Your thoughts of 2006......

[bassnleo]

Since bassing is winding down in much of the U.S., especially in the North, I got to pondering my 2006 season. Overall, I'm pleased with my season. I was AOY in one club and third in another. I weighed approximately 125 lbs of bass just in club tournaments and had quite a few top 3 finishes in open team style events. Somehow, even with my moderate success, I'm still not satisfied with my performance and feel that I can improve.

With that said, I got to thinking on what I want to work on for 2006 and was curious what everyone else's goals for next year are.

Mine, well, I really want to expand on a few techniques that I only experimented briefly with. One is fishing a jig deeper. I purchased some football jig heads and used them a few times over the past few events. I really like the technique and feel that I can apply it to a wide variety of summer situations. I will most likely build jigs over the winter then use them when the time comes.

My second technique that I plan on experimenting with is a shakey head style presentation. I've read soo much about this style of fishing that it has peaked my curiousity and I can visualize it working in several bodies of water I frequent.

Third, I love fishing a spinnerbait a variety of ways but I must admit that most of the spinnerbaits I buy don't do it for me. I'm constantly tweaking them, blades, clevices, swivels, skirts, to get the bait just how I like them. My solution, build spinnerbaits from scratch. I think I will have fun with this over the winter, I may even offer some for sale.

Snow is falling here as I type. It's gonna be a long winter  

What is everyone else going do to improve or get ready for next year?

[Troutfisher]

I kept a fishing log this year and have tallied up the numbers, and I have caught over 80 bass, one of which was a smallmouth which became my new PB at 3 and 1/2 lbs.  It was a good year for fishing, and I also discovered a great place to go this spring.  Overall, I'd give 2006 a "8" out of 10.

[Deuceu72]

Pretty kewl year for me........Finished 4th overall in our club and finished as the top non-boater..........Caught my PB smallie in early april......about 4 1/2 lbs............Fished about 10 places I have never fished before..........and joined Bassresource!!!!!!  ;D ;D ;D

[.ghoti.]

A pretty good year for me. Fished a lot in here in Illinois, including a couple of new places. Also got to fish in Missouri, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Canada, Panama and Mexico. No PB's, but a lot of fish, and several species.

Largemouth mostly, but also caught smallmouth, spots, hybrid striper, rainbow, walleye, pike (my favorite), muskie, crappie, bluegill, carp ( maybe the strongest fish in fresh water), bonefish, grouper, pompano, barracuda, peacock bass, and by accident, a few catfish. Like I said, a pretty darned cool year.

From here on out, it's gonna be mostly crappie at my closest watering hole and muskie at the Shelbyville tailwaters. It won't be long until it's too cold for me. I do not ice fish. The waters around here don't freeze deep enough for that, most years. I went through the ice a few years ago, and I've sworn off ice fishing since then.

My goal for this winter is to get a rodbuilding bench set up, and practice wrapping and finishing on some of the broken rods I've accumulated. I hope to have a couple fo new rods built before nest season. A big part of this will depend on the kids getting some of their stuff out of the garage, so I'll have some space. We can only hope.

Hope everybody had a good year, and let's hope for a better next.

Cheers,

GK

[gatrboy53]

spring of 06' started out promising.caught several big bass by march biggest being 9-3....then the drought kicked in,we have not had any appreciable rain since spring.most of the lakes i fish are so low you cant even launch a boat and the weeds have covered once good fishable areas.the scary part is ...there is no relief in sight.

[Catt]

Well let's see 2005 ended with hurricane Rita putting a major hurt on Southwest Louisiana where I'm from and it will take all of 2006 plus well into 2007 to fully recover.

After the hurricane the salt water fishing exploded with tons of huge specks and bull reds being caught over the entire Gulf coast. My brother-in-law bought a center console rig and I spent a half a dozen trip teaching him how to chase specks and reds.

My bass fishing has all be died since Rita having only make a dozen or so trips to the big pond and no night trips since early last year. I was fortunate enough to make three trips to Toro Creek below Toledo Bend and get in some excellent Kentucky bass fishing.

Over I haven't fished ¼ of what I consider normal but they were most enjoyable   8-)

[NJfishinGuy]

2006 has been my best year for bass fishing ever. ive cought more bass this year then ever in my life, but thats also because i put more time in than ever before and i joined this awsome website. this is the first year i dedicated myself tottally to fishing for just bass. i probably got 40-50 bass and got my new PB just last sunday. ive learned a ton of stuff and have seen great improvment in myself. almost everytime i go out now i can out a limit in the boat it seems. i also fished my 1st tourney and came in 5th place. next year is gonna be better i know it. i missed spawn fishing this year because i didnt get into it untill june when i bought my trailer. so yeah all of that is sense june not bad huh?

[sirmo]

Well, I'm looking to really heat things up for November and December.  So won't comment on the year yet!

So far 3rd in my club with 1 more tournament, and the classic.

