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!

I Have a Feeling...

I have a feeling that this year will be a big one! In fact, I’m going to get cocky for a second like Babe Ruth calling his home run. Or instead some might call it confidence like when zig ziglar said, “when I go fishing, I bring the tartar sauce along with me.” Nothing wrong with some positive thoughts, right? So here I go:

This year, I will catch more fish than I have in any prior year!

There, I said it so now I can’t back down! 

So last year was the first year I actually counted the number of fish I landed but I still have a rough estimate of how many I caught in the past and I plan to surpass all of it.

Enter the new year:

1/15/2014

Left work at 12 and headed to williams to pick up my buddy Rigo and head to one of three spots. Three years ago My buddy Rigo was my main fishing buddy. Then after a slow summer he decided to “take a break from fishing.” That “Break" would last for two years.

Anyway, in the summer of 2011 we headed out to a random field in the middle of nowhere to try our hands at some cat fish. instead we ran into some rather large carp at two different holes. Our intent was to fish both of those carp holes a second time. At the first hole we found bites were scarce so we moved to the second hole. 

One thing we certainly didnt think about was how our current water situation would affect our fishing in the north state. Translation: Our second carp hole was dry!

With Very limited time, we headed to boss pond. I quilkly began fishing for bass and pan fish with a worm floating off of the bottom and a slip-bobber rig, respectively. No interest.

Next i pulled out a jerk bait and worked it slowly in a shallower side of the pond. Sure enough I saw three bass slowly follow it but get spooked as soon as they saw me. That was he extent of the action and yet gave me hopes for spring time at boss pond. I will slay some bass this year... oh yes, I WILL slay some bass!! We ended the night tailgating with our buddy Jaime who showed up later with some beers.

Total fish: 0

1/17/2014

Left work at 12 pm again and the plan was to head to Collins lake as quick as possible.so we can try to get into some trout. 

Something that I am looking into getting is an ultralight combo for trout and pan fish. I also converted one of the rods I used for bass into a trout rod by adding 6 lb mono to it. Not the best set up for trout but it and one of my bass rods definitely got the job done.

We hit the water and we were there to do two things: drink beer and catch fish! Remember when I said my research would pay off in fish this year? Well I was right. As soon as we got there, we had beers popped and rods ready to rock. My left rod had rainbow power bait on the “No leader” set up rig (Or Collins Lake special as I will begin caling it) Russell taught me the last time we were there.The other some power eggs on a foot and a half mono leader. 

While sipping our beers, Russell got the first bite which was about five minutes in. He ended up missing the fish. Five minutes after that I got a bite on the power bait. I ran over and while I reeled in, I had a bite on the power eggs. I was going to try to get them both but instead i focused on the PB rod and ended up missing the second one. Either way, it felt GREAT to shoot the skunk and catch my first fish of the year; a 14 in. Rainbow. A guy and his mom came close and watched me nail my first fish and simply admired my catch. I am a nice guy so I greeted them and asked how their fishing was going. They replied that they had been skunked so far. Man, it feels good not to be the one getting skunked!! lol

We looked like studs on that lake because even though we arrived last, we got into fish quick! Russell started catching fish as well including another nice 13 inch rainbow. My biggest was a fat little 15 incher that had a curved jaw! I should have taken a picture but we had limited time and fish to catch. When it was almost dark, the lake was down to only me, Russell and a guy named Joe. All of a sudden all six poles started bouncing and every man was for himself. I ended up catching one more and Russell caught two. By the end of the day Russell had caught four and I caught three, not bad for 2.5 hours of fishing. It felt good to get the year started with one of two trips being successful!

Total Fish: 3 Rainbow trout

3 Things About Salmon Fishing...

Salmon Season closed on the Sacramento River Yesterday. I went out with Sean On December 14 to give it my last shot this season. I came home with no fish.


I must confess something: I haven't been reporting every time I hit the water for salmon. I probably went 10+ times and only reported on 2 or 3 of them. Why? Because I got skunked EVERYTIME!!  So instead of focusing on Not catching fish, I will focus on the positive. Here are three positive things I am taking away from this salmon season…

1. I put plenty of hours on the board! – Even though I didn’t catch any salmon, I spent many hours on the water hanging out, drinking brews, and grilling brats. I wouldn’t trade in any of that time for the world.  

2. I learned HOW to catch Salmon - Even though I didn’t actually get into a salmon this year, I learned how to catch them. I learned about 30lb leaders and sardine wrapped kwikfish and smaller weights than I am used to fishing in a river from the bank. I learned how to set it all up and I know for a fact this method works because it caught Sean and the other salmon slayers plenty of Salmon this season.

3. I got one step closer to catching a salmon - Before this year I can honestly say I had no idea what I was doing when it came to salmon fishing. Now I have grown in my knowledge of salmon fishing. There is only one more step and unfortunately I wasn’t able to complete it this year but now I can say this much… Next year, I WILL catch a salmon!