How did you do this year?

[ElijahH]

Last year was a great fishing year for me. Got several 5lb+ fish and got on the water a lot. 

This year though. I haven't been out nearly as much as I've wanted to and have pretty much been skunked. I did however make a serious boat upgrade and also upgraded some other gear. 

How has your year been?

Anyone else looking to make a rebound, start early in the spring and fish hard next year? 

[T-Billy]

Solid year numbers wise, and from a learning standpoint. Haven't got a 5+ yet this year, but a handfull over 4 and lots of 3+. Not bad for OH public waters. I'll be fishing hard right up till ice over. Might get a big'un yet.

[ElijahH]

20 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

Solid year numbers wise, and from a learning standpoint. Haven't got a 5+ yet this year, but a handfull over 4 and lots of 3+. Not bad for OH public waters. I'll be fishing hard right up till ice over. Might get a big'un yet.

I'm also in Ohio and really start to struggle around October when the temps start dropping, what's some strategies? 

[Junk Fisherman]

I've had a great year so far.  Lots of fish but nothing bigger than a 5.18 lb smallie.  Lots of 3 and 4 lb smallmouth and I've had very few poor days.  Lost a month of prime fishing time over the summer due to illness including a week of vacation up north where I always catch multiple 5+ lb fish every year.   Hoping to take a couple more trips this fall if the weather cooperates.  

[The Bassman]

I'm having my best year ever with four fish over six (two over 7) and if history holds true the best is yet to come. The next couple of months are my favorite time of year.

[Yakalong]

I've had a great year. Didn't catch my PB but still caught a lot of fish. The good news is as I go into fall it's time to go catch the whites and hopefully some hybrids mixed in there 

[GRiver]

I beat my PB twice in one day this year, so for me I had a good year, fishing wise. Plus my wife got me a project boat for Xmas last year. I got it going and in the water, it’s a small 15 ft mod-v aluminum. Powered by a 25 hp 4-stroke, I really like it.

 

[ElijahH]

29 minutes ago, The Bassman said:

I'm having my best year ever with four fish over six (two over 7) and if history holds true the best is yet to come. The next couple of months are my favorite time of year.

How late do you fish into the year and how does your strategy change? I've never done well later in the year, even though many guys fish well into November/December. 

3 minutes ago, GRiver said:

I beat my PB twice in one day this year, so for me I had a good year, fishing wise. Plus my wife got me a project boat for Xmas last year. I got it going and in the water, it’s a small 15 ft mod-v aluminum. Powered by a 25 hp 4-stroke, I really like it.

 

Congrats on the boat! (And the PBs!) Smaller boats like that are so versatile. 

[Buzzbaiter]

My largemouth game was awful. I hardly went for them this year. My smallmouth fishing has taken off though. Most of my summer fishing trips were for river smallies, and I had a ton of fun. I also learned a lot about bass after fishing for smallmouth in clear rivers and seeing how they react to lures. Trout fishing at the start of the year was also great, I caught my first brook in February and my first brown just last weekend. I’m looking forward to catching some colored up brookies this fall

[LrgmouthShad]

I still feel like I am nowhere close to figuring out this sport. That being said, every year I look back at what I did the past year and think "wow, I was really dumb." Happens without fail. I expect every year to be better for me at least for a little while. It's been a great year so far. Catching something over 3lbs used to be an absolute anomaly for me

[Finessegenics]

It was definitely an off year for me. I didn't catch the same numbers as I did last year, though in general I believe my average size of fish was bigger.

 

I also got out a bit less than I would have hoped for but that was because I was discouraged by the lowest water levels we've had in years, mostly due to a dry/mild winter and spring. I have no doubt that it negatively affected the fishing, at least for me. I'm a shorebound angler most of the time and with the higher water we've had in the past, I think the fish were more willing to push up against the bank, which made them easier to catch for me. Or, I'm just making crummy excuses for being a poor angler. Lol. I've heard people say that lower water should make the fish easier to catch because they should be more grouped up. I don't think that applies for the shore-caster. 

 

I didn't explore new areas/spots as much as I had hoped for. To be fair, I made some big plans and added a lot of places to my bucket list so maybe I set myself up for failure. I planned all that last winter and early spring, so I was in the midst of cabin fever and maybe overestimated myself. I didn't have as much time to venture out so when I did have the time, I made sure to stay close to home and just go wherever I could. A lot of my buddies also became busier and were less willing to venture out further with me. Can't stand doing longer trips alone but I certainly will get some done next year. 

 

Still, it wasn't all negative. I revisited spots on the river which I had written off and Surprisingly, I was successful in these overlooked spots. 

 

Despite all this, I also think I became a better angler. I have a pile of baits sitting in my tackle room, but I really narrowed down the amount of tackle I bring with me, as well as what I throw. I've figured out what works and became really comfortable with a few techniques which I already threw a lot. Even though I stuck with only a handful of baits, I also experimented a bit and gained some more confidence with full-sized skirted jigs and swing heads. 

 

No matter how my fishing goes, I'm thankful that I'm even able to get out there. Some people got it way worse and me griping about the fact that I didn't catch enough fish shows just how privileged I am. Super grateful for the opportunities I have to fish and I try not to take it for granted. Looking forward to reading everyone's posts, good post idea OP! ?

[The Bassman]

34 minutes ago, ElijahH said:

How late do you fish into the year and how does your strategy change? I've never done well later in the year, even though many guys fish well into November/December. 

I'm in central IN and have caught bass in all 12 months the past four years. Dec., Jan, and at least the first half of Feb. are a roll of the dice around here. Some of my best fishing has been right around Christmas. As far as tactics go I fish small neighborhood lakes that I have access to. Techniques primarily include Ned rig, jerkbaits, and small blade baits all on spinning gear.

