Swamp Girl

So far, my catching ratio with popping frogs is catch one and miss five.* So, well done! *It doesn't help that I can't cast far and so the bass explode right beside my canoe and my reaction is to yelp and yank.

It sounds like you already know a lot, at least compared to me. I don't know what stick rigging is. I do a lot of googling as I read this site, so now I'm off to google stick rigging!

They do, Gimruis, but they freezing doesn't kill the fish because there are deep pockets. I am so excited to fish this fall when the bass grow feistier! Sadly, I can't fish for the next four days as I'm flying to visit my mom. She actually lives on a lake in Florida and the lake has largemouth, but they're pale. I like the dark Maine bass.

Okay, I'm going to give it a go. Thanks, Mr. Account, for the precision! Mr. River, I did catch a 19-incher at the beginning of all those reeds yesterday, so you might be right.

Hi, JJM. The guys on this board are super helpful and knowledgeable. Pump them for info. They're generous. Congrats on that bass! How did you catch it? I live in Maine and have fallen in love with bog fishing for largemouth.

One of my favorite bogs in Maine for largemouth has open to somewhat open water for half of it. Then there's about another 200 yards of reeds, those stiff, thick reeds. Will there be bass all the way back, through all two hundred yards of reeds? I know you can't say for certain, but what's your best guess and why?

Thanks, Mike. I plan to use flukes more going forward.

N Florida Mike, when you Super Fluke, what weight line are you using? I ask because you said that you let your fluke drop into holes and I'm wondering if my 17 lb. test is enough to haul a bass out of a hole.

N Florida Mike, if you don't mind, will you share a photo of your fluke rig and a tip or two for using them? Aw, shucks, T-Billy!

First off, congrats and I too love your smile! If bass won't hit your normal lures, a nightcrawler just hooked in the head with zero weight is irresistible. It's hard to cast and hard to hook them, but lawdy, they love all that writhing.

Thanks, Mr. Warrior and Mr. SpotHunter. I too always thought of Maine as a smallmouth state and there are lots of smallmouth here and big ones, but I've fallen in love with bog fishing, which means largemouth. Bog fishing is like miniature golf with all the obstacles, but instead of windmills and tunnels, there are reeds and lily pads. Bog fishing is also great for my canoe. The smallmouth prefer the deeper lakes, which are more open and therefore windier. All that wind and water is fine if you have a big boat and motor, but bogs are cozier for a canoe. Hey, did you see my bolt cutters in three of the photos? I'm ready for the next mishap!

I drove to a new bog yesterday afternoon, but there wasn't enough water to float my canoe. I could see water yonder, about a hundred yards away, but there were a hundred yards of reeds between me and it. I asked the folks at the nearest house what happened to the bog and they said the dam broke. Dang dam! So, I went to a smaller bog this morning and for the first 45 minutes, I only caught one bass. Then I switched to nightcrawlers and caught two more, but I don't like worm fishing. It's not busy enough for me. I was getting hits on my Whopper Plopper, but not hooking fish. The bite slowly increased and I landed a 17.5-inch bass. I also caught some chain pickerel and took a photo of one in case you southern fishers wanna a look. The wind blew me into some reeds. Just last night, I watched a YouTube video where an accomplished frog fisher said that we should chuck our frogs into places where we don't think there's enough water for fish. Well, I'd been blown into the big salad bar at Caesar's Palace, but there was about two feet of open water, so I cast my frog there and KERSPLOOSH! There was so much water moved that I was confused, but my frog was gone, so I set the hook and luckily, there wasn't enough water for the bass to put up a big fight. She was 19 inches, the size I love. I caught 34 in all and lost a BIG bass at the end that I just couldn't control, not even with my 17-lb. line and MH rod. I could see she was headed for reeds as thick as a man's thumb and I tried to stop her, but couldn't. Even in the reeds, I had her hooked for a bit, but by the time I dug to my lure, she was gone. Sooo exciting. The first photo is a typical bass for the bog. Then the chain pickerel. Then the big girl. Then some others.

