2025 plans

[Susky River Rat]

Since we are rapidly winding down 2024, anyone starting to plan their 2025 with some fishing plans? Big trip? Tournaments? New rig or bait? New boat? I’d like to try to keep this mainly fishing related.

 

I would really like to do two tournaments next year. I would like to visit an area of the river I really enjoy but, haven’t got there in a couple years for various reasons. I would also like to start learning another section of the river. I mean really learn it not just show up and fish it here and there. 
 

 

[casts_by_fly]

New boat is the plan per my other thread. Couple contenders so far but need to see what my bonus looks like closer to time of purchase. 
 

Time will be the biggest question mark. I think it will be about like this year which is to say a once a week affair (compared to 2023 which was 2-3). On that basis this year I fished one lake almost exclusively and learned it well. Assuming I get the boat, I’ll probably fish a couple different lakes and the river a bit more since they were tough to fish in an evening in the kayak.
 

Tried some new techniques this year (smaller ‘big’ swimbait, neds, etc) to learn them. Next year will be an expansion on fishing those baits. I don’t have a ton of gear that I want or need, just a restock of my usual plastics that I went through. 

[Susky River Rat]

@casts_by_fly a jet still in your future?

[crypt]

spend more time on Okeechobee..Only did 5 days last year.That won't cut it for me next year.I need at least a couple of weeks minimum.

[LrgmouthShad]

I’m planning on a couple of kayak tournaments next year, but I’m likely heading overseas in the summer. If I haven’t met my goal for a DD this year, I’ll roll that over into next year when I’m not tournament fishing / prefishing. I don’t expect to be doing much fishing overall next year. I expect to be doing a lot of fishing next month

[A-Jay]

 

 

The stars will really need to be aligned but

I'm hoping 2025 is the year I can get back . . . .

Just one more time.

A-Jay

[SC53]

 Making it to 2026 

[whitwolf]

I've been fishing but not as much as I wanted. 

 

Remedy: my wife is all In  this year. I had a couple of guys that talked a good show but rarely came through. 

 

I can't fish by myself for safety reasons so it will be twice a week. Once after my wife gets off work during the week and once on the weekend, mostly at night.

I'm helping the high school fishing team (assistant coach and fundraising) and one of the boat captain's can occasionally take me on his boat after June. 

 

Simply fish more.

[king fisher]

No plans.  I'm just going to cast my line and see what bites.

[Maverick2017]

Child support and 3 years of alimony begin for me so 2025 will just have me doing more fishing and less gear buying….but don’t worry, I stocked up throughout all of 2024 with some good JDM goodies and a great rod/reel fleet 😎

 

Wouldn’t mind taking a solo trip from up here in Northern IL down to Fork or Lake O for a week of bank banging in April/May though

[Columbia Craw]

My godson moved to Post Falls Idaho and asked me to drive over and spend a week on Coeur de Laine and maybe Dworshack.  
 

I missed out on peak spring fishing this year. My wife had to take care of her mother, out of state, for almost seven months.  It would be nice to capitalize on that period. Finally, I have acquired Swimbaits that need to be torn up. 

[Aaron_H]

I hope for a personal best each year, so that is my hope for 2025. Barring that, at least getting into more in the 7+ class range, only one this year and one last year. My plan is to jerkbait fish hard in the next couple of months and fingers crossed I'll hook into a jumbo.

 

But overall I just want to be able to get out more than I did this year and have fun fishing.

[casts_by_fly]

6 hours ago, Susky River Rat said:

@casts_by_fly a jet still in your future?

that’s my plan. I think I’ll have to add a 6hp or so for the 9.9 lakes but I think that’s my best bet. A 16’ v bottom with a 9.9 is the other option. It limits the river but is fine elsewhere and a lot cheaper. 

[papajoe222]

5 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I'm hoping 2025 is the year I can get back . . . .

Just one more time.

A-Jay

Are you going to hook up with your Baccarac fishing partner that's not on this site anymore?  Just curious.

[Glenn]

After attending 18 Classics, I'll skip it this year.  But I will be at ICAST again (for the 19th time).  It's part of my plan to travel less often.  I know that sounds weird, but I flew 7 times in 8 months this year, and that's a tad more than I like.  I have 4 trips planned already for 2025, so I'm limiting any more.

 

I also plan on fishing more often.  The wife doesn't fish but a few times a year now, and as much as I enjoy fishing alone, it'd be great to find a few folks who would like to join me. 

[DaubsNU1]

Last year the goals were to learn my boat, TM and electronics, fish off-shore, catch a 5lb LMB, catch 40" Pike in Canada, and most of all, get my 83 year old Dad on the water as much as possible. He landed a sweet 22" Eye early last spring.

 

Thankful to have hit all the goals for 2024. 

