2020: MY FISHING YEAR IN REVIEW

 

Good Lord 2020 has been a whirlwind. 

From the dark clouds of Covid pandemic, to the unprecedented hurricane season, to the closures of stores, restaurants and social distancing, there wasn't a lot good to say about the year.  A dark cloud hung over everything and it seemed like it would never disappear.

Friends and family, teammates and co-workers... we all knew/know someone who has lost someone this year or at the very least was sick with Covid.    

When a person stops to think about how everything-society and culture- changed and what we''ve lost, not only is it sobering, its downright depressing.

It was with this thought in mind I started thinking about my year in particular.  Instead of focusing on negatives, I  wanted to highlight the positive aspects of the life I lead now.   It most certainly had its ups and downs, but the ups outweighed the setbacks as my life has finally begun to truly follow the path I've tried forcing it along for decades.  

I would be remiss if I first didn't bring to the forefront, the very person who made all of this possible in every sense of the word...a very loving and supportive drop dead gorgeous wife who allows me the freedom to fish every day I wanted to and there was no way I couldn't have had a year like this year without her understanding and support.  She is amazing and while I tell her this everyday, I don't think she realizes how much I really mean it.

I don't think she necessarily approves of my fishing all the time, but she certainly has no qualms about eating any of the fish I bring home.  I have made a standing offer of taking her along on any trip I go on, but she doesn't care to fish, just eat them.    Additionally, she is not a huge fan of any trip I go on where it takes 4 hours or more just to get to with the exception being to Pactola.

So is it a win-win situation?  Maybe, but I will say I do miss her an awful lot while I am away.   She's damn near perfect....just that pesky not liking fishing part...

Anyway...lets get to the core of this post.

So for some statistics.  I kept track of a lot of things this year once I got going.  Played around with the idea of keeping track of a lot more items, but eventually narrowed it down to these.  

I was going to post what seemed to me to be "peak or optimal hours" on the waters I fished but decided I really didn't want any more people down there fishing during "happy time" lol... so here goes...

2020 stats

• Fished 187 days in a row
• Fished 257 total days
• Average trip Time: 2.41 hours (Trips/hours=average trip time)
• Total hours -700+ hours
• Totaled 290 trips
• Average Fish per trip 7.067137  (2000/290)
• Average Fish per day:  7.782            (2000/257)
• Miles Traveled. 3000+
• Used 2 miles of monofilament to spool and respool my rods (11 330 yd spools)
• Roughly 2000+ fish caught
  
• 15 different species of freshwater gamefish

As a result of those stats, the following result statistics came into focus:

•  41 Master Angler/Proud Angler Fish  Catch and Release-(Nebraska or South Dakota)
• 14 master Angler Rainbow Trout (20+") -Pactola
• 1 Chinook (31" )                                      -Oahe
• 7 White Bass (17-18"")                            -Lake Sharpe
• 2 Smallmouth Bass (20")                         -Oahe
• 1 Northern Pike (38")                               -Oahe
• 2 White Crappie (16")                              -Skyview
• 13 Largemouth Bass (20-21 5/8")            -Skyview
• 1 Saugeye (26")                                        -Gavins Point tailrace
  
  

So whats this all mean?  It means persistence pays off.  I'm in no way anywhere close to being a "pro" in any sense of the word.  I know at least a dozen or more guys that could fish circles around me on any given day...I'm just persistent to the point of being ridiculous.   I just wore the fish down into mercy biting my baits.

All kidding aside, lets look at all this from a numbers standpoint. The stat I am most proud of:  The Master Angler catch

I came up with a nice way of figuring out an average between MA catches.  Days total fished /MA=255/41=6.22 trips per each MA fish.  Thats just an average.  

In real life, things didn't work out that way.  I found big fish at least a few times a month but I can guarantee you it was not every six trips.  And when I did find them, the trend was that I caught more than one...in effect it boosted those numbers up quickly.  

Sidenote:  All but 4 of those MA fish were taken from the shoreline.  Absolute fact! And the Largemouth and Crappie MA's came out of the aforementioned city lake.
 
