrior, if I ever hook AND land three four-pound bass in consecutive casts, I'll be Irish dancing on my canoe seat. See them? I could have kissed them! That's how close they were.

A bass hooked my finger a couple weeks ago. This morning, a pond gut hooked me. It was a new pond and because I have some great ponds in my fishing rotation, a pond has to be pretty special to make the cut. Well, I caught 27 fish this morning, 23 bass and 4 pickerel, with quite a few in the 15"-17" range. And I had about ten blow-ups on my frog and didn't hook a one. I think the heavy action rod I ordered will help. I also lost lots of fish with my fluke, but what gut hooked me was something that has never happened in my life before this morning and likely never will again: In three casts, I hooked three four-pound fish. Two jumped right beside my canoe and threw the lure and the third one was inches from my net when it came unbuttoned. I know what you're thinking: "Old Crickety is exaggerating. She doesn't know what a four-pound bass looks like. They were probably pound and a halfers." But they were four-pounders! No lie. I was inches from all three and I had every advantage: deep water, no reeds or pads, no trees, etc. So, I'll be going back to that pond. I'm totally sleep deprived and I think that's why I missed so many fish. I even missed a dozen or so fish on my Whopper Plopper and that thing bristles with hooks.

I know where Mr. 46 lives! Hawg City, USA.

What do you like about urban fishing?

I think you're right. I think you caught a Coosa bass. I've always wanted to catch one of those and an Aurora trout too.

The top one was bigger. I could feel it in her jaw and when I lifted her. She was half an inch longer too. I'm guessing they're both four-pound fish, more or less. Maine bass are thicker than some of the bass I see posted on this board, so I don't know how much I should trust length to weight charts. I just might buy a scale someday. I won't call you Jelly. I like Alex better.

I fished the bog right down the road this evening. I caught 22 fish. 19 were largemouth and 3 were chain pickerel. One chain pickerel was thick enough to fight like a hefty largemouth. I did use the fluke and got half a dozen fish that I hooked for a second or two. I know I'm setting the hook too soon. I also caught a couple bass on the fluke. Again, the Whopper Plopper was the most successful lure for me. I caught a 18.75 inch bass and a 19.25 inch bass. I'm kind of stuck on two big bass each morning or evening. I did have a third big fish hooked, but lost it to reeds. Here are the two big gals. Tomorrow morning I'm fishing a gully. It's a river that runs deep through a gully and then widens with some weeds on the edges. I'm excited and a little intimidated. It's just so different than any water I've fished this summer. I figure I'll troll my Whopper Plopper through the gully with the deep water and then frog and fluke fish the wide, shallower, weedier part. Gosh, you catch beautiful fish!

Thanks, Alex. You get it. You truly do.

Heck, yeah, Alex! Now I'm going to tie a double uni knot. I HATE that knot.

10, 9, 8, 7.... Don't you just love the countdown to a fishing trip? I've been in Sarasota and D.C. the last four days, so I've been in a world of cars, cars, and more cars. Now I'm counting down to traffic/strip malls/fast food franchises detoxification, which happens on a lonesome pond or bog with my paddle and my rods. I'm going bog fishing tonight and then gully fishing tomorrow morning. I can hear the countdown in my head, as exciting as any at Cape Kennedy. I'll let you know how I do tonight and again tomorrow. I spent part of the morning changing line, retying, and rigging some flukes, which I plan to use tonight and tomorrow morning, as well as my green frog, a loon-colored Whopper Plopper, a red spinnerbait, and wacky Senkos. Gosh, I hope I catch a 19-incher or bigger. They make my heart race! 6, 5, 4, 3....

You are so right about loose lips sinking the best bass trips. When I was young, my brothers and I pedaled to farm ponds and over the years, we saw some fine ponds reduced to Dink Towns by gluttons. What's your first name, Mr. SpotHunter? I'm Katie.

Well done, Mr. Spothunter. That big one's a beauty!

The next best thing to fishing is not fishing and seeing the fish that others are catching!

Thanks, T-Billy. I'll compare the three reels.

You can learn so much here. One member told me to troll a Whopper Plopper, others have been tutoring me in frogging, and I'm going fluking tomorrow morning. Roboworming is in the batting circle!

Do tell the story of the lost fish. I lived in Mass, but now live in Maine.