How is your fishing season going so far?

[DFoster 0]

It’s Halloween.  I know there’s a lot of great fishing left for 2023 but I think it’s fair to say that from here and for most of us, that our fishing will begin to slow down.  Nice weather will become less frequent, hunting seasons open and the fish are going to be a lot less active in a few weeks.  I thought I would ask how has everyone done out on the water this year so far?

 For me 2023 was my personal best year fishing.  There are 2 main reasons why.  One being that I was able to fish more hours than I ever have. More hours on the stream should equate to more fish in the net and it did.  My added fishing hours was the result of a new project at work that we began this spring.  As I am alone for this work the time I start is up to me.  Being on site really early allowed a few hours to fish after work on most days and I made the most of that option. Often the project locations were very near some fine trout streams.  The other reason is that as each year passes I’m a little bit better as a fly angler.  The hundreds of skunked days, hundreds of missed/lost fish and millions of stupid mistakes over the years have all played their part in building fly fishing experience.  Looking back I realized that this season I did a lot less trial and error fishing than in years past.  

 I hope you all had a safe, fun and productive seasons as well.

[RickZieger 0]

Ponds are starting to clear some with not as much algae in them. I have been catching a few fish lately,  but stopped fishing for 2 months this summer.

All this from the drought we are in. 

Rick

[DFoster 0]

2 hours ago, RickZieger said:

Ponds are starting to clear some with not as much algae in them. I have been catching a few fish lately,  but stopped fishing for 2 months this summer.

All this from the drought we are in. 

Rick

We had a drought here last summer, it really ruined fishing for most of the year.  

[Mark Knapp 0]

7 hours ago, DFoster said:

It’s Halloween.  I know there’s a lot of great fishing left for 2023 but I think it’s fair to say that from here and for most of us, that our fishing will begin to slow down.  Nice weather will become less frequent, hunting seasons open and the fish are going to be a lot less active in a few weeks.  I thought I would ask how has everyone done out on the water this year so far?

 For me 2023 was my personal best year fishing.  There are 2 main reasons why.  One being that I was able to fish more hours than I ever have. More hours on the stream should equate to more fish in the net and it did.  My added fishing hours was the result of a new project at work that we began this spring.  As I am alone for this work the time I start is up to me.  Being on site really early allowed a few hours to fish after work on most days and I made the most of that option. Often the project locations were very near some fine trout streams.  The other reason is that as each year passes I’m a little bit better as a fly angler.  The hundreds of skunked days, hundreds of missed/lost fish and millions of stupid mistakes over the years have all played their part in building fly fishing experience.  Looking back I realized that this season I did a lot less trial and error fishing than in years past.  

 I hope you all had a safe, fun and productive seasons as well.

Water here is starting to freeze. I am sorry to be done fly fishing for the year.

[flytire 0]

Unfortunately i was only able to get to fish my local bluegill ponds twice this season 

luckily my Connecticut fishing license is free for my age

maybe more fishing next yesr or its time to sell my fly fishing gear

i need a boat of some kind but at 71 years old that’s not gonna happen 

[Mark Knapp 0]

4 hours ago, flytire said:

Unfortunately i was only able to get to fish my local bluegill ponds twice this season 

luckily my Connecticut fishing license is free for my age

maybe more fishing next yesr or its time to sell my fly fishing gear

i need a boat of some kind but at 71 years old that’s not gonna happen 

I'd invite you out in my boat if I was close. If you ever come up here I'd invite you out in it.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

This was a year - of re-fitting for me...  The spring time was great - with lots of bookings in both fresh and saltwaters, followed by a summer of re-fitting my skiff -new motor, (only costing twice what I normally pay...), as well as my first chartplotter (I began running the backcountry long before GPS was ever available...)... A pic of my center console... as it's set up now...

Along with re-fitting - more than one trailering disaster had me coming home following the flat bed wrecker with my skiff loaded on top... Must admit that over the years I've learned more about boat trailers than I ever wanted to know... 

nothing like snapping an axle to leave you waiting for a wrecker again... 

 

All of that aside, there's still the backcountry calling - and great fishing to be done.   Hope everyone else is looking forward to the next year as well... 

