Swamp Girl

Cool that you did all that, Bryon. We're a pretty easy-going group, so don't expect a lot of doubters.

I think it's good to move threads like this up top again from time to time. I was fishing this summer when un-forecasted lighting arrived. I beached my canoe and retreated into the woods to wait it out. It lasted for 1.5 hours, taking me into the night and even then, the rain pounded, making for a long, wet paddle home.

You caught some good ones!

@WRB: Tom, I hope you'll keep posting and teaching us even after you quit. You're a BR rockstar!

@A-Jay: Hey, I'm just reporting what I've seen. 😉

Heartbreaking. For me, the greatest era was Tom's prime, when bass in the upper teens were regularly caught and Dottie still swam. Tom, if I buy one of your outfits, I'll want to mount it.

Sharks, hurricanes, and gators ain't nothin' compared to the perils of New England, where the ghosts of Puritans atop moose ride with the Headless Horseman, all hoping to sup the blood of bassheads.

Stop it! You and @softwateronly are making me want to launch again. I'm going crazy!

@Zcoker: We have many things in common: We're both pretty new to lmb fishing. I caught them as a kid, but didn't focus on them again until about three years ago. We both paddle and fish from a small boat. We both love surface lures. We both catch big fish for our latitudes. My four-pounders at the top of the country are equivalent to your six-pounders at the bottom of the country. My six+-pounders are equivalent to your DDs. We both fish in the dark, but you fish deeper into the dark than I do. We both fish heavy cover. I fished muskies, aka freshwater sharks, and you fished sharks, aka saltwater muskies.

Brrrrrr! I've fished those 38 degree mornings. They're hard on my hands and feet, as both get wet.

@GRiver, if you're not occasionally bumping into bass with your boat because they didn't know you were there, then being quieter and not looming over them is a good plan. For me, the worst mistake I can make is the sharp sound of a rod striking my canoe. I might make that mistake once a morning and I wince when I do. It shakes the canoe, which shakes the water, which shakes their lateral lines and inner ears, meaning they hear us twice. There have been times when I made the rod striking the canoe mistake and there'd be four swirls around me and four bass streaking away, which were four bass I'd lost the chance to catch. ^This^ made me laugh!

As @siusaluki23 noted, if I'm drifting over rocks, I'm likely to catch smallmouth. When I drift into weeds, I'm likely to catch largemouth. Although most bass anglers use larger lures for smallmouth than largemouth, because I'm targeting largemouth, I use big lures all the time and smallmouth are happy to hit them.

Carp are powerful. I always admired the Lindners for focusing on carp from time to time. It's like dancing with the homely girl because she's a better dancer than the pretty girls.

Why I am a better sneaky angler than you are. I have shared several times how I bump a bass or two many trips with the bow of my canoe. I do so because I'm deliberate in my canoe. Before I reach for a rod, I'll plan exactly how I'll move it without bumping it into anything. I'll set my paddle ever so carefully on my gunnels that I've covered with rubber. I'm not walking around my boat or standing so that bass can see me. And I cast as far as I possibly can. And when I bump my canoe and make noise, I admonish myself, saying, "C'mon. You can do better."

We're all cheering for you guys.

Whoa! Not my story, but my landing percentage did increase over 2024 and I had a few outings where I landed nearly every bass. I like your attitude, @TOXIC.

Do tell!

Healthy bass, Mike!

My heart was pounding as I read your account, Koz. I've been in big wind on big water in small boats, but I've never also had to contend with stumps.

I give myself a Red Bull IV to get out the door.

Well, congrats on that! Huge achievement. I've participated in two home renos in the past. They sure suck the sap outta ya!

I was the queen of four and five-pounders in 2024. I just wasn't catching the six-pounders I caught in 2023, but to be frank, I really can't say for sure that I wasn't catching six-pounders this year because I wasn't weighing fish this year. I did catch some that were long: And I caught some that were thick: But I assumed that they were five-pounders. Maybe one or two reached six. I'll never know. I also caught my first seven or eight-pounder this year. I didn't weigh her, but she was unlike any bass I've ever caught and I have weighed high six-pounders. However, I caught one four-pounder per session many times and even two to three four-pounders per session quite a few times. So, it was a good year. Quantity-wise, it was a great year with a 70-bass session and a 75-bass session and many 40/50/60-bass sessions, comprised of many 2.5 to 3.5-pounders. But, again, I was the queen of four-pounders. Like this:

I don't know what you suggested, which is why I asked for the stroke's name. If you'd provided it, I would have Googled it, watched some videos, and maybe learned it. "the proper angle" and "a little twist at the end" didn't work for me as an explanation. I asked for your canoe's make and model to shine some light on how you rolled it. I've seen C1s rolled with full hull flotation bags, but nothing rolled like the canoes most people paddle. So, I'm guessing you paddled a short whitewater C1 with big time rocker. Even then, rolling it without flotation bags and hundreds of pounds of water in it would be Herculean and remaining upright in whitewater with water to the gunnels would require balance surpassing an Olympic gymnast's.

The NEXT is really set up for a kayak paddle with its foot braces and I own a couple kayak paddles, but I don't like dealing with their length in a canoe while fishing. I know they make those side-mounting clips that let you store the paddle out of the way, but the inlet where I dock my canoes is so narrow that I'm already scraping bushes on both sides. So, I'll likely stick with a canoe paddle, even though I'm comfy paddling with a kayak paddle, having kayaked thousands of miles. @Way2slow: Does your magical mystery stroke have a name? Does anyone know it other than you? What make and model canoe were you rolling?

@Way2slow: Keith, this isn't the first time I've been asked if I J-stroke. My answer always disappoints: "No." I can, but I choose to switch sides for efficiency and speed. A J-stroke turns your paddle into a rudder and a rudder creates drag. Drag is not my friend because I have miles to paddle before I sleep over water lovely, dark, and deep. Plus, while your paddle is ruddering, you're not paddling. Again, miles to go. No one can barrel roll a canoe. It can't be done. You need a closed boat with a deck. Here's my new boat. It's open: Now you could roll a C1 with hull-filling flotation bags, but at that point, it's a pretty much a kayak, a long ways from my NEXT canoe: