2025 plans

[A-Jay]

9 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

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

Big Fish Jeff comes to visit us.

Usually in the spring.

You might be able to figure out why . . . 

A-Jay

[Mobasser]

I'm always trying to learn more about deep water jig/ worm/worm fishing. That's an ongoing thing. Keep on learning everything possible about bass behavior.                     For me, learning things is where it's at. We can spend a lifetime at bass fishing, and still have things to learn.

[Pat Brown]

More fishes and more bigger fishes in 2025 is essentially the plan.  Keep trying to get better at the stuff that I seem to excel at rather than expand all over the place - kinda done doing that.  I got baits that work for all times and depths so it's all about continuing to deepen my understanding of presentation and timing for each bait category at this point!

[Jigfishn10]

13 hours ago, king fisher said:

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

Love it! Been that way for a couple of years. Get my parents squared away and hit the water. Nothing pretentious, just let the chips fall where they may. 
 

Love your post @king fisher  

[PBBrandon]

Try out the brand new Bois D’Arc lake here in north Texas, Make a trip or 2 out to Fork. Maybe do a little more catfishing than I have been

[BassinBrett]

I am going to spend 5 days fishing for smallmouth in Sturgeon Bay, WI in May.   Then the rest of the year I am going to fish the Mississippi and St croix rivers in my new kayak.  
 

completely off topic but I am also going to Colorado for 2 weeks and I hope to catch some trout.

[Swamp Girl]

2 hours ago, BassinBrett said:

I am going to spend 5 days fishing for smallmouth in Sturgeon Bay, WI in May.   Then the rest of the year I am going to fish the Mississippi and St croix rivers in my new kayak.  
 

completely off topic but I am also going to Colorado for 2 weeks and I hope to catch some trout.

 

I'm jelly. That's some great bass-water you'll be fishing!

 

@Jigfishn10: @king fisher is the man!

[Buzzbaiter]

I always keep a document with all my fishing goals for the year. I usually write it at the start of the New Year, so I haven’t thought about it too much yet. My goals this year will be modest.
 

First, I got a really nice UL rod (Daiwa Trout X NT), which I’ve paired with a Daiwa Revros and 2lb P-Line. It’s not the most expensive setup in the world, but it’s my first actual quality UL setup. I’ve used it to catch a single stocked rainbow so far, and it fishes beautifully. I’d like to use it on some Potomac smallmouth and see how light of a rod I can get away with. On the opposite side of that coin, I’d like to catch a 4+ pound smallmouth. I caught a couple of decent ones last year, but my scale died on me. I’d like to spend more time targeting big fish. Frankly, I didn’t spend as much time fishing for smallmouth this year as I’d like to have done.

 

I’m going to Ireland in the spring, so I’m excited to target Atlantic salmon, sea-run brown trout, normal brown trout, pike, redfin perch, and European sea bass. None of that stuff has anything to do with bass, but they are fishing goals.

 

Beyond that, I can’t think of any other goals I’d like to accomplish. I still want to catch a Kentucky bass and an Alabama bass, but I doubt I’ll find the time to fish the southeast. I’m just happy to be fishing another year.

[Swamp Girl]

Thanks to Susky starting this thread. Because of Susky, I've been thinking about giving myself a goal for 2025 and I've settled on one. 2025 will be the Year of the Big Bags:

 

I'm going to keep a running tally of my five-bass-bags over 15 pounds. My goal will be at least four bags over 20-pounds. It's hard to achieve at my latitude because when I do it, I typically do it with three four-pounders, one five-pounder, and a three and a half-pounder. The last one is the only easy slot to fill. 

[Craig P]

No goals yet but a pseudo-goal is to not stop fishing this year. We just got our first cold snap here in Pa so that and the holidays will keep me off the water but any found time I can slip out I will. The one place I fish has some really nice perch in it so I want to target them. They usually hang with the bass at this spot so a by-product bass will never be complained about.  

[Susky River Rat]

@Swamp Girl I’m glad I  could help!

[Bankbeater]

In 2025 I want to do more fishing for white bass, stripers, and hybrids.  

[DogBone_384]

I'll be 'unretiring' in '25, but until then I'm on a steady course of taking care of family and fishing when time allows.

 

Spending more time in NH with my boat is a priority.  Maybe Maine too.

[padon]

one of my plans is to reevaluate the way i fish the susquehanna river. after 2 major kayak tournaments were  won on a magdraft and glide bait. i need to make some adjustments

 

[Susky River Rat]

@padon the susky was on fire most the year. It seemed like they were really loving fast aggressive baits where previous years it was alll about neds, tubes, that sort of thing.

[AboveAverageAngler]

Bought a bigger boat this fall. Plan to fish some bigger bodies of water, that I never was able to take my small boat on. Vermilion, Mille Lacs, and Leech to name a few.

[papajoe222]

On 11/30/2024 at 8:03 AM, A-Jay said:

Big Fish Jeff comes to visit us.

Usually in the spring.

You might be able to figure out why . . . 

A-Jay

I envy you guys, I wish I had the funds for a trip to Baccarac. Heck, I'd settle for a guided trip on Lake Fork.

[T-Billy]

I'm looking forward to getting to fish with my wife more. My new schedule allows us to get out together more often than in the last few years. Aside from that, I have zero goals. I've been fishing hard on a quest to catch 100 muskie this year. Current count stands at 91 for me, plus 13 for Tammy. Next year, no goals other than to chill out and enjoy my time on the water. 

[Swamp Girl]

3 hours ago, T-Billy said:

I'm looking forward to getting to fish with my wife more. My new schedule allows us to get out together more often than in the last few years. Aside from that, I have zero goals. I've been fishing hard on a quest to catch 100 muskie this year. Current count stands at 91 for me, plus 13 for Tammy. Next year, no goals other than to chill out and enjoy my time on the water. 

 

Great goal, Tim. 

[FishTax]

Hoping to get my wife to fish with me more this year. She started enjoying it some last year and since she loves kayaking I hope we can go out together much more frequently. Just need a baby sitter..

Also catch more and bigger fish. Of course. And maybe learn blade bait. Maybe. 

[senile1]

@Columbia Craw

I hear you.  Like you, I also missed about 6 weeks in the spring because I had to get a new outboard for my boat.  Additionally, the last few years have been difficult for our family.  (See the post below.) In the past year it was discovered that my wife's 97 year old Mother has terminal cancer.  We spend a lot of time driving to her town and spending time with her.  Her husband, who is 96, has a bad back so I also take care of chores and maintenance at their house.  They have both lived long lives, have their wits, and up until now had been physically capable so they don't like this new stage of their lives.  I think they thought they would just pass away in their sleep, but unfortunately, life is full of surprises. 

 

Having said all of that, like @king fisher, I plan to fish every chance I get and see what bites.  There will be a trip or two to Table Rock and quite a few to my local lakes within a couple of hours.  

 

 

 

[gim]

I joined a second racquetball league that starts in January (sorry, pickleball is too slow and the competition isn't there even though I enjoy it) in an attempt to increase my stamina to muskie fish longer next season.  I'll never be able to go for days on end, 10 or 12 hours at a time, but maybe if I can hurl those honking lures for an hour longer each outing, it would increase my odds of encountering more fish.  

 

Smallmouth fishing this past season wasn't great.  But a determining factor is out of my control (wind/weather) because its big water.  When the stars align, the rewards are great.

[Motoboss]

Improve my jig fishing and standings in local kayak tournaments.

 

Golf less and fish more

[WaskaCrank12]

Due to an engine issue (30 plus year old Evinrude) I was not able to get on the water until mid-August in 2024 - so a goal for 2025 is to be in the water by early May (or earlier if the ice is off the lakes here in MN).

2025 will be my third year with a boat so I hope to continue to learn my 2 local lakes and perhaps branch out to a third.

In 2024 I caught a few PB bass (19.8" LMB, 18.5" SMB - these lakes are managed for walleye, so any bass 18" or longer is considered a good size) - so in 2025 I would like to catch more bass in this size range (I only have a measuring mat). I have never used a scale to weight a "bag" for the day yet maybe I will do that ? My best day, using the measuring mat, in 2024 was - (in inches) 18.5/18.5/17.5/16/15.5 - so I will see if I can better that in 2025.  

I have done very little jerk bait fishing (110/95 size) yet have recently purchased a MB Orochi XX Ronin as a jerk bait rod and will look to use that while learning/increasing my skill with jerk baits.

As aways my number one goal is to fully enjoy my time on the water !

 

[dytmook]

Find my 20 inch river smallie...

 

But also: 

Get my kayak out

Make a trip to Erie, St Clair, or somewhere like that

Keep getting better on the water in general, I feel like I made good progress this year in reading water, making adjustments, and avoiding total disaster in my derbies.