2015 Fishing Goals

This year will be different. I genuinely mean that. This year will be a learning process. This year will more than likely bring less fish than last but that is okay. This year I will push my own limits in order to improve as a fisherman. 

This year I will not be setting a goal as to the total amount of fish, locations to fish, or amount of types of fish. This year will document what it is like to take an entire year and use it to learn, grow and improve my skill.

I will be dedicating this year to the art fly fishing. 

Top: "Bone Crusher" - 8wt. Middle: "Excalibur" - 6 wt Bottom: "Rudy" - 3 wt.

 

Last year I took a couple of fishing outings where I only took my fly rod and this forced me to practice tying on my flies, casting, fly selection, etc. The problem is that I would go weeks without even touching a fly rod, then come back and almost have to teach myself all over again. 

I figured why not take a year to bring along only my fly rod? Why not take a year to get used to the fly rod? Why not learn to improve my casting, to practice my double hauls, And in turn to learn to play and catch more fish on the fly? 

So this is my goal this year. Not to become a purist or switch entirely to fly fishing for the rest of my life, but rather to even out my skill on both types of rod. My goals are as follow:

 

- Improve Casting Technique.

- Master Double haul casting.

- Catch more fish on the fly rod.

- That is it. 

With this said, I will not ONLY be using the fly rod. Certain trips I will be using regular rods like bass fishing in the winter where they are out in deeper water or trout fishing for planters in a lake. But those will be special trips, most of the year I will only be armed with a trusty fly rod or two. 

With that said, bring it on 2015… bring it on!!

Winter 2013/14 Fishing Totals

Winter was a decent time of fishing. This is surprising because it’s usually the worst season of catching for me. I started and finished strong this season and I worked toward accomplishing my fishing goals. If you recall, I set out to catch 50 trout and 70 panfish this season. I am already 7 trout and 22 panfish into my goals. I will accomplish these. Now that spring is here, I expect my numbers to increase quite a bit and I will also be working on my largemouth goal, my striper goal and my goal of catching a largemouth and a smallmouth on the fly. In addition when the small streams open up I plan on getting the bulk of my trout on the fly. I guess we shall see.

Even though it is raining now, the weather has played a great part in getting started on the panfish. I started strong with the trout but then backed off a little bit lately.

Here are my winter numbers:

7 trout

1 pikeminnow

4 catfish (including breaking my PB catfish, and then breaking it again.

22 Panfish

__________________

34 fish

So this was a pretty good winter for me and I look forward to spring. I am not by any means backing off of my original statement, “this year I will catch more fish than I have in any prior year!” Last year I caught 80 fish. This year I am already 30 fish in. This is my year to destroy all previous records and break the bank!

Fishing Goals for 2014

"I dare do all that may become a man" - Macbeth, Shakespeare

Oh man, he's getting poetic! That must mean it's time for some crazy fishing goals!! Here we go folks, time to do it big in 2014!

1. Catch 5 Salmon
This is five times last years goal (just to catch one) I told you I was feeling confident! I have yet to even catch one salmon but this year I WILL catch five!

2. Catch five Steelhead
Similar to my salmon goal, I am not only going to catch my first of these but I will catch multiple fish. Go big or go home!!

3. Catch 50 Trout
Oh man, I debated with this one. Last year I caught 10 trout total! I have never really been a trout fisherman and that is seen in the fact that I have only caught 11 in my entire life! But I am feeling confident today. I’m ready to shoot for the stars here. This definitely means focusing a lot more on trout fishing. I figure I will go a few more times this winter and I will be fly fishing a lot during small stream season so this goal is attainable!

4. Catch a new personal best striper, and then do it again!
I LOVE Striper fishing; It’s in my blood! Last year I slacked on the striper but this year I will be fishing the run, big time! I plan to break my previous personal best and then best that again, all in one year! I could have just tried to break my record once, but what better challenge could there be than beating your record twice in one year?!

5. Catch a 7 lb largemouth
I went huge last year in my largemouth goal. I went for a 10 lber. I figured this year I would lower that goal a bit and shoot for a 10 lber again next year.Who knows, maybe I will get into the 10 lber while pursuing the 7 lber!

6. Find 5 new fly fishing spots.
Who am I kidding, I LOVE fly fishing and I’m addicted. Every time I look at my fly fishing equipment, I want to fish! This year I will force myself to exit my comfort zone and search for new fly fishing spots. As a result I figure I will find some beautiful scenery and take some great pictures.

7. Catch my first fish in the ocean
I have been surf fishing once and did not do well. This year I am going on the Usal trip with my buddies again and this time I intend to spend more time hitting the surf. I figure even if I don’t catch one here, I can always try fishing off of a public pier or something.

8. Take a trip somewhere JUST to fish!
I JUST came up with this one while writing these goals so its new and exciting! Alaska , Montana , Idaho, Oregon? I haven’t thought this one out at all so I guess we will see!!

9. Catch my first Largemouth and Smallmouth bass on the Fly!
I have been wanting to catch a largemouth on the fly for a while. Why not commit it to paper and also add a smallie in there?!

10. Catch 70 Panfish
If you’re not breaking the bank, you’re not living!! It’s time for me to live up to my blog name. This is 10 less fish than I caught in all of 2013! I am going to catch 70 panfish in a year; bluegills, crappie, red ears, green sunfish, etc. If I accomplish this one and the trout one I will have caught more fish in one year than I have in any other year of my life!