[flytire 0]

with all of the entitled persons, karens and carls flying the friendly skies i prefer to stay on the ground rather than flying  with a bunch of nut jobs.🤪

[Mark Knapp 0]

2 hours ago, flytire said:

with all of the entitled persons, karens and carls flying the friendly skies i prefer to stay on the ground rather than flying  with a bunch of nut jobs.🤪

👍

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

My brother and I were army brats -all those years ago, and our family moved every three years overseas then back stateside.  I'm old enough that I can remember an era when army families (unless daddy was a general...) traveled by ship... My airplane adventures didn't start until I went in the service myself in 1968... Must admit these days it seems as though everyone involved has done their best to make air travel not much fun at all...  Dire necessity will get me back on a plane - and hopefully not any time soon... 

[DFoster 0]

On 10/31/2023 at 5:34 PM, flytire said:

Unfortunately i was only able to get to fish my local bluegill ponds twice this season 

luckily my Connecticut fishing license is free for my age

maybe more fishing next yesr or its time to sell my fly fishing gear

i need a boat of some kind but at 71 years old that’s not gonna happen 

I'm sorry to hear that Norm.  I assume your back is still giving trouble while standing?  

 

[DFoster 0]

On 11/1/2023 at 7:23 AM, Capt Bob LeMay said:

This was a year - of re-fitting for me...  The spring time was great - with lots of bookings in both fresh and saltwaters, followed by a summer of re-fitting my skiff -new motor, (only costing twice what I normally pay...), as well as my first chartplotter (I began running the backcountry long before GPS was ever available...)... A pic of my center console... as it's set up now...

Along with re-fitting - more than one trailering disaster had me coming home following the flat bed wrecker with my skiff loaded on top... Must admit that over the years I've learned more about boat trailers than I ever wanted to know... 

nothing like snapping an axle to leave you waiting for a wrecker again... 

 

All of that aside, there's still the backcountry calling - and great fishing to be done.   Hope everyone else is looking forward to the next year as well... 

Ouch- Trailers always seem to create headaches.  I work for a telecommunications construction company and I can tell you the line crews are forever struggling with the cable reel trailers.  It's a constant fight just to keep the lights working, something the DOT police just love writing fines for.  When it comes to fishing I can't stand the aggravation of mechanical failures.  When I fish lakes and ponds I did so from a Kayak- Not practical for you sir but It works every single time that I need it to. 🙂

[Sandan 0]

Like "A Tale of Two Cities", it was best of times and it was the worst of times.  There were some fantastic days and one in particular where my buddy and I got skunked in a spot where that hasn't happened in about 15 years. Seemed like the hatches weren't as "blanket" as in the past but there were some days where the water was covered with bugs and the risers made the water look like it was boiling.  It's slowing down now, streamers and dries when there's bugs out. Mostly from now till spring it'll be a nymphing game.  The shotguns are coming out for ringnecks and water fowl in just a bit.  The rods won't be abandoned but just cut back on a bit.

[cphubert 0]

strange year lots and lots of water, no thermal shutdowns, but high flows all summer (way better than last year's drought). waiting for the fall salmon starting quickly (broodstock program) then the traveling for the great lakes steelhead after the dog gets a little more exercise chasing birds. my best fishing of the year was springtime not complaining I enjoy every minute on any water with or without fish. only regret for this year was no trip north to the Maritime's and very little wanderlust activity.

[Poopdeck 0]

My fishing is always great fun but I went out less than I have  in many years for a number of reasons. First being almost 5 years ago I retired from a job I worked at for 30 years to work at my current job. I went from 11 weeks paid time off to 3. That was a difficult adjustment but thankfully  I really enjoy what I do. Since I don’t fish on weekends this really cut into my fishing time as I always took time off during the work week to fish. I don’t care how many days I don’t fish, I refuse to go out on the weekend. This year my final daughter got married as did some of my friends kids. I’ve been to 6 weddings this year and they all required out of state travel and time off work. This year  I made more money then ever before, gained another great son in law, and I’m always honored to be invited to the weddings of kids I have known since their birth. Since family, friends and career have always come before fishing, I rate this year as one of my best years ever. An added bonus is my fishing days have to increase next year.