Swamp Girl

I would try fishing in Dwight Hottie's livewell. You will have to board his boat and I don't know how he'll feel about that. I suggest this disguise: https://www.amazon.com/Forum-Novelties-Pirate-Costume-Standard/dp/B00FP5T98Y/ref=sr_1_40?keywords=pirate+costume+men&qid=1565868915&s=gateway&sr=8-40

Your son has a great smile. His smile made me smile! When I was a kid, my brothers and I would fish a pool in a tiny creek. We caught all small fish, but loved them all.

That's what I read, Dink, but when you do pinch the tail, how much length does it add? Those are huge bass in your photo. Wowza!

In a great day, I'll catch five smallmouth bass 19" or bigger, most being at 19" or 19.5", so when I catch anything 20" or bigger, it's a big deal. Anyway, I was looking for an example of a bad fish shot and I came across this photo. There's something in the foreground, plus my "great idea" of taping a measuring tape to the bottom of my canoe makes for lousy shots, with all the crap that accumulates in the bottom of a canoe. I figured this fish was one of my 19"ers, but it's over 20" and I'm wondering if I'd pinched the tail like the DNR says we can when measuring, would it reach 21"?

Word.

"The DNR often stocks lakes to repair ecosystems after winter kill or over fishing, but Vanderbosch said the bulk of his job involves creating walleye fisheries where they don't naturally exist. Thanks to stocking, most Minnesotans live less than half an hour from a good walleye lake. In all, there are 1,400 walleye-rich lakes in the state, only 270 of which are naturally self-sustaining." This begs the question: "If a fish isn't native to a lake, but to an area, does introducing that fish to that lake make it invasive?" I think so.

If you've ever fished in Minnesota, you might have bumped against guys who hate smallmouth. They call them "scaly rats." Their hatred stems from their love of walleye, a mostly indigenous species in Minnesota, and the proliferation of smallmouth that compete with walleye.

Beautiful markings. They really are gorgeous fish.

Yeah, it's my favorite place on Earth. Nothing like having your own lake.

Dwight, that's where I fish. Not Rainy, but smaller, nearby lakes, better suited for canoes.

Because I fish the Canadian Shield, I lose lures everyday to pike. The smaller pike are the worst. I have landed quite a few 40" plus pike with 6 lb. test and no steel leader, but those small ones will cut your line like a knife. Still I don't use steel leaders because they cut into my bass catch.

I fish lakes that are rarely fished. The fish are not lure shy, so I get lots of opportunities to hook fish. I also get lots of opportunities to lose fish. Fishing the surface with poppers, I'll land six in a row and think I've mastered it. Then I'll lose six in a row. You just lose more fish when surface fishing.

I think 3.5 based upon his belly by the anal fin. That's where they pack on the weight.

Long live the King!

Yikes, that's hot! If our temp here is 80, I think we're hot. Luckily, we don't have more than a handful of days that reach 80.

My third issue is wanting to get them back into the water ASAP. So, I shoot a quickie and hope that it's a good shot. I think I'm going to buy a Go-Pro instead of using my two old cameras.

Here are some I didn't reshoot because I assumed I was getting clear pics. Oops, the two on the bottom are repeats. Don't know how to delete them. And another.

Here's a photo that was ruined by some blob between the bass and me. I have lots more that are blurred. I retook this one and it's above, but I hate to shoot two photos, for that's more time for the fish out of the water. I did keep them in the net in the water until the camera was on.

Anyone want to see the fuzzy fish? As trips go, it was quality over quantity. The lakes I fished were producing half of what they normally produce. 100-fish days became 50-fish days on one lake. 60-fish days on another lake became 30-fish days. On yet another lake, I only caught five fish one morning, but they were one 20-incher and four 19-inchers. I caught lots of 19-plus inch fish I didn't photograph because the quality was so discouraging.

And more. I like the color and shape of the first one. I have more photos, but they're the blurry ones. One of the blurry photos is one of the thickest bass of my life. I took three photos of it, but the lens of my SLR camera had shifted from autofocus to manual focus and I clicked away thinking my camera was focusing. Sigh.

Thanks, Gundog. They were challenging. I was solo fishing and the wind blew and blew, so there were times I wish I had eight hands: two for the rod and reel, two to paddle away from logs and rocks, two to net the fish, and two to photograph. As it was, I'd pick up the paddle with one hand while controlling the fish with the other, drop the paddle to turn the camera on, and then drop the camera to net with one hand. Here's another from two angles..

Another bass. I have lots more photos, but they take half of forever to downsize and load. I might load some more later. I do like the shape of the last one. It looks a little like a bluegill.

I took some terrible photos in northwestern Ontario. I thought I had a perfect plan, which was to photo the fish on tape on the bottom of my boat. You see, I'm perspective impaired, so when a fisher poses with arms extended, I can't really tell how big the bass is. However, my two cameras just didn't want to take focused photos 100% of the time. I quit trying after three days and tried again the final three days with no more success, but here are some representative fish, both clear and blurry. More bass. More bass.

A-Jay, I like how you change your angles when you pose with your pigs. Wisconsin Heat, your fish look so healthy!

Dwight, I know why you liked my post. You want to know where I caught my smallmouth so you can catch some to use for bait to catch your smallmouth!