I came close a bunch of other times throughout the year.  And for this I kept track of fish that were within 2 inches of a catch and release MA.  

• Near Miss MA/PA-Catch and Released (Fish within a 2" margin for a C&R MA)
• 32 Largemouth 19-19 7/8 inches                   -Skyview
• 42 Largemouth 18-19"                            -Skyview
• 1 channel catfish 28"                                -Skyview

75 fish that were just short of MA status. All released to grow more over the year.  All out of one lake.  Albeit a lake I spent about 90% of my available time fishing because it was incredibly close.  

Looking over those stats, I'm  happy.  Ecstatic.  Those numbers are freaking incredible.  Its been the best year I have ever had fishing.  And its already got me thinking how to up my game and numbers for 2021.

I did change a few things up, made an effort to master a few new techniques, but the key to all this was simply tenacity.  In my way of thinking, more time on the water meant more opportunities to put my bait/lure in front of more fish, thus increasing the big fish count considerably.  Was there skill involved?  Probably a little.  I would attribute that aspect of all this more to knowing what to throw when and where, understanding what type of water I am fishing and where to start looking.

But there is some more info I am willing to divulge, primarily, the top five lures I used to catch fish all year.

#1  BERKLEY GULP  MINNOWS AND VARIOUS JIGHEAD SIZES

So this came as an absolute surprise to me but numbers don't lie.  The simple combo of threading a Gulp minnow onto a plain round ball head jig scored over 50% of my fish for the year and managed to accomplish this in only 4 months.

To be clear, there was no clear cut retrieve that out produced any others over the long term.  There were also no clear cut  locations or time periods that outproduced others. Indeed, as the season progressed it became painfully obvious the fish wanted variety.  Also, fish in every body of water I visited found this combo tempting.  I caught a ton of fish on this no matter where I went.  

The combo also produced 5 of the Master Angler Largemouth Bass and over 2/3 of my largemouth 18-20".  Impressive enough for me to make sure I had a rod rigged and ready to go each time I hit the water.  Impressive enough to make damn sure I will have a rod rigged up  with this and ready for 2021.

This marked the first year I seriously made an effort to include this technique in a meaningful way in my arsenal.  Don't make the mistake of thinking its simple jig fishing.  Nothing about fishing it the way I did this year was easy.  It was down in the trenches  eating mud brutal, but it was obviously worth it. 

#2 BERKLEY FLICKER SHAD

2020 is the year that will go down for me as the year I finally became a firm die-hard believer in the magic of the Flicker shad.  

This bait was a prime producer over the course of the year but fizzled out midseason with the availability of forage.  That said, I caught some seriously big fish on these lures.  This lure was responsible for my personal best walleye, which I popped out of Chamberlain SD. 

Their hunting action was nearly unmatched by all but one lure.

Retrieve speeds obviously varied per water temperature and color selections and preferences changed almost daily, but once the fish locked in on it, this bait was exceptional.  So much so, I have purchased about 50 of them over the course of 2020.  Bigger channel catfish pounded the hell out of this bait, smashing at least 4 into total un-usability.

I will say this.  I really questioned the way it ran through the water when I first started to use them.  Seemed too erratic, but that shad profile being what it is,  is a huge dinner bell for a lot of fish and as a result, popped me quite a few walleye this year.

#3 STORM HOT-N-TOT

Absolutely one of my favorite crankbaits.  This is the one lure I made reference to in the Flicker Shad portion.  I caught some absolute pigs on this bait. The way it hunts in the water is more aggressive than the Flicker shad and it offers a chunkier yet similar sized shad profile.  You can really feel it thump on a steady retrieve and its a proven (4 years straight) producer.

There were certain colors that worked best for the lakes I fished, but water clarity was ultimately the deciding factor.  Natural colors dominated this year for me with the bait.  

I used this from shore, from the kayak, from the boat....I cast it, trolled with it and drifted with it...it performed exceptionally well a good chunk of the year, with the exception of the Summer and Summer peak periods. I do not go anywhere anytime without having at least 1-2 of these baits with me.

