How did everyone fare this year.

[LowEnd]

Not done yet but overall this season was different for me. Had a OK spring despite many spots being void of life. Still found them but it was much more difficult.

Summer was good with larger fish but missing was the under-slots that I used to find without a problem.

Fall has been all or nothing so far. My October was better than November to this point. 
Numbers for me are down this year for bass and blues and so we’re my outings (health) but the year class of bass have been better.

Overall a solid season.

 

[R.R. Bridge Fisher]

My best year with quality and quantity. Also my PB in the spring. 

I had a few skunks but for the most part the next outing made up for it.

From big wood to weedless soft plastics it was a great season to get me thru the long winter. Shortly it will be time to look at next year's calendar. 

[fishguy62]

What’s good or bad? My biggest fish was 38 pounds with 4 fish over 30 and prolly a dozen other fish in the mid to upper 20s.  
 

My best outing numbers wise was prolly this fall with 30-40 bass in a few hours. I keep my sessions to 3 hours, I think that’s part of my “problem”

 

Is that good? I’ve only been at it 3 years. Idk…

[jimmy z]

2 hours ago, fishguy62 said:

What’s good or bad? My biggest fish was 38 pounds with 4 fish over 30 and prolly a dozen other fish in the mid to upper 20s.  
 

My best outing numbers wise was prolly this fall with 30-40 bass in a few hours. I keep my sessions to 3 hours, I think that’s part of my “problem”

 

Is that good? I’ve only been at it 3 years. Idk…

Sounds good to me 

[SongDynasty]

I'm a farily new fisherman. This is my first year chasing stripers and caught my first ever spring & fall striper. Went after multiple species this year (tog, porgy, sundial). Can't wait for next spring to go at it again

[espo@mtkpnt]

First fall run fishing again after a 10+ year hiatus. Had some good opportunities to test my old gear, remember what I liked and what I need to change. Season was cut short due to shoulder surgery to fix a torn labrum but I managed a few really fun sessions and am excited to get back in the game in the Spring. Hoping to spend the winter PTing my shoulder, tuning gear and maybe take a few fly casting lessons with my GF. 

[jimmy z]

3 hours ago, espo@mtkpnt said:

First fall run fishing again after a 10+ year hiatus. Had some good opportunities to test my old gear, remember what I liked and what I need to change. Season was cut short due to shoulder surgery to fix a torn labrum but I managed a few really fun sessions and am excited to get back in the game in the Spring. Hoping to spend the winter PTing my shoulder, tuning gear and maybe take a few fly casting lessons with my GF. 

Hope the shoulder heals 100%

[jimmy z]

8 hours ago, SongDynasty said:

I'm a farily new fisherman. This is my first year chasing stripers and caught my first ever spring & fall striper. Went after multiple species this year (tog, porgy, sundial). Can't wait for next spring to go at it again

My friend had a restaurant, Ming Dynasty here in Ct.

Glad you're into this thing we do 

Just for the record those Sundials aren't worth keeping. No meat to fillet

Edited November 20 by jimmy z

[albacized]

I’d rate it below average on almost every front, except I did well with bonito - not so great with albies, but well enough to stay above the ‘acceptable vs poor’ line. The big disappointment was of my doing where I didn’t break out the fly rod once for these little tunas. But in saying that, I fished in some real shoulder to shoulder situations- so it is what it is.
 

I had a solid start with stripers, lower numbers but better quality. But around mid July, everything went to pot striper-wise. in fact, I’m not sure I had even caught a dozen since. Some of that could be attributed to chasing bonito and false albacore- but there used to be a time I caught plenty of stripers on these bonito/albie outings. But as it turned out this season, I caught exactly 2 stripers on outings where attention was on the little tunas 

Bluefish were almost non existent except for the occasional annoying bite off. Finally found a pile of smallish (1-2 lb cocktail size) bluefish hung around a spot for a week or so before departing- I was able to turn that into fun once I downsized my gear to freshwater level - but essentially a D- for bluefish, with that last little flurry save that fishery from a complete fail.

 

Additionally, my annual snook fishing trip to SW FL was on the slow side as I ended up with about a dozen in a 4 day trip, and not very impressive size wise…although I will say I found a spot that was pretty fair during the last two days that, had I found that spot sooner, may have flipped the grading of this trip to ‘pretty good’

 

net result….somewhere between a C and C-

[40shades-of-blue]

Totally abysmal year. Caught a few in the spring and only caught my first this fall today. All shorts. I work full time and get out a few days after work but mostly get out only the weekends. Never in the right place at the right time. No internet or cell phone friends to help out. Tackle

shop reports are all BS. F them all.  I hope they all go out of business. Vacation week so I am heading out tomorrow AM. Not expecting much with the forecast. Looking to jump off the nearest bridge soon. 

[albacized]

6 mins ago, 40shades-of-blue said:

Totally abysmal year. Caught a few in the spring and only caught my first this fall today. All shorts. I work full time and get out a few days after work but mostly get out only the weekends. Never in the right place at the right time. No internet or cell phone friends to help out. Tackle

shop reports are all BS. F them all.  I hope they all go out of business. Vacation week so I am heading out tomorrow AM. Not expecting much with the forecast. Looking to jump off the nearest bridge soon. 

What area do you live or fish in? Southern New England is slowing down but still has fish

[40shades-of-blue]

3 mins ago, albacized said:

What area do you live or fish in? Southern New England is slowing down but still has fish

Ocean County, NJ. Great fishing it seems if you are lucky to be rich, retired and can drive the beach and are out there every day. Otherwise it’s the big middle finger. 

[SongDynasty]

3 hours ago, jimmy z said:

My friend had a restaurant, Ming Dynasty here in Ct.

Glad you're into this thing we do 

Just for the record those Sundials aren't worth keeping. No meat to fillet

I'll have to stop by your friend's restaurant if I'm ever in the area after a fishing session. My parents love to eat the sundials steamed whole. I keep the larger ones and toss back the small ones

[Antek]

Unusually difficult Spring for me in the Far WLIS. Typically April and May are action packed but this year it was dismal. I believe that the unusually warm and snowless winter played some juju with the local resident fish. Some decent action picked up early summer though, before petering out with the bathwater temperatures in July. Bluefish action was great, however, with a push of big bruiser blues chasing peanuts close to shore in late summer and slamming epoxy jigs and Kastmasters. Started seriously fishing the south shore of LI this Fall: obviously, a totally different environment than what I’m used to locally. Have really enjoyed it and did pretty well in October for my own standards, with a lot of nice slot fish and a few bigger overslots on late nights. November has been much spottier, but guys who have been fishing the SS for years have also had some rough outings, so I can’t complain. In the WLIS, my season isn’t done yet and usually I can catch well into December until I just get sick of dealing with the cold. So far, the Fall is shaping up to be as unusual and frustrating as Spring was, but it bees like that sometimes. 

[jimmy z]

3 hours ago, SongDynasty said:

I'll have to stop by your friend's restaurant if I'm ever in the area after a fishing session. My parents love to eat the sundials steamed whole. I keep the larger ones and toss back the small ones

The restaurant is closed, due to the Pandemic. But he opened a new place, Ming Garden in Rocky Hill, CT.

Nice folks Johnny and his wife