Attainable goal for 2023

[Spankey]

For my river smallie fishing it’s mostly stepping back to my roots a bit. I’ve gotten away from some basic types of fishing. But I’m not saying that is/was a bad thing. Whenever I’m out I’d like to think I’m fishing for a new PB. 
 

* devote more time to topwater fishing with time proven lures I use to fish. 
 

* break out the old Rebel and Mann’s crankbaits and fish them again. 
 

* fish more of the old school tubes and grubs. 

[the reel ess]

I'm hoping at some time in 2023 I'll have a free day to fish. I thought I was past all the spring obligations then the wife tells me I have to attend the BD party of two great nieces. Can you guess how many great uncles were ever at a birthday party for me? When will I be old enough to say no, thanks?

 

[Pat Brown]

1 hour ago, Functional said:

I keep mine "simple" this year.

 

1) Really dedicate to fishing a jig and becoming successful with it. I literally have 2 plano boxes of Sieberts jigs and I've caught less than 5 fish on a jig in my life.

 

2) Hunt down a DD

 

3) Learn to more consistently predict where fish will be at for the given conditions. 

 

 

I'm jealous.  Getting good with a jig is one of life's joys and a heck of a good investment of your time pursuing that DD.  

 

You're gonna learn to love big thumps, gentle bumps, mushy feelings on the end of your line, baits disappearing, lines swimming off in random directions and even the occasional machine gun pecks you *think* for SURE is a sunfish and then you reel into a 6 lber.

 

Oh man....and jig season is just getting started.  ????

[Functional]

2 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

 

 

I'm jealous.  Getting good with a jig is one of life's joys and a heck of a good investment of your time pursuing that DD.  

 

You're gonna learn to love big thumps, gentle bumps, mushy feelings on the end of your line, baits disappearing, lines swimming off in random directions and even the occasional machine gun pecks you *think* for SURE is a sunfish and then you reel into a 6 lber.

 

Oh man....and jig season is just getting started.  ????

All I hear is how great a jig is. I love the look of them, profile and idea of them...just could never fish it right to connect. Trig creature baits, worms, shaky heads I'm successful with but the jig eludes me. Hell I didnt even buy my first senko until a few weeks ago ? we might as well put that with jigs.

[Pat Brown]

12 minutes ago, Functional said:

All I hear is how great a jig is. I love the look of them, profile and idea of them...just could never fish it right to connect. Trig creature baits, worms, shaky heads I'm successful with but the jig eludes me. Hell I didnt even buy my first senko until a few weeks ago ? we might as well put that with jigs.

 

 

One of the most important lessons you will learn fishing the jig is that even though it is a powerful tool to have in your arsenal, there are days when the best thing to do is pick up a crankbait.

 

The more you throw it, the more you learn what to look for and when it's going to work good, I think.  

 

When it's the right bait to throw, it seems to really pay in dividends to be throwing it if you're after size.

[DaubsNU1]

Goals for this year:

• Boat: get lower unit seals replaced -- DONE
• Boat: get carburetor rebuilt -- DONE
• Boat: find leaky rivets, replace them (tired of water in the boat)
• Catch five Northern Pike this year, at least one 40"+
• Catch one Musky this year, size does not matter
• Catch one 7lb+ largemouth this year
• Break my PB largemouth, needs to break 8.25lbs
• Put my 82 year old dad on a 5lb Smallie in May!
• Help my brother launch his fishing not-for-profit (I'm the web master)

[Swamp Girl]

Whoa, Daubs, that's an ambitious list. Let us know come the winter how you did.

[TnRiver46]

12 minutes ago, DaubsNU1 said:

Goals for this year:

• Boat: get lower unit seals replaced -- DONE
• Boat: get carburetor rebuilt -- DONE
• Boat: find leaky rivets, replace them (tired of water in the boat)
• Catch five Northern Pike this year, at least one 40"+
• Catch one Musky this year, size does not matter
• Catch one 7lb+ largemouth this year
• Break my PB largemouth, needs to break 8.25lbs
• Put my 82 year old dad on a 5lb Smallie in May!
• Help my brother launch his fishing not-for-profit (I'm the web master)

Leaky rivets is easy, water hose and JB weld 

[Flushdraw]

One of my goals is to stop chasing after that next magic bait, and concentrate on using what I have now. I also want to focus on improving hook-ups and casting more accurately.

 

Now off to Tackle Warehouse for one last order. ?

[roadwarrior]

1 hour ago, Flushdraw said:

Now off to Tackle Warehouse for one last order. ?

 

[Standard]

On 4/27/2023 at 4:22 PM, Standard said:

I'd like to get a 17"+ smallie on the fly rod, and a 21"+ in general.  I may have broken the 21" mark before but I didn't really start carrying a bump board regularly until last year.