[DitchPanda]

My year has been pretty lackluster if I'm being honest. Last year I managed 3-6s a 7 and a handful of 5s. This year my best fish is maybe 4.5...only had 2-3 that even went 4. Also the past couple years I've caught quite a few smallmouth out of my local including a few nice ones..haven't even seen one this year. October and Early November usually produces some big fish for me so I'm hoping that holds true this year.

[Bankbeater]

It's been a good year for both numbers and size with several bass over 4 lbs, but I just haven't been able to break that 5 pound mark.

  

[king fisher]

I have had an excellent  year so far.  I landed two over 10 pounds, and many between 5 and 9 pounds.  My biggest success was finding a couple predictable patterns, where I could catch multiple fish, instead of simply catching fish at random.    I haven't been bass fishing since June due to a bad right shoulder.  I get my second surgery tomorrow, and hope to recover in time to catch another DD before the year is over.

[ElijahH]

1 hour ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I still feel like I am nowhere close to figuring out this sport.

I think bass anglers of all experience levels go through this every year! 

15 minutes ago, king fisher said:

I have had an excellent  year so far.  I landed two over 10 pounds, and many between 5 and 9 pounds.

Whoa! Congrats! Hope you have a speedy recovery. 

 

1 hour ago, Finessegenics said:

It was definitely an off year for me. 

Despite all this, I also think I became a better angler.

 

Super grateful for the opportunities I have to fish and I try not to take it for granted. Looking forward to reading everyone's posts, good post idea OP! 

Also a off year for me. But we'll make a comeback

Glad everyone is liking the thread, I definitely enjoy hearing yearlong recaps, accomplishments and even struggles of fellow anglers. 

[DaubsNU1]

Well, after not fishing for the better part of 20 years, I think I did okay. 

 

Daughters took priority #1, meaning little to no time fishing from 1998 through last summer. Well, now that they are in college (hell, almost finished with college), I finally got the boat out of storage last summer and dove back in to fishing.

 

Much had changed since I last seriously wet a line. I had never heard of NED, Senko, drop-shot, fluoro, etc.

 

Bassresource.com was a Godsend!

 

Fished last summer and fall, and got a new fish-finder for Christmas...then decided to renovate the boat. That was a fun and frustrating experience all at once. 

 

Caught some good numbers of bass, challenged myself to try new techniques, Brother and I took our 80 year old Dad to South Dakota to chase Smallies (first time for any of us!). We had a blast. 

 

I concentrated on a local lake just 15 minutes from my door...and caught some good numbers...a few 2 & 3lb LMB's (pretty new lake). Think I figured out that lake.

 

Looking forward to some fall fishing, and waterfowl hunting...stoked for deer season.

 

I am still learning, still watching youtube videos, still asking stupid questions here, still experimenting on the water. And still taking my Dad fishing Thursday nights after work. 

 

Good stuff!!

[padon]

pretty good in spring lots of numbers no really big ones but alot of solid chunks. learned alot about staying on and following fish from prespawn through post spawn. early summer wasnt bad stayed on the fish as the grass developed.late july through now tough, some good days some bad. late summer still my nemisis. as it cools off ill usually start doing better.still think i learned alot and am better now than last year.already got some ideas on how to do better next year.

[PhishLI]

I was pleased with how things were going here up until August. Nabbed several nice chunks near the 6 lb mark and a decent haul of 4-5 lbers. Life got in the way of fishing as much as I would've have liked, but that really didn't matter much. By August our local spots experienced explosive weed growth. So many places were choked out shore to shore and up to the surface. A good portion of those weeds were laced with filamentous algae, so fishing was miserable. Forget getting through it with a trolling motor. Actually, right now it's at its worst. Went the other day and thought things might've gotten better with the colder nights we've had, but the growth is still crispy fresh and at its zenith. Just nuts. I managed to escape with a droplet of dignity courtesy of one sad dink, but that's been par for the course lately.

 

I have high hopes for the next few months though. Once the greenery dies back a bit with the colder weather I'll be on them again. You've gotta believe!

[padon]

3 hours ago, ElijahH said:

I'm also in Ohio and really start to struggle around October when the temps start dropping, what's some strategies? 

depemds on the type of lake. grass? look for and fish the greenest grass as other grass starts to die. shad? the shad will group up and start to head toward the back of creeks and pockets. in general look for bait fish. the bass will be where the bait is,

[papajoe222]

Mine was good and bad. I caught my PB smallmouth and my 2nd longest muskie, but my time on the water really took a hit. Between my tow vehicle breaking down and hand surgery, I missed almost six weeks of fishing. I still have about four weeks left to fish and I'll be trying to make up for lost time, but you know what they say about that.

[padon]

3 hours ago, ElijahH said:

I'm also in Ohio and really start to struggle around October when the temps start dropping, what's some strategies? 

also i forgot. if you listen to podcasts listen to bass talk live. on thursdays there is a guy named frank scalish who used to be an elite series pro. hes from ohio and gives tips on seasonal fishing patterns etc . valuable info. 

[Bluebasser86]

I've had a really good year. 3 fish over 7 and at least one more really close. First year fishing kayak tournaments, won almost half of the tournaments I entered and never placed lower than 6th. Won AOY, the championship, and big bass. Fished 3 boat tournaments, won 2 of them. Had some really good trips with the family, one just epic day catching blue cats with my wife and kids. Still lots of fishing left to go this year too. 

[TcRoc]

Numbers wise lower than last year.. spent every outing this year on the same lake spending time learning structure of the place . It will pay off. 

[Columbia Craw]

It’s not over yet.