Looks Like Season Is Over For Me/ Season Recap

[BammerBass]

I was hoping to go ne or two more timed this year, but health concerns and housework has probably made that an after thought. Wont divulge into the health issues as thats personal, but we've gotta redo the entire shower stall and looking at it, thats gonna be quite a task. Also have a vehicle acting like it is going down, someday, those are priorities over fishing. bummed out, but it is what it is.

Went 5 times this year(limited in summer to allergic reaction s, couple anaphylactic type) Caught numerous youngling bass on live worms, caught several 3/4 to 1 lbers on nightcrawlers and panfish assassins. Several nice shellcrwcker on night crawlers thst seemed to hit on every thrliverow, many times as soon as it made contact with the water, so they were evide tily hungry little suckers!!! Then came that possible 4 lb bass i hadgot to strike a silvrr minnow panfish assassin, snapped line when i got it out of the water amd halfway up the pier. Several decent drum on black shad pa fish assassin jigs, including a 15" and a 17" drum. an 11.5 inch crappie on the silver minnow panfish assasin, a 2-3 lb channel cst on chicken liver, and this 2.3 to 2.5 lb largemouth cqught (qnd landed this time, lesson lewrned from losing the other one!!!)

Considering the limited time I had, and my relative inexperience outside of live bait, should I consider this a success? My firdt goal was to simply catch a fish givrn it had been 3 years since the last time I got to go, check. Next goal was to catch a few nice bluegill or other panfish; check, after that, goal was a decent bass(1.5 lb or bigger) check, and finally a "good bass" being 4 lbs or more by my goal; failed, hung a good kne I believed would have been a solid 4, did grt it up out of the water, halfway up the pylon, line snapped halfway up, felt the tension go away and hesrd the splash of the fish go back I to the water..... made me sick to my stomach........ So based on my goals, does this sound like a successful year?

[Catch and Grease]

Only you can decided if you met your goals, but to me it sounds like a good year!

[BooyahMan]

Most definitely a successful year! You got fish to bite, and that's more than half the battle already. Means you're doing something right and next year you'll know just where to start. 

[BammerBass]

I have a feeling in the spring, that place could very well be a real hotbed for rwally just about anything from feeding bluegill to crappie, to spawning snd feeding bass, and even catfish. The potential is definitely there.

[jbw252]

It's good to have goals, but ultimately did you have a good time & enjoy yourself when out fishing?  Did you learn some techniques or try new things?  If so, then all in all, your season was successful.  I hope your health issues work out for the best.  Tight lines!

[BammerBass]

Oh I had a blast, even the time before I found "the honey hole" catching dinks and a brim, I still enjoyed it, it was nice to grt back out there after such a long time(3 years of not even grtting my license or touching rods or tackle). Then came when I hooked up with what I suspect was my personal best bass, had I not got so eager in reeling it up thst it snapped the line as it came up the pylon. Figure it was around 4lbs, fsirly long (19-20" best estimation) and a fatty!!! And what made it runner was that was the first fish of that day, so to aay I was pleasantly surprised and caught off guard is a humongous understatement. Then after that on the same day, the shellcracker tore nightcrawlers up as if they had been starving, every throw id grt a bite, almost instantly numerous times. Caught some nice shellcracker. they were MEAN, kept their fins up the whole time and stabbed me pretty good, one even tried to jump in my shirt, haha. Then came the next trip, a few little bass, a coule bluegill, a 15" drum, 11.5 inch crappie and a catfish. And the last time, caught 4 drum on panfish jigs, including a 17" drum, and a fairly nice and healthy 16" ~2.5 lb bass thst I DID cstch this time because I lewrned my lesson from the big one before and didn't horse it that time. Carried on like a kid, as if it were my first fish ever, I was excited!!!! That thrill of fighting thwt gorgeous fish on that light action rod was amazing. Dunno what it is about bass, even if it is a mere "keeper" size, it gives me an epic adrenaline rush, and it tickled me beyond pure joy.

So all in all, especially considering I was just really happy to grt back out there again, and content to cstch even just some decent size bluegill, id say definitely a success, as I was certainly hoping in the back of my mind to run into a nice bass, but not expecting it given how novice I still am even though I had been fishing for years since I was 5 untilnsuddenly stopped going for 3 yearss due to work and little opportunity. Still sick t my stomach i lost thst one thought, but it was a very exciting hansful of trips indeed, and actually really exceeding my personal goals.

[BammerBass]

Oh and then there was the very last fish I caught. We had made a small campfire as it had gotten dark and right before it burned down so we could go home, I decided fo grab my ultralight and toss it out there just to see what would happen. Had a general idea of where I aas throwing, steel beam to my left and a steel cable to my right, so I overland tossed it in a general direction I figured I wouldn't grt hung on. Eventually I sorta lost track of where my line was but continued my slow retrieve until I felt somethinf "bump it" . I thought yeah I threw in the dark and got hung on a rock, but then it moved and began pulling, and I aaid " I donr think rocks do that". So I ask dad to shine the flashlight at the water becauze I thought I had something, and sure enough a drum was on the line, literally a shot in the dark. I was rather happy I was abls to tell I got a bite just strictly going by feel on that one . I wont make habit of casting out with no light lol, but that was cool.

[MacDaddyFishin]

Sounds like you had an extremely successful year! And like many other posters above said, as long as you got the fish to bite you had a pretty darn good year I would say! Next year you know where to start now, and you will be able to catch even more!

[BammerBass]

A little bummed out my fishing is probably done. I thought I was goinf to have another shot or two, and based on what I observed from the bass I saw chasing bluegill around the shallows I decided to get a small crankbait that resembled a bluegill and I was excited about the possibilities, but alas, wasn't meant to be I suppose. Then again, perhaps I woulda got it hung on a rock and lost it on the first cast, heh, who knows?

[MacDaddyFishin]

Hey don't worry about it! You will get to fish again! I was diagnosed with a heart condition at the beginning of this year and missed out on alot of my favorite times to fish, but i'm right back at it now! Morale of my post is don't give up just keep on going