Well, Did you meet your goals?

[Deitz Dittrich]

I'm not throwing in the towel yet... I hope to get out a few more times. But untill I tag a deer with my bow, I end up spending the majority of my fall stuck in a tree...

But reflecting back on the season, did you meet your goals?

I did, had a very fun season. Got to fish with a bunch of friends. Spent some quality time with some family. And caught quite a few fish this summer.

A good time for sure!

[bassNspear]

Great topic Deitz.

I had a grat year as well. I got to meet alot of new people on the water, along with having a great time fishing with Schultz and my Bro. It was a year that we went out and learned alot more, and fished agaist alot more people, to make ourselves better.

I have placed the boat back at the store, so im pretty sure i wont be going out to many more times this year. All in all, great year.

[ikeslayer]

Indeed a good topic deitz

i don't have many regrets this summer. i only wished i would have fished for fun a little more. It seemed that whenever i was on the water i was fishing a tournament. Don't get me wrong tourneys are great and i love them i just need some play fishing every now and then.

A couple of hilights were taking second with Fluker at the fishingmn tounrey on WAck-on-ya as he likes to call it. And going fishing with a couple other youth pastors a couple of times only to have a guy fall in each time we went. Hilarious.

ike

[Fluker]

Awesome year! No other way to explain it! I really put my nose down and tried to learn a lot this year. I'm a deepwater guy, so I tried to expand on that and feel I did. I also tried to overcome my fear of the "shallow water butt kicking", and feel a lot more comfy when I HAVE to compete in 8 foot or less.

I taught myself a lot this year, and I learned a lot from the guys that I did fish with. All in all, my best year of fishing since I've moved up here (6 years). Heading out on Friday and Sunday, so hopefully more good things to come.

Tourney season is done though. My big LM of the year was 6.44 from Lake of the Ozarks during the IBBT which I run each spring. My big SM of the year came from the MS River during our first club tourney of the year (5 lbs even).

I had a 21.50 lb bag in a team tournament for my big sack of the year. I had another 19.50 lb bag in the team tourney on Lake Oz. My largest 5 fish sacks of the year for individual tournaments were:

21.38 lbs (July)

19.45 lbs (Oct)

18.95 lbs (June)

16.95 lbs (May)

If I had to pick 1 thing that helped me improve this year it would have to be focus. Whether is was practice (and I treated EVERY non tournament day as practice) or a tournament, I tried to maintain focus every minute of every day, each day. The biggest thing I did to help with that is being prepared. It's amazing how you can not focus 100% when you are not fully prepared. A low oil light, a hook that isn't sharp, and knick in your line... all of this stuff can get in your head while you are fishing. I tried to take care of anything like this prior to hitting the water, or took care of it right away while on the water, rather than letting my mind wander off in thought about it while fishing. I never would have thought how much of a difference it makes. I honestly believe that if you have a knick in your line 30 yards up, the amount of time you spend thinking about it (worried about setting the hook, can I set the hook now?, etc) really does affect how efficient you fish. Call me crazy, but after this year I truly believe it. If the ONLY thing you have to worry about while your fishing is finding and catching the fish then you will fish more efficiently. I learned a lot of "little things" this year that all roll up into a higher success ratio.

The biggest thing though is that I really pinpointed things that I need to do to become better. I just hope I continue to have the time to spend on improving upon those things.

Fluker

[Maximum12]

Marvelous topic.

My summer of fishing was fantastic, highlighted by our annual week-long family trip to Pequot Lakes & two trips up to the BWCA. The second trip was capped off by a 42" pike on September 30th that made my trip. My buddy said it made his as well, just getting to touch that monster!

The only goal I didn't meet was catching the elusive 20" bass - probably because my addiction to pike gets in the way, a lot. However, I managed to get within an inch of my goal multiple times & found some good new bass waters in the neighborhood.

[SledNeck]

It was a good year. I have every weekend planned out for next year. Made alot of mistakes this year (as far as fishing particular lakes at certain times), but learned from them.

[st.crioxfishin]

It was a great summer for me as well. I made it a goal to get out on the water more this year even though I worked full time during the summer. So far I'm at 101 times fishing. I also made it a goal to earn anlger of the year in my club and accomplished that as well.

I got to fish with a bunch of great people this year and fished a ton of new lakes which I believe is a great way of making yourself a better angler. Theres nothing I like more than going to a new lake and tring to figure it out.

I feel like I have become a much better fisherman when it comes to deep water; and now have the confidence to go out and fish deep whenever the situation is called for.

