My little fishing trip

[Swamp Girl]

I went to a pond near my Maine home yesterday evening. I fished from an L.L. Bean kayak. I caught 21 fish. 20 were smallmouth and largemouth. My biggest was a 21.5 inch largemouth, but I was so excited that I forgot to photograph it. I did get photos of the first two fish. Sorry for the lousy quality, but I was holding a wriggling fish with one hand and the camera with the other. When I released the 21.5 inch largemouth that I didn't photograph, my hands were trembling. It drowned my spinning rod a couple times, bending nearly all of it into the water. It went on two short runs too. I also caught one chain pickerel, my first ever. So pretty! The smallmouth rocketed out of the water like Trident missiles. It's great having this kind of fishing five minutes from my home. 

 

I also saw a baby loon and its parents, heard them song, heard an owl too, saw lots of geese and one eagle.  

 

 

 

[Jar11591]

Sounds like a great trip with some bonus wildlife. Nothing like catching tail-walking smallmouth when the loons are calling. 

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Jar11591 said:

Sounds like a great trip with some bonus wildlife. Nothing like catching tail-walking smallmouth when the loons are calling. 

Heck, yeah! I caught most of them a weird way, i.e. trolling a #3 Mepps brass-bladed, undressed spinner, and paddling randomly in the middle of the lake.

 

[geo g]

Beautiful lake, I’d say you had a great day!

[roadwarrior]

 

                                               

[Swamp Girl]

I fished a different pond last night and caught 14: seven largemouth, six smallmouth, and one chain pickerel, but nothing big. The smallmouth sure like to dance in the air, but d**n, those chunky largemouth are rod-bending bulldogs. Pics to come! I fished from a tricked-out sit-on-top fishing kayak, which was a first for me. It was stable, but a heavy paddle.

[Swamp Girl]

Short, but chunky.

[The Baron]

Sounds like a great day!  I hear you on the solo photos - I'm actually thinking about getting a go-pro or something to mount on the front of the canoe, just so I can get better photos of my fish.  Trying to hold a phone at arms length and do a fish selfie is awkward and I'm slowly building a collection of photos that all look the same. lol

[MN Fisher]

1 minute ago, The Baron said:

I'm actually thinking about getting a go-pro or something to mount on the front of the canoe, just so I can get better photos of my fish. 

Make sure to get two things.

 

1: Larger memory card - the 32gb cards will only hold about 3 hours of video...but most of the cameras will support larger cards despite what it says in the instructions. The Dragon Touch models I have say 32gb max...but I run 128gb cards in them with no issues.

 

2: External battery - you only get about 1.5hrs of time max from the internal battery, so you'll be changing batteries constantly. Either connect to the battery in your canoe (if you have one) via USB port, or get a portable battery. For my mounted cameras, I hooked to the TM battery on the old canoe, and now to the 'house' battery on the boat. For the shoulder/head/chest cam I have a 10,000MaH that slips into a pocket. Ya, there's a cable from the battery to the cam, but 12hrs of power is worth it.

[A-Jay]

14 minutes ago, The Baron said:

 I'm actually thinking about getting a go-pro or something to mount on the front of the canoe, just so I can get better photos of my fish.  Trying to hold a phone at arms length and do a fish selfie is awkward and I'm slowly building a collection of photos that all look the same. lol

Been running a GoPro in my canoe for a while and I really like it.

Besides killer video, the Pics are super easy to get and so next level compared to any selfie.

@MN Fisher advice above is spot on.

A-Jay

 

[The Baron]

28 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Been running a GoPro in my canoe for a while and I really like it.

Besides killer video, the Pics are super easy to get and so next level compared to any selfie.

@MN Fisher advice above is spot on.

 

Yes, it was partly your videos that are to blame… er, I mean… are to thank for me thinking I “need” a GoPro.  ?

 

@MN Fisher… I wouldn’t have known any of that.  Thank you!

[Alex from GA]

I prop up the phone or camera and take a delayed exposure.  My phone has either a 3 or 10 second delay and my camera has a 5 second delay and takes 3 pictures, with about 3 seconds between them, with one press of the shutter release.

[Swamp Girl]

Thanks for the camera tips. I'll think about a GoPro, but I do like to keep it simple.

 

I went out again last night, to a pond only four miles from my house. It has a mountain in the distance and loons. It only has cabins on one shore and they're all set into the woods. I was the only one on the pond. I caught 29 largemouth and one smallmouth. The smallie was a surprise because it was my final fish. I caught two fish on a Ned rig, which was another surprise because I'd read that it's supposed to be such an effective presentation. I did watch half a dozen YouTube videos to learn how to use it, so I don't think the problem was me. I caught 11 bass on my #3 brass Mepps spinner and 17 on a Whopper Plopper. That was my first time using a Whopper Plopper and it was thrilling. I even caught two largemouth at once on the Whopper Plopper, only the second time in my life that that happened, with the other time being two smallmouth. Nearly every bass was 15" to 16," not big fish, but all thick and strong. I have major bass thumb this morning and a sweet grin too.