#4 JOINTED RAPALA

The Venerable Rapala #11 or #13.  Quite possibly the epitome of jointed lures, its action often duplicated but never matched.

 Honestly it put more bass in my hand than all the other lures except the Berkley Gulp Minnow.  Slayed a few bigger Channel catfish on them this year too, including a 28 incher, A 26" and a 25".  

The only downside I had with this was its success rate was sporadic throughout the course of the season and seemed to be successful on only 2 of the bodies of water I frequent.  

The jointed Rapala has been around for a very long time, and the reason for its longevity is that it works.  If it didn't you wouldn't see it on the store shelves.  Another must have lure when ever and where ever I go.

#5 JOINTED SHAD RAP

Another lure from Rapala that gave me some big fish sporadically throughout the year.  With it I did manage to catch a lot of 18-21inch walleye, but there was no consistency to its success.  It was feast or famine, due in large part to the nature of flatland/lowland reservoir walleye

The shallow version definitely outperformed its deeper brother for me and it only seemed to be a twilight lure, meaning almost all the fish I caught with it were in that magic time between sunset and full darkness.  

In years past, this lure has been exceptional for me.  2020 saw it as performing well enough to get into the top 5, but not nearly as productive in situation it should have exceled in.  Now whether that come down to my color choices is a topic for further discussion.  

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• MISTER TWISTER SASSY GRUBS IN PEARL COLORS
• NED RIGS
• BOGSTALKER GRUBS (CUSTOM COLOR FOR 1 LAKE)
• SENKOS
• SALMO HORNETS
• MOXIES
• HUSKY JERKS
• RATTLING ROGUES
  
  

Starting next year, I am thinking I might start keeping lengths  and possibly weights on everything I catch.  Should also keep track of color patterns, lure types, water temps etc to see if I can get some more definitive patterns to emerge.  

It ought to be a more interesting year, as I plan on trying to cut down the shore fishing and get more boat fishing in, especially during the colder parts of the year from October to first ice.  

Looking ahead, you will  see me expanding my range and fishing different lakes and different classifications of reservoirs and water bodies.  You will also see me targeting new species and hopefully being successful at it.  And along those journeys, I will strive to detail how and what I did, and why I chose to do it.

I'll be putting more emphasis on techniques I've chose to ignore in the past like bottom bouncing, dipsy diving, etc.  The reason is that since I have ignored them, I need to now learn how to use them to ascertain their potential application to the bodies of waters I do fish.  Or that they are boat-centric and I am still getting the hang of fishing with my Tracker I've affectionately named "The Mistress" or "High Plains Drifter."

There will also be a sharper focus on some aspects of live bait fishing even though I am not a big live bait fan.  Hate trying to keep bait alive or lugging it around with me when I'm shore fishing.  Total pain in the ass.  But with focus upon total improvement comes sacrifice. Like the old saying goes...No pain no gain.

From the blog standpoint, I want to begin to incorporate a bunch of new items, but only as time allows.  My overall goal is to help people catch more fish or at the very least, inspire them to get off the couch and catch spend more time outdoors. Suggestions could be helpful and much appreciated.

One thing I have always embraced was that life is or at least should be, about adventure. The level of adventure can and should vary depending on finances, health and/ or passion for the sport.  Every outing should be looked upon as a blessing and cherished as a memory.  A simple outing can turn into the adventure of a lifetime.  That's the beautiful thing about the outdoors and on the water.  You never know what the day is going to bring

Keep those lines wet, those hooks sharp and the fish afraid.

.

NIGHT SHIFT IN THE ARCTIC OR JERKING AROUND THE ICEBERGS

Without fail, I typically find myself the only guy at the local lake fishing after Halloween.  Usually its before even that.  If I do see someone else fishing, they almost always call it quits as the sun sets and the cold comes calling.  Something about those first chilled autumn breezes and lots of anglers shrivel and retreat back into their winter dens.

