2024 Year End Report

[Swamp Girl]

2024 was sharply different than 2023, when I happened upon multiple six-pounders. Here are three of them:

 

 

In 2024, I only caught one six-plus-pounder and I caught her early in the spring, the biggest bass of my life:

 

 

I never got a weight on the fish above, but she was 22.25". The bass below, caught in 2023, was also 22.25" and I weighed her: 6.75 pounds. Their builds are quite different. The bass above also had a BIG head, but her much bigger body makes her head look small. She was a beast in both belly and back compared to the one below:

 

 

I figured I'd never catch a bigger bass, unless I cast south of 45 degrees N latitude, so whereas I tried and failed to equal her, I spent a spring, summer, and fall of joy, catching LOTS of bass. I had one 70-bass morning and a 75-bass morning. I had many 40/50/60+ bass mornings and evenings. Along the way, I caught scores of four and five-pounders. Here are five of the scores of fours and fives(I didn't weigh any of the five below. The first three are all about 21 inches. The fourth one was about 20 inches. I also didn't measure or weigh her. The fifth one was only 19 inches, but thick with a big head. So, I'm guessing they're all five-pounders. I really don't know because I didn't measure the lengths or weights of any of them. Big bass make me nervous. They're rare, so I want to return them to the water ASAP.):

 

 

I also bought 4.5 acres of waterfront and fished that pond heavily. Its bass don't grow as big as other ponds I fish, but I've fished it for three years and I've watched a steady increase in their size. One strange and wonderful thing about this pond is its bass are stronger than other ponds I fish. Plus, it has extensive wetlands where the bass lodge, so I got a LOT of practice playing strong fish in heavy cover. Here is one of them:

 

 

Some friends built a boardwalk and dock for me to walk over the wetlands to the water. They even extended the boardwalk to open water, but I prefer to dock my boat in the inlet, safe from the wind:

 

 

Lure-wise, I fished an underspin with a Crush City Mayor heavily in the first third of the year. It let me cast into the thickest cover and that's where they were:

 

 

Then I fell in love with the versatility of a spinnerbait, which I could fish high or low, fast or slow, in cover or open water. This final third of my fishing season, I leaned on a Yo-Zuri popper. I remember when it was glossy and pretty. That was hundreds of bass ago. 

 

I also learned to fish a walking bait and really enjoying making them pop and gurgle. Keep the line slack and make it snap!

 

And I enjoyed catching several 20-lb. bags. I'd rather catch a 20-lb. bag than a six-pounder. Five times the fun and whereas I need some luck to land a six-pounder, as they're rare, a 20 lb. bag is a skill marker. You don't luck into five four-pounders in a morning. A six-year-old with a Barbie outfit can luck into a six-pounder.

 

I also took several people fishing, guiding them to the most and biggest bass of their lives. The 12-year old beat his PB several times:

 

 

I never took the beauty of Maine for granted:

 

 

And I also didn't take my waning days for granted. I turned 68 this summer and know that my time in canoes is coming to an end. Some season soon, I'll need a boat less tippy and I'll likely fish my pond mostly from a V-hull or jonboat. No more dragging my canoe across a meadow or carrying it through the woods. As Frank Sinatra sang, I'm in the autumn of my life, but it was a very good year.

 

 

P. S. - I also caught three doubles, i.e. two fish on one lure on one cast, and three 19-20-inchers in three consecutive casts. I also caught and released what I'm pretty sure would have been a new state record pickerel. I've caught a lot of Esox and am pretty good at estimating their weights. 

[gim]

@Swamp Girl some years are better than others.  I'm sure you know that.  A new PB and acquired land/waterfront sounds like a winner to me.

 

[Pat Brown]

You may not be tipping canoes anymore but I got a feeling the days of slingin' hogs into the boat are far from over for Ol Crick!!!  😉😉😉🎣🎣🎣😎😎😎

 

It was a VERY good year indeed.

[Functional]

Excellent year and I appreciate more photos of where you fish! Makes me miss the north a little less and a little more at the same time. 

[TOXIC]

Great report.  Helps you keep a good perspective.  When winter rears it’s cold breath here, we transition over to the 3,000 acres of warm water discharge from a nuke plant so we can keep going year round.  Makes it difficult to identify years in specific terms.  That’s neither good or bad.  

[Fishlegs]

Thanks for letting us share your trips. Your reports always make for great reading, and your surrounding landscape pictures are stunning.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Congrats on such an amazing year Katie!   It's been a real pleasure to read your reports and see your beautiful fish.    

 

You've grown into one of the best anglers on this site in a relatively short period of time as well.    