You're a good man, Spothunter, worrying about that Dachau fish. I just want to feed that fish, not catch it. Kyle, I like the shape of your big bass. It's it funny how bass come in so many different shapes, even from the same lake, within the same hour?

That bass in the photo is a beauty! Your emaciated bass would have disturbed me too. I once caught enormous bullheads from a drainage ditch, but they must have had some parasite in them. They were gruesome.

FWIW, I got a tetanus shot this afternoon and bought some baby bolt cutters. I do heed the advice of this board's members. And I'm going fishing again tomorrow morning, which is the sagest advice.

Great suggestion, Mr. Ruis. I just got a booster and some antibiotics. Sadly and seriously, I wasn't going to do much of anything other than shrug, but better safe than sorry.

Thanks, Gary. I worried that when the barb snapped, there might still be resistance extracting it from my hand, but it wasn't bad.

I fished a new lake this morning. It was 430 acres and the water was clear, unlike much of the coffee-colored, tannin-stained water of northern lakes. I caught 23 bass and the biggest was 17 inches, but the big event was a bass drove a Whopper Plopper treble into the ring finger of my right, dominant hand. It was intense when he was flopping while the hook was buried in me. When I freed him, I still had to free myself. So, I pushed the hook all the way through me, but struggled to pinch the barb with my left, weaker hand. Finally hearing that click of the barb breaking was so sweet. The hook came free pretty easily and I went back to fishing.

I have a couple friends with kayaks on lakes and I've used them a couple times this summer, but I kayak with a canoe paddle because I don't want to manage the long paddle when I'm fishing. I used to a write a boat column for Canoe & Kayak magazine, so I still like talking about boats. One of my friend's kayaks is an L.L.Bean boat, which is short and wide. It's plenty stable enough for standing but it's as plodding as Cleopatra's party barge and tracks like a water spider. I prefer my canoe (a Bell Rockstar) because it's light (32) pounds, long, tracks well, and carries as much as Cleopatra's party barge. Alas, no standing. Nice talkin' boats with ya!

Thanks for telling your story. I learned a couple things. What boat do you paddle?

I know; That's huge! As far as the question, I like fishing new water. I like not knowing where the fish are. I'll be fishing my eleventh new pond/lake/swamp this Friday. I'm not even sure if there are bass there, but I wanna poke here and nudge there and see if I can find 'em.

Spothunter, I think plenty of northern bass fishers use scales. I'm 66 and unloading and carrying a canoe on uneven ground in the near dark, often bumping into branches. Then I have to go back for my gear. I just don't want to carry more gear. My inch-measuring comes from my personal failings. However, I get your point. Weight is universal.

I did get a tail shot of the 19-incher. This is my trying to be better at documenting despite my old camera. Anyway, thanks!cher.

Thanks, A-Jay! I love poking around swamps. I found a new one a little farther down the road. It's five times the size of the one I've been fishing most recently and that scares me a little because swamps are mazes. It also thrills me because I'll be casting where I've never cast before. P. S. - Your latest smallmouth dropped my jaw. P.P.S. - How did you clean up my pics?

I fished a swamp again this morning. The morning was turbulent. There'd be a dead calm, followed by wind out of the north, then wind out of the south, then a swirling wind, then light rain, then heavy rain, then dead calm again, and so on. I loved it. I saw multiple bald eagles and great blue herons. I also caught multiple 16-17 inch, hard-fighting bass. However, the swamp saved the best for last, as my last two fish were 19 inches and 20 inches. I hooked the 19-incher close to my canoe, so she was green and ran under the canoe, requiring me to do some yoga contortions to place my rod under the canoe too. The 20-incher jumped right beside my canoe and that was thrilling. You can see from the photo that she's a thick fish. Strong too. I use 17-pound test on my spinning reel to give me a modicum of control in the weeds and have the drag cranked way up, but she still ran like an Atlantic salmon. Fishing. is. too. much. FUN! Notice that I took care not to fuzz my photos.