The ones who do stay and fish near me after sunset don't seem willing to brave much past 7 pm, regardless of how much I iterate that the fish don't typically move into the shallows until after that the first part of fall.

So far this fall I can't count the number of times one of these guys has picked up their gear, made the short trip to their vehicle and loaded it up and before they are even out of eyesight, I'm setting the hook into some gravel lizards or bass.

Make no mistake.  Night fishing in freezing weather is almost always a little sucky no matter how well you dress.  I cannot say its fast paced or even action packed most of the time.  No.  Recalling my military service years,  night fishing in the cold is more akin to forced long marches across grueling terrain.  Its a grind, mentally and physically.  Numb stiff fingers, frosty cheeks, feet like ice blocks, heavy clothing hindering movement.  Throw in some freezing rain, snow and a nice stiff 20 -30 mph wind and you got yourself a literal suck-fest.

But the fish are still biting.  Really they are. 

These days, I'm not much of a live bait kind of guy.  Know it works and could probably save me some time fish-wise, but trying to keep it fresh and alive is not a hassle I even want to consider.  Heresy to most walleye guys but  its not very cost effective from my point of view.  Nor do I want to sit on shore and try to watch a rod tip at night with any amount of wind blowing.  I'd sooner watch paint dry.  

Nope.  I'll stick to the jerkbaits, long minnow baits, jigs and shad raps.  Throw in a few blade baits and some plastic moxies and I'll be a happy angler.  Keeps me active and focused and it makes it easier (but not impossible) to ignore the cold.

Right now, a day after Thanksgiving, the lake still hasn't froze up yet, but the temperatures are getting closer to that fateful and utterly inevitable day.  Maybe another week or two and I'll be scrounging for open water to fish during the daylight hours.  

In the meantime, I'll keep prowling the shorelines for "biters".  Hunting for active fish that have almost forgotten the pressure they had put on them during the warmer months.  

I use the word active fish but its relative to the season.  Active in this case means fish willing to hammer a jerkbait or jig without much cajoling.

Under the cover of darkness is the best time of the day to really pull in some big fish. I've found over the last few years that the adage is certainly true.  Throw in the colder months and fish trying to fatten up for winter and there are definitely nights that will make you forget about the cold.  

So if you do decide to venture into the icy darkness of your local fishing hole, here are some definite things you must consider.

• Make sure to venture into the area doing the daylight hours.  Make some casts to identify snags and other structure and orientate yourself to know where they are at.
• Dress warmer than you need to.  Once the sun drops, so does the temperature and usually pretty fast.  You're also on the waters edge and any wind is going to cut through your clothing pretty easily.
• Use a headlamp.  Forgot about lanterns.  This is stealth guerilla style fishing.  And when you do use your headlamp for something, make sure your back is to the water to prevent its light from shining out over the water. .  Why?  The water has already started to clear due to the cooler temps, the plankton and algae have nearly disappeared.  Any lights that are nearby, the fish have become accustomed too.  Anything out of the ordinary or unusual will send them back into the depths and your fishing spot for the night is compromised.  Note however, this is not usually a problem fishing rivers.  Moving water refracts light differently and you can get away with it in my experience
• Hand warmers of any type are a godsend.  You haven't lived until you've tried to tie good knots with frozen fingers. Good times....good times...
• Heavy or warm waterproof boots.  The ground is usually frozen or close to it.  Standing on it in the darkness can numb your feet quicker than you realize.
• Be prepared for long stretches of no action....none...zip...nada.  When these fish come in, its usually in a short quick lived spurts.
• The moon can affect their behavior, especially its brightness during the fall.  The air is crisp and so is the moonlight.  I've usually had better luck this time of year when the moon is non-existent.  Especially fishing jerkbaits.  The fish seem to home in on the rattles better.
• Grow a beard.  Seriously.  They help keep your face warmer.  
• Travel light.  A few rods, a stringer perhaps, maybe a net.  You don't need your whole tacklebox.  A few removable trays in a small lightweight duffle-bag is really all you need.  Figure out what you need to fish the areas you choose and then minimize as much as you can.  
• Be prepared to clean your rod tip of ice build-up.  Its going to happen and will hamper your casting ability.  As my friend Sheridan pointed out, use rods with large eyelets especially on the rod tips.  This helps prevent the ice from building up so fast.

