2006-The Fishing Year in review....

[Railroader]

So, what was your big fishing accomplishment of '06???

For me it was a good year. I made some new friends that I now fish with regularly. A couple of stand-outs are Surf Fish and BartyB who are two fellers that make great company for a trip, and I've learned some new things from both of them. Thanks, Guys!

In '06, I learned to reliably catch flounder, which was a goal of mine left over from last year. I also got my first inshore slam while on one of my "walk and stalk" missions around Jekyll Island.

I also learned the value of Gulp! baits...They oughta be illegal, they're so good.

About mid summer, I messed around and bought a kayak, and opened up a whole world of fishing experience that is beyond compare. Nothing like being towed crosswise onto a shell bank by a large, angry, redfish....

My surf casting improved a whole lot, and I'm learning to pick good spots by "reading the beach".

I guess the highlight of the year was the end of October at the JaxPier, when the pressure was on and it was the last day of the trip Miz RR had been waiting all year for....She got her big redfish, though, he was 42 inches, and worked her 56 minutes on a light rod...We also ended up with a very stylish "double hook up" 30 minutes before we had agreed to leave for home. Two more big reds, caught and released. Perfect end to a great trip.

As the year winds down, there are goals that I have not reached, but they will be there next year. Catching sheepheads(still time for that one), and fly fishing from the 'yak are the big two right now...

I'm also looking forward to meeting new people and trying new places. I gotta get back down to Sebastian Inlet, and I also want very badly to experience the OBX...

When you're a fisherman, there's ALWAYS something new to do....

Ain't it cool?

[Drumdum]

This yr ain't over till it's over,gonna get me a 40 plus striper or bust tryin... :D
Been a good yr and when it's finished,I'll look this thread up,cause it was most definatly a fun yr... ;)

[RuddeDogg]

Not too bad for me. Met some new P&S friends. Fishin wasn't all that great. Between work and Boss Dogg's surgery we didn't get out that much. Hopefully next season we can get down south and fish and meet some of ya. Right now I'm in huntin mode. This too has been slow. Didn't think I ws goin this season so I didn't do my homework with baitin and trackin and so on. We'll see what happens.

[Newsjeff]

This yr ain't over till it's over,gonna get me a 40 plus striper or bust tryin... :D
Been a good yr and when it's finished,I'll look this thread up,cause it was most definatly a fun yr... ;)
You took the words wright out of my mouth, Kenny.

Got me some drum - including a handful of paper fish.

Got me a paper cobia.

Lots of trout, sea mullet, spot, croaker, blues, flounder, spanish, ect.

But I still need that paper sissy fish.

The year ain't over. I'll check back in 21 days or so. :)

[Fly Wacko]

My best... a 41 1/2" striper on the fly, on the Potomac in October.

And a really good year for speckled trout.

FW

[rockhead]

for me it's been a pretty good year, I re-learned my appreciation for light tackle saltwater fishing. I caught some memorable fish too. for freshwater 06 was pretty lousy for me? I got my 1st striper citation in 06.

[rhorm]

I'm no longer land locked :D

Caught some monster pompano off a pink banana jig.

Learned that when fishing for snook off a pier to keep em away from those darn pilings and use sufficient leader material.

[rhorm]

I second that jetty. Next year I want to definately want to meet some of the guys on this forum. :D Maybe we can have more than a couple get togethers next year. :D

[hokieboy]

My best memory of the year was my first trip to hatteras. And was lucky enough on my first trip to experiance a drum run on the point and caught my first big drum. Measured out at 37". My goal for next year will be to get a paper for one. My main goal for next year is to catch some trout. It was a great year though. Got to visit hatteras and found out this is the best and possibly only place to fish on the coast. I also switched over to the dark side after only one visit which could be a good or bad thing. Got to meet drumdum, Jam and a few others. I hope to get to the coast more next year and deff would love to fish with some of yall. All in all a good year deff learned alot from the guys on here and if it wasnt for this website would not have gotten that drum. Thanks guys and hopefully more and bigger fish next year for all.


Riley.

[Clyde]

Just going over my log.........

11 King Mackeral
12 Stripers
145 Pups
25 Citation Drum
27 Speckeled Trout
1 Yellow Fin Tuna
1 False Albecore
2 Citation Pompanoe
2 Cobia
21 BlackTip Sharks
7 Spinner Sharks
1 Bull Shark
1 Citation Black Bass (5.5#!!)

That's 45 documented days on the water so far this year, (pier, surf, and boat), and the days I got skunked I didn't log. Looking back, I guess I've got nothing to complain about!

[cobiacatcher82]

well not many fishing stories this year but saw some interesting things..

- saw a kid attempt to set a hook on most likely a shark on the cbbt and in the process he pulls wayyyy too hard and the line snaps and he busts his head open with his pole.. got quite a giggle out of that one..

- saw a fight and during it a kid hooked another kid in the head and started yanking on it, police showed up and nothing happens to him because "he is bi polar and didn't take his medicine"..

- saw jet skiiers go under a pier and snatch a couple poles with them in the process then later they crash into eachother.. that was actually hilarious.. police show up 2 hours later asking about a complaint about two kids takin peoples poles...