 

Goals for 2025:

• Get Dad to Frances Case in South Dakota for some SMB's and Eyes
• 6lb LMB
• 5lb SMB
• Master Angler Crappie (>15")
• Catch five Musky (I don't care how big they are...)
• Fish Devil's lake ND
• Techniques to focus on -- crankbaits off shore, swim-jigs, swim-baits, jerk-baits

[MN Fisher]

Get out on the water - with the ulcerated sore on my ankle, launching and landing the boat was a non-starter this past year. After a bit of surgery on it last week, it's already looking much better, so fingers-crossed, I'll get Bass Trek out next year.

 

Also learning the EchoMap 9sv I purchased last spring, but have never gotten the transducer wet.

 

Beyond that, just catching some nice fish - either framed-photo worthy or freezer worthy...either would be fine for me.

[GreenPig]

Figure out what new boat I want and purchase it. I've had my current boat welded 4 times and it continues to leak. 

[Susky River Rat]

@casts_by_flyyeah, it’s a trade off. Once I got my new boat I only fish places I can run my big motor. 
 

@Glenn I totally get that. Travel stinks in my opinion.  If you ever find yourself out by the susky (depending where) and could stand fishing with a hack like me I’d gladly take you out. 
 

@GreenPig did you use food coloring to try to find where it’s coming from?  Also if they didn’t fill the crater of the weld in correctly thay can be a leaking spot as well. 

[GreenPig]

1 hour ago, Susky River Rat said:

@GreenPig did you use food coloring to try to find where it’s coming from?  Also if they didn’t fill the crater of the weld in correctly thay can be a leaking spot as well. 

Didn’t try food coloring. I put water in the boat and got video of the leaks. She's almost 20 years old and trying to break in half on me. Every rivet under the center seat is leaking. Time to upgrade.

[GRiver]

2025…..well I’m just going to go fishing, not try so hard. 
      I fished mostly crank and jerk baits in 2024, which is what I said I was going to do. My numbers went down, but it did build up my confidence and experience using them. Glad I took the time to do it, plus got some cool new tackle.

Oh and get back to hawg hunting,

still haven’t got me a double digit.

 

[Swamp Girl]

More of the same, i.e. continuing to learn the pond where I bought land and fishing four other ponds/bogs. I'd like to break my PB, of course, but I think it's unlikely. Looking out the window, I see snow and it'll be white here for three to four months, limiting the growth of bass, so my 2024 22.25" bulging girl might be the biggest I'll ever see at 44 degrees north. Rarity-wise, In-Fisherman compares her to a 12-pounder in the South and you guys know how rare 12-pounders are, even in Texas with forward-facing sonar.

 

 

I've caught thousands of bass in Maine and a fish like her is so rare, so rather than chase Moby Dick, I'll enjoy my busy boat and I intend to use my baitcasters more. I see that you guys sure love yours and I used them to musky fish, so I'm comfortable with them. I do hope to catch dozens of four and five-pounders and I plan to use some new lures, like creature baits and burner worms. I especially enjoy the challenge and thrill of 20-pound bags, so fingers crossed I can land a few.

 

I'd love to fish with @Glenn, but like Glenn, I hate to travel. Airports and traffic jams are my unhappy places. See the wild shoreline in the photo above? That's my happy place.

 

Lastly, I hope to catch some more drop-dead gorgeous bass like this one:

 

[Junk Fisherman]

My plans for 2025 are shaping up quite nicely.  I decided to rejoin my bass club after a 2-year hiatus.  I plan to fish the majority of the tournaments.  The club made a couple changes that made it a lot more attractive to me;  #1  Travel tournaments only consist of a Sunday tournament.  This is great since I don't feel the need to necessarily take Friday off to prefish.  #2  Our state man team will be determined by our top 6 events not the entire schedule and all our meetings.  In the past, if you knew you were going to miss a couple events and meetings, you knew you had no chance for the state team.  Now, you can overcome that if you do well at the events you fish.

 

Besides all that, I have a great schedule lined up with club events (great schedule), a spring break trip to southern Illinois (there are actually some good lakes in Illinois that fish great in the spring), a week-long, summer trip to Door Co, WI for smallmouth, and all my local fishing where I have done very well the last few years.  I don't plan on taking a trip to Grand Traverse Bay in June as I've done for the last 10 years due to be very busy with club events and a family vacation.  I do have a small window I could squeeze it in if the weather forecast is perfect but that is probably unlikely.  And I'm really looking forward to fishing locally.  I often do better fishing my local waters during the week than I do when I drive hours away to some hot lake that I don't have much knowledge of.

 

In terms of fishing, my plans are to be more focused and prepared with a well thought-out gameplan.  I've been winging it the last couple years just fishing confidence baits and the spots I've always fished.   I haven't really learned any new techniques and don't really feel that I've gotten much better.  Fishing tournaments again will force me to prepare more and actively try to learn new techniques to gain an advantage on my opponents.  I don't have any specific goals about big fish or placement in tournaments.  If I am prepared, focused, and give 100% while on the water which are things I control, then the results are just part of the process.  I can't control the results.   

[Catt]

Pre-spawn starts around the 3rd or 4th week of January.

 

 

[Reel]

Have fun .... catch fish