[A-Jay]

Nicely Done Katie.

Hard to ask for or even expect anymore than that. Your fun meter seemed to be pegged quite a bit in 2024 and that came through loud & clear in all those big bass and big numbers trips you put together and posted here.  

 I'm looking for even bigger and better things from you in just a few short months.

Stay safe and warm

Congrats again on another great season. 

A-Jay 

[12poundbass]

Bravo! What a great season.

[Dwight Hottle]

You did good Katie.

[Tennessee Boy]

These October year end reports always trouble me.  Just when I’m starting to have a good time, people start leaving the party.

[pdxfisher]

Wow! Your reports are always fantastic but seeing the whole year in one post is just mind blowing! So awesome that you have all that success from a canoe with no electronics. Your efficiency on the water on your trips is just humbling. You have by far the fewest casts per fish of any angler I have ever heard of. Congrats!

[T-Billy]

Congrats on an AWESOME year Katie!!! Thanks for taking us along on your adventures.

[Swamp Girl]

Thanks, everyone! It was a fun year. I'm fishing the little river tomorrow morning and might fish my pond for one farewell hour on Friday morning. 

 

On 10/29/2024 at 8:53 PM, pdxfisher said:

Your efficiency on the water on your trips is just humbling. You have by far the fewest casts per fish of any angler I have ever heard of.

 

I do enjoy a busy boat and always have. My canoe has weaknesses, like its tippiness, but it's tippy because it's long and skinny, which makes it fast. So, I cover miles every morning and I cover them quietly. I'm sure I'll literally bump into some bass tomorrow morning. They don't hear me coming. When I bump into them, I note where it happened and then look for similar structure and cover up ahead and cast to that. 

 

On 10/28/2024 at 6:08 PM, A-Jay said:

Stay safe and warm

Congrats again on another great season. 

 

You too, Andy, and thanks!

 

19 hours ago, T-Billy said:

Thanks for taking us along on your adventures.

 

Thanks for coming along!

 

On 10/29/2024 at 8:30 PM, Tennessee Boy said:

Just when I’m starting to have a good time, people start leaving the party.

 

And we're sad to leave the party. Sigh.

 

On 10/29/2024 at 10:15 AM, Dwight Hottle said:

You did good Katie.

 

Thanks, Dwight.

 

On 10/28/2024 at 8:00 PM, 12poundbass said:

Bravo! What a great season.

 

Yeah, it was a blast!

 

On 10/28/2024 at 6:06 PM, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You've grown into one of the best anglers on this site in a relatively short period of time as well. 

 

Ahhh, shucks!

 

On 10/28/2024 at 5:42 PM, Fishlegs said:

Your reports always make for great reading, and your surrounding landscape pictures are stunning.

 

I'm so glad you like the landscape pics. Fishing Maine is about more than just bass.

 

On 10/28/2024 at 10:46 AM, TOXIC said:

When winter rears it’s cold breath here, we transition over to the 3,000 acres of warm water discharge from a nuke plant so we can keep going year round.

 

I need one of those nuke plants!

 

On 10/28/2024 at 10:40 AM, Functional said:

I appreciate more photos of where you fish!

 

Another landscape lover! Cool.

 

On 10/28/2024 at 8:59 AM, Pat Brown said:

You may not be tipping canoes anymore but I got a feeling the days of slingin' hogs into the boat are far from over for Ol Crick!!! 

 

Gosh, I hope so!

 

On 10/28/2024 at 8:52 AM, gimruis said:

A new PB and acquired land/waterfront sounds like a winner to me.

 

Indeed.

[Alex from GA]

Thanks for sharing your adventures.  I forsee a road trip south during one of those long winters visiting several of the all year fisher people.  Me among them.

[papajoe222]

I always love to hear/read about others experiences and you have a way of igniting excitement in your sharing.  Thanks for doing just that and as always at the end of the season for us northeners, have a great off season. I'm tipping my glass to you and wishing you a great one to come.

[Smokinal]

Wonderful report Katie!

I love reading your posts and have learned a lot from you; love hearing your perspective on Maine waters. You have definitely outfished me in similar waters!

Much respect for you young lady!

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Smokinal said:

I love reading your posts

 

I'm so glad!

 

1 hour ago, Smokinal said:

have learned a lot from you

 

Other than being sneaky in a swamp, I don't think I've much to teach. I still don't know most of the lures that the other BR anglers use.

 

1 hour ago, Smokinal said:

Much respect for you young lady!

 

Thanks again, but I'm 68. The only thing Snow Whitey about me is my hair.