Mine was just meh. I fished only one tournament in 2025 and that was way back in February. I was scheduled to fish another in December - ironically in the same place (Kissimmee Chain) but the opening of our new hotels were pushed back to that week.

 

Overall, between changing jobs and moving I didn't fish much this year. I moved from the lake back in March and now I'm landlocked. I have a number of decent options within 2 hours of where I live, but some mornings it's hard to get motivated to make that drive. I went from fishing almost every day to maybe once a month.

 

I only caught one fish over 7 pounds this year and I lost what looked to be a double digit in Kissimmee. That was heartbreaking. I am better learning how to use FFS and when to shut it down completely and just fish.

 

My fishing goals for next year are to find more speed in my kayak by dropping weight (me and the gear!), fish 8-10 regional and national kayak tournaments, and to be more patient in fishing what should be prime spots and stop running and gunning (such as it is on a kayak). I need to trust my instincts more, be patient, and go for 2 good bites an hour rather than worry about not getting bit on every cast.

 

But with a great new job and meeting a beautiful, thoughtful woman and dating her for the past 9 months it's been a great year off the lakes. That's even better than fishing - barely 😉

 

 

I missed the entire Spring while my boat was being welded. But I'm back on the water for the next two months.

4 hours ago, Kayak Koz said:

…

But with a great new job and meeting a beautiful, thoughtful woman and dating her for the past 9 months it's been a great year off the lakes. That's even better than fishing - barely 😉

 

 

I hear you.  I’ve got a half-dozen friends I used  to fish with pretty regularly who met and married beautiful, thoughtful women.  When I’m on the river, I often wonder how they’re doing.

 Hope you can get out a ton next year @Kayak Koz

 

As for me, there's still 2 months left in my fishing season!

Our season was also “meh”.  Bought a brand new Lowe Stinger 195 Bass in February (we love it - I’m very blessed to be able to afford such a nice boat).  We have an early catch and release only bass season here on Lake Ontario/the St. Lawrence River that ends May 10 so my son I were super excited to get started with the new boat. But winter dragged on into an exceptionally cold/wet spring and I kept bumping our pickup time for the new boat. I finally drew the line and picked it up on a rainy day in mid-April (we’d hoped to be fishing by April 1).  Took it straight to a local shop to have the dealer package basic Minn Kota swapped out for a Garmin Force, then waited another week for it to stop raining.  Finally, in late April we got out for our inaugural voyage… and the new trolling motor wouldn’t steer. 😕  The boat/motor were great, but we couldn’t fish without a trolling motor.  That turned into a two week process of getting the trolling motor fixed - Garmin support was great, but it wasn’t until early May we finally got out for bass.  And of course the weather remained cold and wet, and we had little luck - guys who fish the lake regularly told me the cold had the bass way behind and no one did very well in the spring season.  So the early season ended and we had to wait until the 3rd Saturday in June to bass fish again.  Our soaking wet spring turned into a summer drought with lake levels 2+ feet low and the summer fishing was generally poor for everyone I know, largemouth especially poor with weed growth being affected by the low water.  I had my hopes up for fall and we did have a couple decent days, I finally caught both a largemouth and a smallmouth over 5#  but nothing really big (over 6# is the line for “really big” up here).  Sadly, by early October both my son and I both tapped out on poor fishing.  I’m hoping to pick the boat up today from getting winterized, and will double tarp it until next spring with hopes 2026 will be better. 😕🤞🏻

2025 was pretty good, but I didn't get enough of it.

 

Looking back, I count only 24 days days this year when I was able to get a line in the water, whether in the kayak, walking the bank, or wading. 

 

But with those 24 trips, I fished 11 natural lakes, 6 distinct stretches of 4 rivers, and 3 river bayous.  I made more than one trip to only three places, and one lake and one river section were new to me.  I had some fun outings, caught some nice green and brown bass, never got skunked, and broke my largemouth PB twice:

 

Well done @MIbassyaker!  Sounds like a great year to me.  

 

scott

It was beau coup better this spring than fall.   Really hot summer (100+) 2 week period changed things/kept me off the water, plus boat & trailer issues/construction at the house/health issues, => life got in the way.   

Fished more and farther away than past years, made it back to Champlain finally.  Big fish #s were down all over.   But I broke a few off, so 1 never knows.   I wouldn't throw 2025 out for eating crackers in bed...   Ain't over yet!

It’s not over yet.  We are getting cold weather this weekend.  I hope it doesn’t kill the smallmouth bite.  We’ve had 79 fish (mostly smallmouth) in the last 2 trips and they are super shallow.