 

When I was a kid fishing farm ponds with my brothers, I never had fishing success like I enjoy now. When I fished wilderness lakes in Canada, there were countless great days, but I expect that with fish that have never see a lure before yours, but I'm fishing ponds nowadays that do see lures. I wish I could take some of these fish and send them back to my childhood, where I sometimes caught nothing. I'm 67 and it seems some things do get better with age!

 

I like high action lakes. I fished muskies for a few years and quit because you wear yourself out casting and not catching. Sure, I caught muskies, but if you catch two or three in a day, that's a great day. I'm pretty sure that I could have a hundred-fish day on the lake I fished last night and especially if I used bait in the middle of the day.

 

A-Jay, you are the Lord of Smallmouth. 

[Swamp Girl]

I caught 24 bass this morning, the biggest being a 17-inch largemouth and a 17-inch smallmouth. Many Maine lakes have both kinds of bass and catching one and then the other has me rethinking smallmouth as superior fighters. I think they're comparable. I also think bigger fish are overrated. A 16-inch bass is equivalent to an 18-year old guy. Sure, one day he'll be longer and heavier, but at 18 years of age, he's at his athletic peak. I've caught 21-inch bass and 16-inch bass and I think the latter are better fighters than the fatter.  

[roadwarrior]

Hmm...

I think bigger fish are MUCH more challenging.

[Swamp Girl]

3 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

Hmm...

I think bigger fish are MUCH more challenging.

They're craftier, for sure, just like old Tom Brady is crafty, but they're also a little like Peyton Manning in 2016, with the zip missing from his passes, and momentum carrying him to Superbowl victory. Pound for pound, how could an old fish fight as hard as a young fish? Time doesn't work that way. Time makes us heavier, not more athletic. 

[roadwarrior]

When you catch a 7lb smallmouth or 10 lb largemouth I think you might change your mind.

I don't think any of our members that are big bass guys would agree with you. 

[Dwight Hottle]

1 hour ago, ol'crickety said:

They're craftier, for sure, just like old Tom Brady is crafty, but they're also a little like Peyton Manning in 2016, with the zip missing from his passes, and momentum carrying him to Superbowl victory. Pound for pound, how could an old fish fight as hard as a young fish? Time doesn't work that way. Time makes us heavier, not more athletic. 

 

I get your point but a big fish can give a strong fight because their have more mass & girth to help them not even to mention the size of their tail fin. 

 

[Swamp Girl]

3 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

When you catch a 7lb smallmouth or 10 lb largemouth I think you might change your mind.

I don't think any of our members that are big bass guys would agree with you. 

I might, Mr. Warrior. And you're right, I'm not in that club. I'm not arguing the size of the fight as much as I'm arguing the spunk of the fight. Young people are ornery. Young fish are ornery. 

 

I feel like I'm arguing with the gods here.

 

Humbly,

 

Puny Human ?

[roadwarrior]

11 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

I feel like I'm arguing with the gods here.

 

Humbly,

 

Puny Human ?

Well, we just have a number of "above average" fisherman that consistantly catch big 

bass, both largemouth and smallmouth.  Most are not tournament guys, but focus on

BIG fish exclusively. You do not need to join this group to be an important member on this

forum. 

[DitchPanda]

I understand what you mean...smaller fish tend to be faster and flashier..but larger fish have more power and bulldog you more. I caught a 7lb largemouth in cold water a few springs back and even in that chilly water she straightened a split ring out and ripped the hook off the bait. Luckily the other hook held and I landed her. Where we differ is thinking that largemouth and small mouth have the same power. I think the key difference isn't in the power necessarily but the stamina. Small mouth can sustain that power the entire fight, largemouth gas themselves out fairly quickly in my experience.

[gim]

10 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

Small mouth can sustain that power the entire fight, largemouth gas themselves out fairly quickly in my experience

Also my experience. I might also add that river brownies are a step up from their lake cousins too because they’re constantly fighting current.

[DitchPanda]

35 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Also my experience. I might also add that river brownies are a step up from their lake cousins too because they’re constantly fighting current.

Agreed...a little 12inch River smallie can really pull. Think you've got a 15+ on.

[Swamp Girl]

13 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

Well, we just have a number of "above average" fisherman that consistantly catch big 

bass, both largemouth and smallmouth.  Most are not tournament guys, but focus on

BIG fish exclusively. You do not need to join this group to be an important member on this

forum. 

You are kind and welcoming, Roadwarrior, and a heckuva fisherman too. Thanks too to A-Jay for smiling upon my little fishing trip, and to Mighty Dwight and others for weighing in about weight and fighting spirit. I'm returning twice to the local lake this week where I've caught three 19-inchers and one 21.5-incher this summer in two trips and I'm excited about that.

 

I agree with Misters Ruis and Panda about the fight in fish that fight current. I've only caught two striped bass in my life, but both were Maine tidal fish, the world's biggest tides, and they felt like bison on the line. 

[Swamp Girl]

I caught another 33 this morning. Woo-hoo!

 

Say, I'd like to thank the men of this forum for being so welcoming and encouraging. I wish more women would fish. They'd find that fishermen are happy to help them.