Here are some highlights from my 2025 season.  I was able to fish in a crappie contest with my Father and Son in May.  Prespawn smallmouth fishing in May was very good.  When I started targeting largemouth frequently in early June, it was very good until early August.  Late August through September was terrible because it was so abnormally warm.  It picked up at the end of the season in October and I finished with a solid outing, which makes winter a little more tolerable.  I was able to take my son out more often and he has begun to learn how to fish on his own more now, and become more comfortable with the rod and reel.  His highlight was a 24 inch walleye that he caught with a rod and reel that he won in the crappie contest (first cast!).

 

I don't keep individual fish stats, but I do keep track of the number of times I go fishing and where.  This year it was 35 trips which ties a record for me.  I also keep track of the number of bass that were 20+ inches.  I boated 7 of them this season (3 smallmouth, 4 largemouth).  My record is 13 that are 20+ inches.  Muskie fishing has failed me in recent years.  I put in about 45 hours this season and only boated 2 fish.

 

Overall I'd rank this past season a 7 out of 10.

 

 

I’d say a 10/10 given the smile on your son’s face. Three generations of fishing together is a huge bonus! 

Pretty quiet this year, was only out on a boat once, and that with with a friend/guide. Day was pretty awe-full weather-wise and we even got chased off the water by a thunderstorm at one point, but still caught some fish.

 

Other highpoint was was taking the 15yo granddaughter out. She'd rarely caught any fish before, so when she got this one she was practically bouncing around in excitement and almost shouting "I caught a fishie, I caught a fishie!"

 

Otherwise it was a pretty boring year for me.

Nice fishes Gim!!! You guys are tough, if I only fished 35 times in a year I don’t think I could go on living 

Great season! Those are some tanks and your son catching a big walleye on the rod he won is awesome! Plus 35 trips is getting out there, I have 22 trips so far this year but hope to add more before the year's end. 

10 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Pretty quiet this year, was only out on a boat once, and that with with a friend/guide. Day was pretty awe-full weather-wise and we even got chased off the water by a thunderstorm at one point, but still caught some fish.

You and I both got out with Matt this year 👍 And btw - nice hat!! 

10 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

And btw - nice hat!! 

You should know - you gave it to me.

 

10 hours ago, pdxfisher said:

Plus 35 trips is getting out there

 

I try to go 1-2 times/week between late April and late October.  I'm blessed with an abundance of water in the land of 10,000 lakes.

^ Still not easy at times for some of us. I live on a bloody island on the lake, but between the cancer and the ankle wound, I got out maybe 8-10 times this year.

On 10/27/2025 at 11:02 AM, gim said:

 I also keep track of the number of bass that were 20+ inches.

 

I'm impressed. I fished more than you and don't think I caught that many over 20". I did catch scores of 19-inchers, but twenties are rare for me and 21-inchers even rarer. So, I give you an 8.713!

@Swamp Girl the interesting part of that stat is all of 7 of those 20+ inchers came between May and early August.

 

Fishing really got tough here in August, all the way into early October, because it was so warm.

 

And when I say tough…like tough to even catch a few fish of ANY size. It left me burned out and frustrated for over a month.

 

Once it cooled down around the second week of October, it got better again. But by that point, there wasn’t a lot of time left to fish this season.

10 minutes ago, gim said:

the interesting part of that stat is all of 7 of those 20+ inchers came between May and early August.

 

That is surprising. I caught most of my biggest bass in May and size dropped off at that. I caught a few nice ones in the fall too.