I'll post again when the year is officially over down here in Florida.

[BD]

Good year here as well. Worked alot more on pitching, got close to a D.D. bass, got numerous 5's and 6's, and I am working harder on getting the boat I want. Taught a buddy how to fish.........yeah great year, and I am not quitting until it's too cold to feel my face.

[liquidsoap]

Well this is my best year number wise by far....

I probally caught 400 largemouth and probally 200 smallmouth

I would say I averaged 5-6 largemouth a trip and about 10 smallmouth a trip.

PB day on largemouth was 29

PB day on smallmouth was about 25ish...

Most of the smallies I catch are your classic river dinks, but every once in a while you will get a tanker!

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Great first year fishing exclusively for bass, especially in tournies. Partner and I finished first in last tourney of the year and didnt go a trip this year without at least catching a dink...

On the last "fun" fishing trip of the year, caught 5 on jigs....first 5 ever on them. Definitely plan on expanding this technique in the spring cold water season.

Over the winter, I already have the wishlist laid out w/ a new trolling motor at the top of the list.

[KU_Bassmaster.]

On a scale from 1 to 10 I would give it a 7

As far as numbers go, they were way down compared to last year, but I would say my average size bass went up considerably (which was what I was shooting for).  This year I really concentrated on catching those 5 lbs. + bass and thus far I have only caught 3 which was way way way down from last year, but my numbers of the 3+ lbs bass is way up.  So it was just kind of so so as far as the catching goes.  I also had a goal of catching an 8 lber and thus far I have not accomplished that ................. but I am not done yet.  I maybe had one on that would have come close that got off right at the boat .... which I by the way had on video camera before that fell in the lake.  I still think about that "one" quite often.  That was the first big bass I have ever lost (at least that I have seen) and it still hurts. :

On the technical side though I have a good year IMO.  I have become more proficient with my electronics and thus my deep water fishing has improved tremedously and now probably prefer to fish that way.  I also improved on my jig fishing.  At the end of last year I was just starting to gain confidence in it and it continued into this year.

[senile1]

Any year of bass fishing is a good year!  KU_B, your year mirrors mine to some degree.  I've been on a quest for a new personal best and I didn't even come close this year.  I'm wanting to break the 7 lb mark.  Maybe I'm thinking about it too much.  I had a great year catching 2, 3 and 4 lb'ers, but I only caught 2 over 5 lbs that I'm sure of.  Otherwise, I've enjoyed myself immensely.  

To improve for next year, I'm decent with the carolina rig but I still want to improve with this technique.  I'm also going to be working with the dropshot which I hardly ever use.  I'm planning on fishing more this winter than I have the last few years, as well.  

[Banor]

I'm not going to rate my year on a scale of 1 to 10 because it was a rebuilding year for me.  As for the rebuilding, I would say it went great!  I re-learned a few techniques, built on old ones and learned a couple of new ones.  All in all a pretty good year.  I am just happy to be back on the water after a long hiatus courtesy of Uncle Sam.

My winter will be spent pouring worms, senkos, toads and beavers in preparation for next year.  I've decided to step up to BFL's and Stren's.  It's going to be an expensive winter spending money on equipment to meet the challenge.   I keep chanting to myself "It will pay off!!"

I have put a new addition up on my house complete with a set of bunk beds for the bait monkey and tackle monkey.  

B

[MALTESE FALCON]

FOR ME IT WAS A PRETTY GOOD YEAR. NUMBERS WISE I DID GOOD. MY GOALS WERE TO IMPROVE MY SPINNERBAIT FISHING......MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. THEN, I WANTED TO GET A NEW PB SMALLIE THE 6-15# HAS BEEN THREE YEARS NOW AND I WANTED TO BREAK THE 7# MARK.........MISSION NOT ACCOMPLISHED.

I REALLY ENJOYED MY NEW 25' BAJA CENTER CONSOLE. IT'S A WHOLE NEW WORLD COMPARED TO MY 16' PRINCCRAFT.

MY GOAL FOR NEXT SEASON IS STILL BREAKING THE 7# MARK FOR SMALLMOUTH. AND LEARNING TO FISH JIGS.

[Guest avid]

this year has been pretty much a disaster.

In 2005 i fished 250 days from a rowing canoe.  I deliberately got a rower instead of an electric motr because I wanted the cardio benefit.  Well, my BP was fine, but between the rowing and casting I ruined my shoulder and elbow.  2006 has seen some quality fishing but mostly I have felt pain, and incredibly stupid (ignoring signs of overuse injury)

Now I have had the surgery and will be off the water for at least another month or more, so 2006 was not a good year.

but 2007 is right around the corner, I'll be meeting BassResource.com guys at Lake Fork Texas, for fishing, and fun.

Come on 2007  

[dink]

2006 was a mixed bag for me.  