No doubt many of you have read the articles on wading at night in the fall for big walleyes.  I won't disagree that its an  extremely effective tactic, but its not something I am willing to do.  

I am older now and my balance is crap.  The last thing I want or need is to slip or fall over and have my nuggets immersed in a cold bath of lake water and then having to get the waders off and making my way back to the warmth of my truck. before I get hypothermia.  

I urge caution when considering that option.  Especially if you have little knowledge of the areas you intend to fish.

All in all, night fishing in the fall is very rewarding.  Especially when your effort pays off.  The fish tend to be bigger and thicker, and when they do bite, they are not usually shy, they tend towards aggressive.  

Above all, be safe, use prudence and be stealthy.  The fish are there.  Closer than they have been all year.  All you got to do is brave the cold and go out after them.

THE ROUGH CHOP: A STRATEGY FOR STEPPING OUT OF ANGLING COMFORT ZONES INTO UNFAMILIAR WATERS

Farm ponds, rivers, the local creek...you know, those unassuming rural places we all went to,  were my introduction into the sport;  where a wildfire of bold adventurism was stoked and prodded by the waters quicksilver transparency and the mystery each promised yet hid within their shadowy depths.  

Throughout my older youth I fished  whenever  I could, mainly for pleasure and for whatever was biting. Bass and sunfish were usually the main targets as they usually had the largest appetites and were the easiest to catch.  An added bonus was that most of the time, I could see their reactions to my offerings and I watched their behaviors eagerly.  

Catfish, bullhead and carp rounded out the usual list of hard fighting thugs and a few times a year, in mid to late November, my grandfather, dad and uncles would get together for a few nights of sauger and walleye fishing below Gavins Point dam. 

Back in those earlier years on the river, one could expect to catch the occasional paddlefish, sturgeon and serpentine eels beneath the crisp ebony sky and the raspy hiss and flickering light of the trusty Coleman lanterns sitting on the shoreline rip rap....those fish were true monsters for me at the time and as always, the Titans of the Missouri were bigger than anything I had previously imagined; grand visions of Leviathans, Gargantua and Behemoth fish that swam just out of reach and slightly beyond my periphery

Entering early adulthood found my fishing time seriously curtailed.  Gone were the lazy days of fishing with no worries or serious expectations.  Instead, those were replaced with trying to earn a decent living, raise a family and keep all the bills paid and still have cash left over.    They were definitely lean years, with occasional excursions to whatever water body was closest and trying to bring home some enough eating size fish to make the trip worthwhile.  

Most of the time I was successful, but sometimes, the dreaded skunk followed me home.    The stench of angling failure hung around me like a shroud for weeks.  And as my fishing trips and time on the water slowed to a trickle, the success rate I had enjoyed before plummeted.  I had trouble locating active fish and even when I did, the numbers I used to enjoy seemed a distant memory.  Nothing I tried seemed to work.  I had become "lost".

I made the best of it, as best as I could, fished as often as I could and dreamed of a time when I rounded that corner of hardship and could fish as often as I wanted, practically anywhere I wanted.  But with that came the realization I needed some serious strategy.  

Fast forward almost 20 years later.  I've arrived at that time I'd dreamed about and suddenly find myself fishing a lot of unfamiliar water and dealing with all the challenges that come with it.  

I still fish the local lake primarily because it is close, is ranked as one of the top 10 bass lakes in the state, has a decent population of bigger crappie, catfish and bluegills and an emerging population of walleye.  Actually fish it quite a bit.  

That said, I bypass a lot of my old stomping grounds, due to ever increasing boating crowds and angling pressure, exploding zebra mussel infestation, and a population of various and equally voracious rough fish that barely make the trip up there worthwhile.    Call me an elitist or what not, I don't care.  If I wanted to fish for gar, skipjack or anything else, I'd stick closer to home and save my gas and time.  

