Started out Jan and February of 2022 fishing through some seriously crappy cold weather. By the end of February I had tallied only 27 days. Not a stellar start for my stated 300 days fishing goal. But I was still determined.
Starting from the 25th of that month, I stretched out my streak 295 straight days that finally ended on December 20th, due to the severe arctic blast that pushed air temperatures into negative territory and did not include the ridiculous wind chills. This brought the overall tally of days fished up to that point to 322. Since then, I've added a few more days and and will finish out with 324 days.
Along the way, 35+ straight days of wind over 30 mph in March and April made fishing tricky, but for those who braved the elements with me, we scored big time in numbers and resulted in my landing my biggest walleye of the year coming in at a respectable 25.5 inches, a nice 16.25 inch crappie and an 18.5 inch white bass. Scored plenty of 20-21" Largemouth as well.
Spring came along and stretched out longer than usual and kept the pre-summer bite going for a long time, but when summer came, it came in hard, pushing surface water temps up to 90+ degrees in a lot of the lakes I fished. Algae blooms, along with the receding waters resulted in a veritable explosion of weed growth, and a surprising amount of baitfish which pushed the fish into new areas that made it tough to shore fish effectively.
Water level was THE key factor that played into every aspect of my trips.
As a result of the receding waters, increased weedlines due to better water clarity, and traditionally fair weather increased fishing pressure, I opted to forge into the ultralight domain and ply the waters as much as I could by nightfall and darkness.. It was purely a strategic move that payed out handsomely. Lighter line diameters, smaller offerings and quieter profiles were the ticket to coax bites out of the overly pressured and heat stressed fish.
From July until the middle of October, the bite was ugly. Tough to stomach going from catching 150+ fish a week and then hitting rock bottom and scraping a dozen fish in a week. Only nice thing about it was when you did latch into one, it was usually a nice one.
To make matters worse, gas prices were through the roof. While Im not usually overly concerned with fuel prices, it made long trips into the North Country a bit more expensive than I was willing to pay.
End result was I had to make due with what resources I had on hand.
The money part of the was not the problem. It all came down to either taking the trips or getting or upgrading my bait shop equipment and supplies. I love making my baits so I opted for the latter, getting in over 20 new molds and extending my ability to better cover the range of plastic bait presentation options. I can offer 54 different baits. more than anyone else in the immediate area.
The water levels started to drop drastically around a July, with the lake I primarily fish dropping 2 foot by the middle of August.
Every where I fished was the same. Lower water levels, which resulted in structure and breaklines holding a lot of the fish, but that weren't usually easily accessible to shoreline guys. You either did your homework and adapted or you got left crying in the dust.
By October it was obvious the walleye were not going to be frequenting their traditional fall haunts and this resulted in some newer patterns emerging, as well as familiar tactics having to be tweaked slightly to get bit.
November did pick up with some nicer fish coming in on the crappiest nights, but all in all, a few keepers here and there was the norm.
As far as number of fish caught this year, I lost track after I broke the 2100+ mark in mid October.
Up to that point, I had caught more walleye than bass, more crappie than bass, and more bluegill than bass. And it stayed that way until Mid November when the Big Gals came in from the deep. Had a stretch of nights where lots of Bass were caught and one or two were over 20 inches. Unmarked thick girthy gals with an appetite and a need to feed. Shortly before Thanksgiving, the lake with its lower levels gave up the ghost and iced over, forcing me to finish out the year fishing for rainbows and bass in an oxbow. Needless to say, the largemouth barely edged out the Bluegill but stayed well below the crappie and walleye...First time that has ever happened to me.
Started to fine tune a winter night presentation to pop rainbows and bass using crankbaits. Still working on ironing out some finer details but its in the works and when I'm confident I have it nailed down, I'll put the information out there for everyone to digest. Just a word of warning though. It'll be damn cold, no ice shacks or huts to huddle in.
KEY BOGSTALKER STATS AT A GLANCE:
Total Days Fished: 324
Total Trips:415
Total Consecutive days- 295
Total Line used (in feet)- 15000' + or approximately 3 + miles of line
Approximate fish Caught-2200
Total Consecutive days- 295
Total Line used (in feet)- 15000' + or approximately 3 + miles of line
Approximate fish Caught-2200
Total # of species: 14
Species:
Species:
- Gar
- Asian Carp
- Perch
- Bluegill
- Sunfish
- Black Crappie
- Largemouth Bass
- White bass
- Wiper
- Channel Cat
- Walleye
- Sauger
- Rainbow Trout
- Rock Bass
Master Angler Fish (Catch and Release)-24
- White Bass-1
- Largemouth-23
TOP 5 PRESENTATIONS FOR 2022
1: Rapala Husky Jerk
Still the King of the Hill for me year round. I have to admit, I am no expert on fishing jerkbaits, but in cooler water periods, these baits are as good as gold. Not only do I hammer walleye and Bass on them, Its become quite common to slay outsize crappies on them as well. Color patterns shift around year to year so you'll need a decent selection to stay in the game as far as consistency is concerned.
2; Keitech Swing Impact/Bogstalker Slim Swim
I like these baits so much, I bought molds that produce baits that are uncanny in their similarity, which I have called Slim Swims. This allows me, as a bait maker and angler to experiment with ideas, colors and theories in an effort to really dial in my presentation options.
Make no mistake...these baits are deadly..
3: Jig-n-Gulp
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This year seen a lot of outsize panfish come in as a result of working these baits through the weeds and along breaklines.
Surprisingly, I caught more bluegill and sunfish on this than I did crappie. Something for you all to file away
4: Salmo Hornet 5
5: Matzuo Kinchou Shad 5 and 7
This bait actually came roaring up my list this year. It impressed me with its distinct action and proved it was a bait that worked especially well around rocks and timber. Not saying you aren't getting snagged, but it seemed to work pretty well for me. Got a lot of nice largemouth on it when the jerkbait bite died off.
So there it is. A condensed version of a whole years worth of fishing. I actually feel very apologetic about not being to keep the blog updated as much as I have in previous years, but I will be making more of an effort to keep everyone updated on things as I see them. So until the next posting, enjoy the info and start prepping for open water, which is about 60 some days away.
Think outside the box...set realistic fishing goals. Explore new water. Never settle for mediocrity, and barring tornadoes, lightning and hail, don't let the weather deter you. Because as I have told hundreds of people over the last few years..."Fish Gotta Eat."
Tight lines...
Think outside the box...set realistic fishing goals. Explore new water. Never settle for mediocrity, and barring tornadoes, lightning and hail, don't let the weather deter you. Because as I have told hundreds of people over the last few years..."Fish Gotta Eat."
Tight lines...