At the onset of the new year, I vowed to learn and understand the art of crankbaiting so that it may be an asset to me rather than a conceived liability.  I feel like I accomplished this and have amassed an impressive collection of billed baits (Doggone monkey!).

On the downside, afew here will remember that I did total my new bass boat on a snowy highway en route to a tourney in February.  No injuries and completely covered, so my blessings have been counted.

Back on the upside, I did manage to catch my two best five fish limits this year.  One this Spring (26.6 lbs.) and another about two weeks ago (23.6 lbs.).  The beauty of these limits was that they were caught using my homemade baits (spinnerbaits) that I have now started to sell locally (no orders please ;D).

Interesting year to say the least, yet far from over as my "winter circuit" starts this weekend.  No rest for the weary!

[Captain Cali]

Great year so far for me. I can't complain. Well...I guess more fishing would be nice! Still got 2 more months to go!  8-)

The only goal I haven't met for the year is catching my first smallmouth. I haven't fished any water with smallies though. I gotta make some longer trips if I want one.

[Bassassasin12]

First off this is a cool thread, should be fun reading others responses.

2006 started off hot at ice out with big fish and numbers coming both at the same time. Then came the pre spawn which was surprisngly tough but still halfway decent. The spawn as usual was the most killer time and thats when I boated the most fish, no giants though, biggest fish threw this point was a 4.2, a nice fish for where I come from. After came the dog days of summer, these are my favorite because no school equals more time out on the water. I boated over 200 fish along just in the summer months. After the summer everythign went down hill and I just lost the fish. From september to present the fishing has been terribly slow. I have looked over my log now that the season has ended and I have caught 548 bass for a total poundage of 1126 pounds. Not too shabby Id say :. It was a fun year and had some good memories. Unlike some of you southern and west coast guys, unfortunetly our season has to come to an end :'(. Hey there is always ice fishing :-?( I am not the greatest ice fisher)

[telecaster]

I had a good year,I found this Forum and learned a bunch of good info.Instead of just going fishing I tried some differant things and reallty thought about things maybe a little more than I have in the past,its paid off big time.I,ve allways fished,this year I really tried to learn 8-)

[Fish Chris]

Well, the fact that I have gotten out and fished probably 100 plus days so far in 06', and have done most of this on my brand new G3, makes it a pretty darn good year :-)

As far as my catches go... I dunno'.... Maybe a 7 out of 10 ?

I did catch 8 Largemouth's over 10 lbs, but none over 13, for nearly two years now. Kind of a slump in that respect.

All of those Leopard Sharks and Bat Rays to 110 lbs, this Summer, were sure a kick, but only one nice Halibut though.

And although I have had to work my butt off for only 4 good 20 plus Stripers, at least I did catch my new 31.2 lb PB.

Now the Sturgies are apparently coming on strong, so it's not over yet :-)

Peace,

Fish

[cart7t]

I've got a month and a half before I put the boat down for the winter.  

This has probably been one of my worst seasons ever.  I attribute some of this to new rods and reels I've been using this year, trying new baits I've never used again but most of it I can't explain.  I'll just reload and try again next season.

[GeneinTX]

2006 Has been an awesome year for me. I finally bought an awesome boat in December 2005 after my retirement from the Army.

My 14 y/o son and I have fished every weekend this year since March. We have caught hundreds of fish LM, SM, and whites and hybrids this year. I had the unique opurtunity of taking soldiers from Australia and England fishing as well. The stars lined up and we caught fish on each of those outing.

We also started to fish a new lake (Stillhouse Hollow, as opposd to our home lake, Belton) nearby that has been producing both numbers and size. The good thing is that here in TX we will fish year round. I grew up on Long Island and loved to fish but hated the winter months. My goal for next year is to fish at least 1 time per week for the whole year.

I am planning some trips in the coming year to Amistad, Fork (if the water ever comes up), and Fayette, as well as some coastal trip for reds.

I am very excited about 2007. I feel some PB's coming!!!!

I want a 10#'r this year!!

I also started frequenting this website and have picked up some great tips.

[BASS fisherman]

I learned a tremendous deal of information about bass fishing this year.  Caught a decent PB, and upgraded all my gear.  Can't wait for next spring.

[Minuteman]

My year started off great. Mild winter in PA got us out on the water early, Bass fishing before Trout season even opened. I caught only my 2nd bass over 7lbs the other was in 1983. Then to top it off I got a real bass boat instead of the 10' Jon boat cartopper w/TM only we've been using.

However, within weeks of the new boat in August health problems kept me off the water for the rest of this year. I did get out a few times on the new boat, but I spent most all my time learning how to trailer and use the boat and getting familiar with the electronics.

As for the health issues, I'm expected to be fine by next summer at the latest. I'm already getting cabin fever and  started ordering tackle and boat supplies for next year. I've got 2 pages of "to do" notes just for the boat.

Come 2007 people might want to stay clear, I'm lilely to hit the water like I was shot out of cannon.