 

Welp, almost hit the second goal already.  Been a pretty good start to the year as far as size goes.

 

 

[Darth-Baiter]

i used to try to go with NO skunkless days. 

 

now?  i walked it back to NO SKUNKLESS months.  so far..winning!

[Swamp Girl]

1 hour ago, Standard said:

 

Welp, almost hit the second goal already.  Been a pretty good start to the year as far as size goes.

 

 

 

I love the color of your fish! The size too, of course.

[Standard]

On 4/27/2023 at 4:22 PM, Standard said:

I'd like to get a 17"+ smallie on the fly rod, and a 21"+ in general.  I may have broken the 21" mark before but I didn't really start carrying a bump board regularly until last year.

 

With the season winding down (up here at least) I figure it's a good time to check back.  Of course, even though both my goals were length related I ended up leaving the bump board at home more often than not.  So I'm not sure on the 21" mark.  I ended up with multiple 17"+ on the fly, including some 20" fish.  

 

All in all, a pretty good year for me with plenty of decent sized smallmouth.  

[Zcoker]

One of my obtainable goals this year is to master punching out of a kayak, and what better place to do than in the Florida everglades! I've dabbled with it before with okay results but always reverted back to casting my usual baits. Punching out of a kayak has always felt so awkward and unnatural to me. I'd fumble around with it and after a while give it up quickly. Now that I've gained a bit of technique (as well as getting the correct gear) things are starting to look up! Fish are starting to come in. Quality fish. Nice ones! It's starting to thrill me like no other and I look forward to doing it at every outing. Doing it and only it has given me some interesting details about bass behavior, bite windows, and how they live and feed so differently under the mats. The big heavy rod, the thick heavy line, that big thick sharp hook and massive weight--combat fishing to the max! It's literally like a war when a big girl grabs the bait. The mats explode, the kayak swings wildly, water and weed splashing everywhere, and it all happens in such close proximity! Much much closer than from in a boat....in your face fishing. What a rush! 

 

[Darth-Baiter]

i'm ready to focus on 2024.  i didnt suck badly this year, but the weather we had and have has been messing with my mojo.  

[Functional]

On 5/4/2023 at 9:19 AM, Functional said:

I keep mine "simple" this year.

 

1) Really dedicate to fishing a jig and becoming successful with it. I literally have 2 plano boxes of Sieberts jigs and I've caught less than 5 fish on a jig in my life.

 

2) Hunt down a DD

 

3) Learn to more consistently predict where fish will be at for the given conditions. 

OK, we are actually going to be accountable this time around?!

 

1) I had 2 jigs tied on at all times and threw it every time I was out for a while. I did hook into more fish than I typically do but I dont feel I've gotten the numbers or quality I do on other baits. Work will still need to occur the rest of this season and for next years goal. I did however start using a senko pretty consistently this year and hooked into some good fish.

 

2)While I havent hooked a DD yet I can say the quality of my bass has gone up and my quantity decreased. So I while it wasnt achieved I will give myself some marks from improvement towards the goal. 

 

3)I dont feel I've improved significantly on this, however I've also gone from just trying to catch any fish to trying to catch quality fish. From what WRB says that larger fish typically roam in smaller groups to solitary this may be a good thing?

[12poundbass]

1 of 3 for me.

 

I was able to get out more. The other two goals, new PB and learn more about my electronics, they’ll come some other time. I’m just glad I got out a lot more this year.

[Swamp Girl]

2 hours ago, Zcoker said:

It's literally like a war when a big girl grabs the bait. The mats explode, the kayak swings wildly, water and weed splashing everywhere, and it all happens in such close proximity!

 

Well described. 

[gimruis]

On 4/27/2023 at 6:10 PM, gimruis said:

I'd like to win my fishing contest at work again.  Last year I did not win it, I came in second.  I won it the previous year (2021).

 

I had to look back and search where I posted this.  We are having our annual holiday party at work tomorrow, and they will be revealing who won the annual fishing contest.

 

I submitted 3 entries this season: a 12.5 inch crappie, a 20.25 inch smallmouth, and a 38 inch tiger muskie.  I feel pretty good about the bass and muskie entries.

 

Guess I'll find out tomorrow.

[MN Fisher]

I hit one of my goals - got out about twice as much this past year as I did in 2022. My new PB, however, evaded me.

[RipzLipz]

If not already started, I feel a similar thread for 2024 should be started soon since we are a month away.

[Pat Brown]

Would really like a giant on the lipless between now and new years.  😌😌😌

[Swamp Girl]

I would really like to catch @Pat Brown's half-tail, honkin' big gal for my first time before Pat catches her a third time!

[gimruis]

I won!  Mission accomplished.