Keeping track of how many fish I caught and what I caught them on has really narrowed down my strengths and weaknesses, which will come in handy, giving me goals and things to work on for next year.

Got out once on the 20th and caught them good when it was warm here in Iowa, but may only get out one or two more times. Being in a treestand has got my attention at the moment!

[Ray Esboldt]

As far as personal accomplishments, sure. I made or was close to every personal goal I set. I ended up with some money from the 8 small and 2 large tournaments I fished. I might have even come close to breaking even for the year, but probably not quite.

I didn't get to spend a lot of time fishing with my immediate family. I really need more time in the boat with the kids, and have poor excuses like fishing tournaments or pre-fishing. I want both of them to come into their adult years with the same lust I have for fishing.

My boat has not moved since the weekend before duck hunting and will not move again until I get time to store it. So, I am done with fishing until I keep my guns at home.

Preview of next year:

1) My daughter desperately wants to fish a tournament with dad. We have to do that.

2) I still stink at fishing reeds. I've got to crack the code there.

3) I need to be a better deep water fisherman under adverse conditions. I swear I use to be better, but at times struggled horribly this year.

4) I would like some more time on rivers. I used to be river rat, but have lost my knack there as well.

[Slyster]

It was SUCH a fun summer! So much fishing! Only reget?... (again) not getting out with you Deitz being a fellow teacher and all... next summer!

I managed to get out a lot this season... with the summer off... probably an average of 25-35 hours per week.. focusing on weekdays when traffic was minimal... it was so fun!

I did manage to do a lot of GPS/Sonar mapping of weedlines and weed islands etc on a few key local lakes.. and also had the latest Lakemaster chips.. really was fun and accurate... and also got to take the kiddies out more than ever!

It was wonderful!... I am putting the Titanic to bed this week in fact... and in only around 5 months waking her up for my 5th season of bass fishing!

AND.. best news of all for me... only one more summer left fishing in the Titanic (14' modified Lund) and I will be getting a new boat... says the wife.. and in the spring of 2009 I will be able to get a REAL.. larger... bass boat!

Not that it REALLY matters I have found.. but with the kids getting bigger and fishing more often with adults and tournaments.. this will be awesome!.. know what I'm sayin?

[Deitz Dittrich]

Sly- we will have to try harder to set a date for next year.

[Fever]

Deitz, Sly, I have to agree... Teaching does make the summer much more fishable. I get out about 4-6 times a week sometimes. I do feel I had a good but not great season (not quite over yet) I did catch probably my biggest bass at 22 1/4 inches and did win a few weeks while fishing my league. I wasn't able to fish too much with family as my kids are now 5,4,and 2.75 years. They love sunnies though. I feel I'm improving big time on my deeper jig fishing which was a goal. Shallow cranking and plastics treated me very well this summer and I also think I'm getting better at my organizational skills and confidence in the lakes I fish. I can't wait for the day that I can fish out of a new boat... (a year or two maybe). I would like to contiue to improve next year on the deep water drop shoting techniques and finnese fishing. Good post topic Deitz... Hey, ever have a student teacher get assigned to you? I have one now and can't beleive how much free time I have while at work....

[Slyster]

I had one (student teacher) a few years back.. was fun.. almost boring though with all the time just sitting, observing etc.

[Griggs]

I actually was thinking it wasn't going to happen, but the past month and a half I really achieved enough to make my goals. I caught more big fish this then even last year, and I got some help last year =)

I caught multiple 4 pound fish, more 3 pound fish than I've even caught and my real goal of catching a 5 lbs bass was finally achieved last weekend.

Good season!

[Deitz Dittrich]

Nice job Griggs, I knew you had it in you.. it was only a matter of time!

Congrats on the big fish man!

[EBass]

I've had a wonderful season. Only 3 a bit above the 20" mark but a few 19"s and lots of 18 and 17". However I did loose a bunch of big bass. Poor hook sets, or trying to horse it in. All n all it's been a great year, but it's still not over well not for me.

[uwecsteeple]

I too have had a wonderful season, having to miss August because of travel for worked sucked, but such is life. This years big bass was a 20.5 inch smallie on opener weekend, I guess things went downhill from there

I think my goal was to catch my weight in bass, I am pretty sure I achieved that.

[BassAkwards]

I had a great summer... I bought my first boat and was fishing 3-5 days per week. Couldn't have asked for anything better. Also, I fished in my first bass tournament, which didn't go as well as planned yet learned a lot of great information. I tried new baits, presentations, and depths and had success with almost everything I tried. Caught my personal best for LM this year as well.

I still haven't figured out this fall fishing though...