A memorable 2020 season

[gim]

I fish exclusively in Minnesota so my season here is limited to about 6 months.  Bass season opens in mid May and I generally hang it up around mid October.  My last outing this season was on Oct 10.  I have been fishing this area of central Minnesota for 22 years.

 

I can recall good years and mediocre years.  I can even recall a couple of great seasons mixed in there too.  I cannot recall a season that I would call terrible, ever.  I simply fish too much for every outing to be poor.

 

Every outing was at least in the category of decent and most of them were in the category of good, with several in the category of what I would call fantastic.  I usually have maybe 1 or 2 days all season that are this good.  This season I had over a dozen.  It wasn't just a numbers game either, it was quality fish.  Really the only period of time when it wasn't good was from about mid August until mid September.  And even then, it was still OK.  I can't say exactly why it was so much better, but I have a three theories: 1) I used generally bigger lures than usual 2) I did a good amount of dock skipping 3) I fished several times at night.  These three strategies helped play a role in my success because they were something I hadn't done with regularity in years.

 

A lot of people will probably remember 2020 as the year of a global pandemic, historic civil unrest, or a politically-charged election.  Not this guy.  I will remember 2020 as the best fishing season I've ever had.  At least someone will have a fond memory of 2020 and that someone is me.

[Big Rick]

12 minutes ago, gimruis said:

A lot of people will probably remember 2020 as the year of a global pandemic, historic civil unrest, or a politically-charged election.  Not this guy.  I will remember 2020 as the best fishing season I've ever had.  At least someone will have a fond memory of 2020 and that someone is me.

You're right and that is a great attitude. It's a proven fact that whatever you're looking for, if you look hard enough you will find it; whether that is positive or negative.  Kudos to you for finding the positive in an otherwise negative year. We all can benefit from your example. 

[GaryH]

Your glass is definately half full. Congrats on a great season and thanks for sharing those great photos.

[TnRiver46]

Nice fish! 

[Bird]

Glad you had a great season. 

 

This was my first full year of retirement so naturally caught more fish than previous years. 

 

Odd year with pandemic as it forced me off the water earlier in the day do to the incredible HORDES of people. 

 

Much better now. Lol

[DitchPanda]

It was certainly a good bass year for me as well. I live in Northwest Iowa so I'm not far behind you for weather which means my year is drawing to a close. Numbers wise for me was probably average or slightly above...size wise was definitely solid. Lots of 3-4 lb fish...half a dozen in the 5 range...3 6s and a 7. I've caught bigger top end fish in the past but for average size this has been a good year.

[gim]

53 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

half a dozen in the 5 range...3 6s and a 7.

No 6 or 7 pounders here but did catch several in the 5-6 pound range, and I usually catch just one of those all season. A 7 pound largie here would be insanely big for MN.

[DitchPanda]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

No 6 or 7 pounders here but did catch several in the 5-6 pound range, and I usually catch just one of those all season. A 7 pound largie here would be insanely big for MN.

Your state record bass is 8lb 15oz and 23.5 inches long. My personal best is around 8.75lbs. Iowa state record is 10lb 12oz. Crazy to think we live that close and there is that much of a difference. The weather in the southern part of Iowa is considerably warmer than here tho so they may get a longer growing season.

The area around where I live isn't known for numbers but it sure does grow some big bass.I've caught 4 bass in the 8lb and up range in 20 years..3 have come from within ten minutes of my house...3 of them have been in the past 6 or 7 years. Also I live on the south Dakota border...there largemouth record was just broken this spring but the previous record which stood for 20 years came from a tiny gravel pit that's literally 3 miles from the Ethanol plant I work at.

[FryDog62]

Gim, you definitely had a great season been fun to watch your posts. You also seem to be the anomaly here in Minnesota. I’d say 99% of the guys I talk with had an average or below average year here. We just don’t get the pressure here with our 11,000 lakes like other states. Well until until this year anyway when the governor restricted activities but said yeah it’s ok to go fishing... and then everyone did all at once. 
 

I guess it just shows that the really talented anglers still can always figure out how to catch ‘em when others struggle! 

[MN Fisher]

Glad to know someone up here had a great year. Nice fish there, dude.

 

In my situation, I don't get to take the canoe out unless we have someone to come keep the wife company - she's mostly disabled and needs assistance for certain things. With the Covid-19 thing going on, I only was able to get out 6 times all year...and 3 short shore trips. Best of the year was under 2# for bass, 3.5# for pike, and no panfish keepers at all.

 

Hopefully next year will get me out more.