Rate your fishing year =2015

[N Florida Mike]

2015 was one of my best years overall for numbers and size.There were 3 days that I caught over 20 fish and fished mornings only.This year,I caught 13 fish over 4 pounds but only 1 over 6.But hey,No complaints.The 2 things I would like to change in 2016 are that I wouldn't have to fish alone so much,because I really enjoy fellowship with others and it gives the opportunity for exchange of info.and to hopefFully influence each other's lives.I would also like to be able to fish occasionally away from home which I could not do recently due to serious family constraints.I am thankful to live on a good bass lake so I'm OK with that.

[FrogFreak]

2015 was great for me. Here are some highlights:

• Several 5 pounders (good size for up north). One memorable pig on a frog next to a dock.
• I learned and had success with a jig (both flipping and swimming).
• I started a new job with a schedule that gives me every other Friday off and a boss that understands my passion!
• I found several new lakes that produced well.
• I didn't get skunked once!
• The spring was a hoot catching big numbers with a wacky rigged worm
• Summer fishing was steady with some great days!
• Fall was hit and miss but still beautiful and I had the lakes to myself!
• I actually got to fish in November this year! That's a rarity up where I live.
• I wasn't nearly as one-dimensional as I have been in the past. That helped my success I'm sure.
• I took a young neighbor kid out kayak fishing and put him on some hot spots. He caught 12 bass and his smile is something I won't soon forget.
• My 22 year-old son bought a kayak and went fishing with me often.
• I got very comfortable with my boat this year and learned a ton about boat positioning, loading and unloading etc.
• My wife caught her PB 3.5 lbs!

 

[MIbassin]

2015 was awesome.

The bass in the pond behind my house in Florida grew into giants, and I had some spectacular days fishing for peas.

I caught my PB

 I fished the everglades back in april and caught tons of nice bass on a jig, which is now one of my confidence baits! One of my better years for sure… 

Most importantly, I learned more about bass fishing in the past year than any other!

[soflabasser]

2015  was a great year for fishing for me.Caught many big bass along with large numbers of bass.I also  caught many new personal best for different types of fish in both freshwater and saltwater.

[Brent Christian]

For me 15 was alot of little fish and not enough time to go ?

[papajoe222]

2015 . I can't recall a season with as much weather fluctuation.  Of course, when I was able to get on the water.....you guessed right. High pressure and bluebird skies.  Overall numbers and big fish size really suffered.  More often than not, after an outing, I felt like I'd worked a double shift without the pay  

 

[Missourifishin]

On a scale of 1-10 I'd rate my year a 3. I had an unusually bad spring. And then didn't get out and fish much in the summer. Fall was better. If I was only rating fall I'd give it a 6-7. But the first part of the year was kind of disappointing for me.  

[spease1]

One of my best years. I caught 12 Bass over 5# this year. Not as many fish overall, but a good year.

[Fishes in trees]

I'd call it a decent year, not a great year but a decent year.  Health issues took July & August off the schedule, for the most part.  Took a week off to go do the Fishing for Freedom event that the Leavenworth Bass Club puts on at Truman Lake every year, and the soldier I drew caught a few fish this year - fish that we could weigh - that was a first for me.  3 of the 5 days that I was down there were beautiful.  1 was windy and I broke some gear dealing with the wind, but nothing that I couldn't fix by throwing money at it.  Planning now to do that event again next fall - hope it happens.

[wytstang]

Jan/Feb were strong and then the year fell flat on it's face for me. However Dec yielded me my best/new PB so it ended well but slow /weak overall.

[BassObsessed]

2015 was pretty good for me. Had a productive spring in my home state with alot of topwater frog action. I did alot of traveling to fish which includes Florida, Lake Champlain , and California. Caught a couple over 10 in Florida , alot of 3-4lb smallies at Champlain and loads of nice bass in Ca. including 3 over 6lbs in the same day. Need to live closer to one of those lakes.

[Jar11591]

Numbers up.

Size down.

Less time on the water than in the past  

[Spankey]

I have no complaints on 2015. Early spring fish location is always an issue for me. Did get a few nice pre spawn bass on jerk baits. Worked hard at it but it paid off. July to the first of November I had a great time this past year. When I can pull off some 18"-20" smallies I have to be happy. 3+ pounders.

Disappoints : Felt good about some Baker Lures I wanted to try. Thought I'd do better with them. Won't dis them. Just  will revisit them this season. I'm a Rapala freak, thought I'd kick butt with some of the new real image baits they put out. They worked great on channel catfish. Was not really fishing for cats. Great fight on light tackle though. I didn't topwater fish as much as usual. I let some poor results get into my head. I should have fished my way through my tough time.