Thus, the road trips.  More often than not, but not as often as I like, I find myself on the long drives along I-90 to places like Lake Pactola, Lake Francis Case by Chamberlain or up to Pierre and Lake Oahe.  Different types of water bodies, different prevailing weather patterns and most certainly different tactics.  Throw in a lovely wife who loves eating a lot of fish and suddenly you have a ton of pressure to catch something to take home.  Not an ideal situation, but one that is usually manageable if I apply some general  principles to the places I find myself in.

Lets take Oahe as an example.  Since I am not a local ( I wish), the time frames I am present there are often separated by weeks.   Depending on the time of year, that can pose some serious problems.  Fish locations can change quickly given water temps, water levels,  food availability, water clarity etc.  Places that were hot yesterday can be totally devoid of fish today.  While I usually take my boat up there most of the time,  that's still a lot of water to try and cover both quickly and successfully.  Here is the primary tactic I typically employ.

Enter pattern fishing.

PATTERN FISHING

Remember I mentioned I needed some serious strategy?  Pattern fishing was eventually my answer.  Developed by bass tourney fishermen back in the late 70's and early 80's, its been an invaluable tool and has helped me stay on fish.

The general short theory is that given any water body section, if one catches fish and the bite suddenly stops, you should be able to move to a similar location, say across the lake, find similar conditions and find some active fish at the same depths, using the same tactics.  Its simple logic and its a proven tournament winning strategy.  Works in reservoirs of all sizes.  

What many people fail to realize is that for huge reservoirs like Oahe is that there are typically several types of forage options available for fish and those options are not generally going to all be in the same areas,  thus you can have several distinct patterns happening at the same time.  Smaller lakes too can exhibit similar situations but usually to lesser degrees.

They key therefore is to do some research before the trip to get a general idea on where the fish are, what depth they are holding, what the locals are catching them on and what weather conditions are going to be prevalent when you are there.  Also doesn't hurt to make sure you have a backup plan in case the weather conditions change as they are wont to do across the Plains.  I usually try to have some shore fishing options lined up just in case.  Since most of my fishing experience revolves around shoreline angling, I am not usually too upset about not getting the boat out if the wind is howling.

Once (if) you do manage to locate and catch some fish, you now have a baseline idea on what to look for, what to use and what depth to use it at .

There are several caveats to this strategy though.  The lake needs to be divided into no less than 3 parts; The upper section, the middle section and the lower sections.  Also, if any large bays are present, you can divide them up in the same manner.  

Recognizing where you are in terms of water body sections further helps to eliminate more water and keeps you in areas where your tactics should work.

Another thing to remember is that some patterns will typically be comprised of bigger fish than others.  Bigger fish tend to eat bigger forage and bigger forage typically inhabits differing areas than smaller forage. 

 Note the word typically...while usually the case, there will always be exceptions.  Mother Nature can be fickle and there are no guidelines she will not bend if not outright break occasionally.

Another note of interest:

If you live in an area where nearby reservoirs are the same general type, say for instance flatland reservoirs, their depths, forage options and cover  roughly being similar, that pattern fishing methodology can help steer you to more starting points and put you on fish quicker.    

As I normally fish almost daily, I do occasionally switch out what water bodies I fish.  Keeping those lake choices as close as possible to the current water body type I am fishing, I can usually expect to find active fish in similar spots on those other reservoirs and catch them using similar tactics.  Its not totally a fool-proof plan, but I believe it does help me get into the ballpark.  A lot of fishing involves memory and awareness.  

So there you have it.  A relatively simple game plan to help eliminate a lot of water and put you on fish quicker.  The tactics you chose to employ ultimately affect your fishing starting points and each species tends to have its own methods leading to success.  I'm not going to pursue that avenue in this post.  Suffice to say, know your quarry, learn how to read topographic maps, pay attention to fishing reports both current and past years, do your due diligence and you'll arrive on new water with a better arsenal of knowledge and baits that should help make your trip a success.