2011 is Coming to an End. Your Fishing Summary?

[Southerly]

i really enjoyed the year but it flew by. i didn't fish in muddy waters, i battled gas problems mostly ongoing, and busy at work which is appreciated of course. i was constantly reminded how much i wasn't fishing by friends that fish more and how noticeable it was that i wasn't keeping up.

i had a poor year for WP. i didn't go out looking for them when i was supposed to. finished a major home project at that time instead. mostly fished for the WP from shore in my community when there was a little time to kill. they came in late for me and ran small. late in summer, i was able to take advantage of muddy bay and found them pinned down for a couple weeks but just couldn't get on citation size. i hammered on this no holds barred for 2 weeks but the harder i tried, the smaller they got. eventually, this effort culminated in some 2" WP in the chesapeake aquarium and i had to go back to lookin for rockfish. not enough of them to please most folks but i had all i needed or wanted.

i was lucky to enjoy some very satisfying fishing trips. the kind that leaves a glow for a couple days after. i think mostly because i didn't have time for arbitrary fishing w/o a plan, long days on the water. i waited for each coming trip and focused on making the best of it. also started doing the kayak fishing and got out to more distant places. these trips are already starting to feel like memories of a lifetime.

as much as anything, i'm looking forward to next year and possibilities tht are opening up.

[B-Faithful]

Strange year for us. However we fished for rockfish from NJ to VA and did so Livelining, eeling, chunking, jigging, trolling, and any other way we thought we could catch these fish and have fun doing it.

Jigging in the winter was fun. Landed a lot of fish over 30" and a couple over 40"

Spring trolling was slow. We didnt have a great spring but we always found fish.

Late spring chunkingafter the trophy season wasnt all that hot either. However we caught a couple of big cats and never got skunked.

Summer -- this was year of the big striper. I think we averaged over 28" on summer fish caught. We did well both jigging and live lining. Hardest part about live lining was finding spot. The ones we found were HUGE and they resulted in big stripers. We even got some press with a good day at Wish-a-Fish: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/o...,6794988.story Because spot were hard to come by I spent more time learning to jig the bridge and now think I can hang with most in the area.

Fall was slow again. I didnt get to fish as much but when we did we caught mostly smaller rockfish jigging. A fish over 24" was rare. Most of this fishing was north of the bridge. Once trolling for migrants started we havent had a great bang up day like years in the past. We have caught a number of bigger fish but it usually has been only a few fish per trip. We also caught a few fish eeling. I think the water from the storms has made it for a tougher fall in the upper bay.

I am hoping for a few more trips before the new year. I want to get out once before the season closes in MD on Thursday and definately will make a run to PLO the week between Christmas and New Years. A C&R trip off of Bloody Point between now and Christmas may be fun too.

[crabby and son]

I did more crabbing this year than fishing. June and July were great for limiting out on crabs. Perch fishing was good with my Son. Did not fish for rock once this year. Working two jobs to make ends meet made it tough. Hunting has been great this year too! Meat for the winter. Tried to pick crab meat to save for the winter but it didn't happen...........I ate it.............Gary

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[Spot77]

Originally Posted by crabby and son

I did more crabbing this year than fishing. June and July were great for limiting out on crabs. Perch fishing was good with my Son. Did not fish for rock once this year. Working two jobs to make ends meet made it tough. Hunting has been great this year too! Meat for the winter. Tried to pick crab meat to save for the winter but it didn't happen...........I ate it.............Gary

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I crabbed a few times this year and I have to agree that it was another good year for crabs. Even into late August I had a great trip. I'd like to take my son out more next year for both fishing and crabbing. He caught his first Rockfish this year amd ended up catching 3 or 4 on one trip. Biggest was about 25 inches, but he caught it ALL by himself.....tied the lure on himself, cast, hook and retrieve all on his own. Not bad for an 11 year old. I hooked a few and let him reel them in so he knew how they'd fight.....glad he learned fast.