As you can see, folks, I mean business this year! I have researched a lot, studied a lot and asked a lot of questions and it’s time to test my limits. Don’t get me wrong I am not trying to be the expert or act like I know it all but it’s time to really challenge myself. It’s time to break the bank, folks!

2013 Fishing Goals Report!

2013 was a decent year of fishing. It was the first year that I actually counted my fish so that’s a definite highlight. In 2013 I caught a grand total of 80 fish and I’m proud of that total! I worked hard for that total. I fished as much as I possibly could for that total. Part of me wants to say it’s not a lot of fish but it’s about more than just the fish, it’s about learning HOW to catch the fish! Its about always being a student of angling as opposed to being an un-teachable know it all.

My Personal best crappie - 12 in.

I am not an expert by any means but I now have 3 solid seasons under my belt. I would say that this third season has been the biggest learning year so far. That’s a huge milestone. In 2013 I learned how to fly fish, I learned how to fish for salmon, I learned how to set up a punch rig, I revisited and really learned how to use the slip-bobber rig to catch more panfish than I ever have. 

Fly fishing for the very first time

Out of all of these skills, my favorite by far is learning to fly fish. Ever since the moment I found out Mark would be teaching me to fly fish, I knew I would be hooked. So when I first held a fly rod in my hand, the moment I first tried to cast, the first fish I caught, the first trout I caught on my own rod;  all of those moments really confirmed that I would not forget about fly fishing and would eventually begin a lifelong pursuit of fly fishing. I will always remember 2013 as the year I became a fly fisherman. 

Below are the goals I had for 2013. Some I completed, others I will complete this year.

1.       Catch my first Salmon 

Incomplete. I didn’t catch my first salmon this year. However, my head is not down about this one. I learned exactly how to catch a salmon and the only thing missing this year was actually hooking into one. 2014 will definitely be my year for the king! 

2.       Catch my first Sturgeon 

Incomplete. Honestly, the weather has thrown my fishing schedule off. Usually around this time I would be trying for Sturgeon but the end of December and early January has felt like summer in Northern California. I usually wait for some rain to start salmon fishing but it hasn’t happened yet. All that to say I didn’t catch any salmon last year. Haha I will give it another go this year. 

3.       Catch my first steelhead

Incomplete. I didn’t really do anything toward this goal. I will however be going out for steelhead with they fly rod soon so hopefully 2014 will be the year for chrome!!

4.       Discover new fishing holes

Great spot on Dry Creek

Complete. I definitely accomplished this one! This year I found the bee hive, a salmon spot in Knights landing, A spot on dry creek for trout, and a great spot for catfishing at Ellis Lake. This year I will be on the hunt for more spots!

5. Catch more trout

PB Rainbow trout - 16 in.

stringer from New Melones

Complete. This goal wasn’t specific by any means but I have never been a trout fisherman. This year, I caught trout. I caught 14 total trout this year which was more than the single trout I caught last year. I also caught the largest trout I have ever caught which was a 16 inch planter. In 2014 I intend to catch many more. Its also important to note that 9 out of these 14 trout were caught on the fly. 

6.       Catch more smallmouth bass

My PB 24 in. Striper

Incomplete. I hardly even tried, but I will!!

7.       Break my striper record

Complete. This year I hooked into a hard fighting tuxedo bass that broke my old record by 2 inches. Even though I didn’t get into many stripers this year, I’m happy to say I got into my biggest so far. 

8.       Catch a double digit Largemouth

Incomplete. I hardly fished for largemouth this year and when I did get into them, they weren’t as large as I thought they would be. 

9.       More overnight fishing trips

Incomplete. I had a few camping trips but no overnight fishing trips. I need to put this goal back up in 2014 because I love al night fishing! 

10.   Do more fishing research than ever before!

Complete. I definitely researched more than ever. I think my tactic is different than in the past. Although I did do a ton of online research and video watching, I also asked a lot of questions to the experts like Mark with trout, Sean with Salmon and Russell with panfish. 

In all I met four out of my 10 goals. This year when I set goals I intend on focusing on those goals to get them done so I will choose wisely. 2014 Fishing goals are coming soon!

Update: Milestones and Summer Fishing!

So I originally wrote a complete post on how my summer fishing was slow and I hadn’t caught but twelve fish all summer. It turns out that this was a mistake. I went back and counted all of the fish I caught and it turns out I caught a few more. My Summer 2013 Total was 32 fish which isn’t bad at all considering I didn’t go out to my usual spots and what not. 

With that said, I did have two milestones that I am pretty proud of this summer.

#1 – My first trout on my own fly rod. 

Catching my first trout on my own fly rod was fantastic! I felt like I broke a threshold from being a guy trying to fly fish or being taught to flyfish to being an actual fly-fisherman. I used my own rod, I chose my own fly, I tied my own knots and I caught a fish with all of that; I was pretty proud.

#2 – Caught my PB Crappie

I am fairly new to crappie. I have caught bluegill all of my life but I only recently (about a year or so) realized crappie existed, learned to say the name properly ;) and started catching them. I have caught a good number of small ones (all released), some good plate size ones, and one nice 11 inch crappie that put up a nice fight! This 11 incher is my personal best so far and I really look forward to catching some bigger ones  in the future.

Well anyway, That was my summer, my fall is going well and I have a trip with Russell for next week out to Collins. I will keep y’all posted!

Cheers, to some great fall Fishing!