Back into it after many years. I had a stellar spring and summer. 17 one day in July. Ironically what used to be my favorite time of year, the fall, I was skunked 3 times and didn't catch many at all really. 

 

I'm sorry you had to move. There might be a grieving period warranted for such a move. 

Better luck next year

Tight lines y'all

Sad to hear about your lack of fishing, glad to hear about your meeting a nice lady.

 

I've learned a lot of new techniques this year. I learned the baby brush hog. Then I really got into flukes and mostly mastered them. Then I learned Rat-L-Traps, and I'm learning jerkbaits. I also started learning shaky head and drop shot.

 

Not to mention, I had my first jig bite, and a 4 pounder on it to boot. Then I got a mess of small ones and got some confidence with it.

 

Hoping this winter I don't get skunked for 2 months straight. 

Getting better now that fall is arriving ! 

On 11/8/2025 at 2:35 PM, Jig Man said:

It’s not over yet.  We are getting cold weather this weekend.  I hope it doesn’t kill the smallmouth bite.  We’ve had 79 fish (mostly smallmouth) in the last 2 trips and they are super shallow.

Likewise in Northern Arkansas.

Been years I’ve caught more. Been years I’ve caught bigger. But I got out and fished quite a bit and I have no complaints. 
 

Except for that one huge bass that threw the hook on a bladed jig. That will haunt me for a while. 

It was a pretty lackluster year for me. I didn’t catch any big bass and my number of days on the water went way down. I’m hoping I can get out more next year, even if it’s just local pond fishing. 

Pretty crappy. Between the ulcer on the ankle and the lung 'invader', I got out on shore maybe 1/2 a dozen times. One boat trip with a guide/friend, but we pretty much got rained out and even chased off the lake for a while due to nearby lightning strikes. When we did get fishing in, the big ones he could see on his LiveScope just weren't cooperating....so we each caught a bunch of 2-2.5lbrs...nothing to write home about.

 

Some small bass, couple baby walleye, and all of 3 keeper sunnies/crappies....that was the extent of my season from shore.

I went on a lot of trips this past spring and summer with mixed results.  I never broke the 4 lb mark, but I did catch a lot of 3 lbers.  Now that the fall temps are starting to bounce around the bass fishing will probably slow down a bit.

I/we didn’t get out as much as I would’ve liked to but do we ever? 
 

The great thing about this season, my favorite lake has been producing dinks the past few years which was a major bummer. This year for whatever reason we found some decent sized bass which reignited my love for that lake. 
 

All and all, it was a decent season.

7 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

I/we didn’t get out as much as I would’ve liked to but do we ever? 

So true 12pound.

 

I missed all of August helping my daughter out. All for a worthy purpose tho. I have to be there for family either way 

I had a great season. Really got to know 4 ponds near me of decent size. Focused on jig and top water mostly. Caught them a lot of different ways though. Got my new pb. And most importantly learned new waters in a new state. Started learning to tie my own jigs ( that’s been a lot of fun) and made a lot of friends and reconnected with some old ones on here. Was a great year lots of fish and good times outside. I enjoy being out there as much as catching fish. Now it’s cold and the bite has shut down. Time to tie a lot of jigs while it snows lol. 

mediocre at best

 

The ponds I’ve fished for 25 years are getting more and more pressure, with the expected results. I do okay in numbers but the biguns are in hiding or just plain gone.

 

Health issues closed my season for the year in August.

 

 

Fishing was decent while I had the means and time to do it. Highlights of the year are the kayaking/camping/fishing expedition on Devils River in May, and night fishing on Stillhouse Hollow June-August. My fishing season ended quite early. I am patient waiting for sometime next year when I may be able to fish again. 

We have settled into a yearly routine.  That kind of blurs the good/bad aspects.  Out of town trips are always fun no matter the outcome.  Florida in February, St Clair in May, Rappahonock River all summer, and the hotside of Lake Anna during the winter (now), keeps us on fish pretty much all year.  I did notice we didn’t catch as many smallmouth on the Rappahonock this year as usual but overall a good year.  I’ve found myself getting a little “burned out” this winter, so I’ve scaled back some to catch my breath and rejuvenate.  

On 11/8/2025 at 8:51 AM, fish'n Jim said:

It was beau coup better this spring than fall. 

 

Not gonna lie, had to go back to Full Metal Jacket to translate.

 

LOL

only just started this month for the whole year so far....glad I did