- see a dolphin hit a man's pin rig at sandbridge pier, dolphin does a couple flips in the air and spits it out. luckily

- and my favorite of all, by the way, king rigging and virginia beach pier don't mix too well.. but my cousin and i and some other kid were king riggin, i think 2 or 3 people were on the bottom and all of a sudden while im filleting this flouder.. a little yellow boat comes flyin by and snatches up/cuts everyone's line, my rig hooks into a person on the boat, and everyone else lost all of their rigs, my cousin somehow got it all back when a kid snagged it. but the boat is about 20 feet away from the pier when it comes by and my hook hooks a person on the boat, and starts peeling line off my pole, finally they stop, everyone is hollerin at them.. by the way, why is it necessary to get so close to a pier when signs are posted up and you know people are fishing off of the end.. is it a contest or somethin, see who can get the closest?? never quite understood it, but they end up stopping i get some line back and thats about it, wraps up my year

[Samurai]

My year wasn't what I would consider a good year but I did manage a few Uluas.Alot of people I know struggled this year so I don't feel too bad.What I do feel good about is that a guy that I have been teaching caught a couple Uluas and he is stoked.This is his best year yet.To see the joy on his face when he landed those fish was better than if I had caught those.---Hope everybodys year was better than mine.Live Aloha!!

[fishhead]

I'll let you know next week ... going to AI later this week. If the season was done for me I'd have to say it was not too good, in terms of poundage and pullage :(

[barty b]

lets see, I made some great new friends on P&S
I improved my distance casting to 195 yard personal best over grass.
let an older lady land a Redfish that turned out to be the biggest fish of her life..(I still feel good about that).
Learned the Pier king fishing game.
Taught my 4 year old son to cast a spinning outfit,also guided him to numerous bream,bass and catfish.
Learned that the job I am in currently is sucking the very life out of me and I need more family and fishing time.
Did not fish NEARLY as much as last year,but when I did it was with good friends and/or family so that makes it O.K.

Biggest fish this year was a 150lb Blacktip from the surf
Biggest sheephead was 9lb
Biggest flounder was 5lb
Biggest red was 32"
Biggest pomp was 5lb
Biggest whiting was 19 3/4"

Oddest catch was a 8" prawn (giant shrimp) off the JBP while whiting fishing.

[bluerunner]

not too much off the pier or surf this year, we did get a boat though and got a 33lb king and then finished 30th in the US Open KMT, our first tourny ever, with a 27. That was really awesome to finish inthe money in our first tourny, and turned out my cousins stepbrother was on the winning team so that was cool too.

[NTKG]

definatley has been an awesome year... but it aint over yet.... i'll post up after new years!

[AL_N_VB]

Camaraderie
1) Fished with the Northern Boys during the trophy Striper season @ Pax.
2) Got into some nice Greys at the Spit
3) Fished the Great Bridge Fisherman's tourney on a yak with Fireball, Catman32 and Gerald....hooked up to some nice flatties @ the HRBT.
4) Got into some nice spots with Andymedic aka Fishing4seagulls @ the LIP
5) Fished with NTKG and crew @ the Point for cobias- Congrats NJ, Neil and Teo.
6) Got into a school of Spanish macks in the Hook..still haven't caught a Spanish off the suds..Ric- you’re the man!
7) Pulled 2 Spanish outta the LIP- slow year
8) Made the walk and pulled a few stripers and a pup outta GV Beach.
9) Fished my second FM/Wheeler Striper Tourney...skunked again but did tie into a nice biter-which was handed over to the youngen ( Striperswiper) and won a second custom rod.
10) Got rid of the Drum skunk on the suds...48 and 45 inchers...witnessed NJ yank in a defenseless 1 eyed drum.:D


and finally

11) Survived another Bash @ the Beach!!!!! That's what's fishing’s all about....thanks for the friendships and camaraderie!!!


As Neil and NJ said- the year ain't over----I'm hopin to get on some bigger stripers as the water temps fall...

[lnhale]

Althought I have never fish with any of the guys
at kn or the tank I learn a lot from just reading
your reports on fishing.. This is a great place to learn about fishing from so many people that love fishing .
So I hope I can meet up with some of you guys next year. Have a safe and happy holiday to all.

[cygnus-x1]

It was definitely a mixed bag for me.

Positives:
-------------
1) Bought and learned to Cast Conventional Heavers (what a difference)

2) Learned some great knots (spiderhitch, no-name, snell), snelled some great rigs

3) Probably went fishing more times this year than I had since getting married in 2001. (but caught less fish)

4) Caught my first Speckled Trout

5) Had ONE good day on my boat with some grey trout and blues

6) Met a few P&S members. I already can't wait until next year to meet the ones I was unable to hook with this last month

7) Set up a cool and cheap rod rack on my van (thanks RR)

8) I put the bait away starting Nov 1 (except my trips to AI) and fished the bay exclusively with lures. I did not catch a keeper but I learned alot and had a ton of fun. I am debating on whether to buy a plastic shad mold already :D

9) Fished more with my wife and kid than ever before.

10) Fished 3R's, KN, and Romancoke for the first time

Negatives
--------------------
1) Caught more sharks and skates than I did blues, rocks, and trout.

2) Did not get a keeper striper

3) Did not get any flounder

4) My Boat was more trouble than it was worth. Only provided 3 decent trips but cost lotsa $$$ to fix. Basically did not use it after Oct 1 for fear of it breaking down again.

5) Found out my wife cannot take any sort of rough water (waves 1-2 ft max) which means that I need to downsize our boat to something I can handle alone and that can get into skinny and calm water

6) I fished more, with more knowledge but less results. Primarily I was stuck with very limited periods I could fish so I fished alot but it was not at the most productive times to do so.

7) AI has treated me badly. I have made many trips this year with a stinking 6 snappers to show for it. Many times I got skunked w/o a bite and my wife wondering why I even try fishing there anymore.

[Fishman]

Fish a little more than I have in the past, caught a few species that I have not really targeted in the past.
True the year is not over yet still looking for more and that big striper.