2016 : Hope to have a season equal or better. I'm going back to a few lures and patterns that were very productive in the past that I've worked myself away from. Old school fishing with some old school baits. Going to try to not overthink some tough situations.

[IowaHusker28]

2015 was a 9/10. It was a year that I will remember forever. I probably had a line wet either from the boat or from shore at least 125 days this year, fished multiple tournaments and never finished below half but also never finished in the top 10% either, hence the 9. I've never learned so much in a year and I know that 2016 will be even better but 2015 will also be remembered as the year of missed fish.

This year I.... Caught a bass with the boat in 120ft of water, and also caught a bass in the backwater of the Mississippi with the boat in 1/2ft of water. Fished in my first 200+ boat tournament. Joined a new bass club. Improved the boat with new units and a #112. I learned that throwing an A-rig, 10-8xds, and big spoons are really fun but a huge hassle. I also learned how to break down a lake, mapping, sonars, contours, channel swings, current, and everything that goes along with that better.

The most important thing I learned was how to adapt on the fly, whether it be boat issues, a bad practice, things not going as planned in a tournament day or just figuring out fish when they change their mood. I have never felt better going into a new season and my cabin fever started the first day the boat was winterized. 

 

[68camaro]

I found bass fishing in 2015 so the year gets a "10" for sure.

[TommyTreble]

Overall #'s were average for me here in Connecticut, better in the Spring, much less in the Fall.  I did get my PB smallmouth on December 6th, usually I quit fishing by then, but we had the warmest December on record here.

[Sandhillcrab]

Mine was alright. Lots of large and small mouths. Started tournament fishing. Did very well in a few. Out of 10 my year was a 8. 

[Felix77]

"C" at best if I were to go strictly by tournament ranking standards.  Some I did very well but when I sucked I truly sucked.  Tournaments got so bad at the end it shook my confidence to an all time low.  

On the brighter side

1 - I improved my use of electronics (from a yak ... I have no boat).  Was able to identify and catch fish on deeper structure/cover discovered using my Lowrance chirp.

2 - Improved my drop shot.  Refined my equipment and technique and caught a ton of fish on it last year.

3 - Caught a new personal best nearing 8 lbs.  From the BANK no less after dealing with that all time low period.  Reminded me why I love fishing so much.

[the reel ess]

I give myself a B.

 

I'm fishing private smaller waters almost exclusively because I'm getting old and don't want or need any competition.That means a lot of small fish, but in a couple places there are opportunities to catch 5-plus class fish. It's not very hard to learn three bodies of water, but my goal is to continue beating my personal best and I know there are 10 lb fish in one place. You can't catch a 10 pounder by fishing places that don't have any.

I only got skunked once in all of 2015 and that was because a storm blew up. Even caught two in an hour in some pretty cold water Saturday. One 3.86 lbs.

Goal for 2016. Learn to rely on the jig. I know that'll raise the average size fish.

[Scarborough817]

great first year of fishing, caught a new pb, learned a lot and i now have 6 setups for next year can't wait for the fourth Saturday in June 

[A fisher]

Started off slow but caught a PB of 5 lbs to end the year!

[fishballer06]

2015 was pretty good to me. It was my first year fishing tournaments. My first outing on a boat this year I landed my personal best largemouth in the US, 5lb 1oz. Our first tournament of the year we took 4th place. We missed third by 2 oz and second by 5 oz. After that, we struggled in tournaments and only had a limited one other time. But I always did really well when fishing for fun or practice. 

 

On my Canada trip this year, I caught my personal best walleye at 28" and 6.7 pounds while working a rattle trap over some weeds. I also caught the most walleye out of everyone in our cabin. 

 

This fall the salmon run was poor, but I still got my limit. 

 

This fall I caught some really nice smallmouth in October and November. In upper 40's degree water, I caught fish in 3' of water and in 25'+ of water. 

 

Overall, the tournaments could have went better, but I had a lot of fun and I learned a lot of new bodies of water, and I worked on my techniques with a few different presentations that aren't my specialty. 

[GetJigginWithIt]

Great year for me. Finally got a boat to call my own and caught my PB.

[Kbral87]

2015 was the year of the dink, don't think I caught anything over 2lbs. Im pretty optimistic about this year.

[DogBone_384]

I call 2015 am 7/10.

I caught fewer numbers, but bigger fish.  There's wasn't much of a Spring here in MA.  This was the first year using a scale so it'll be my first year with a 'real' PB.  I hoped to get better reading my Lowrance and locating fish better.

 I made some progress, but didn't get as good as I hoped.

I'd like to fish with BR members in '16.