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Picture Of The Month



SD2OR with a trophy fall walleye

Topic: 2021 Year in Review- The good the bad and the ugly  (Read 1970 times)

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Nobaddays

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • Location: Central Oregon
  • Date Registered: Jul 2014
  • Posts: 409
I’m curious how people’s year was overall.  For me, after being injured for half of 2020 and early 2021, just getting to be out kayak fishing gave me a whole new appreciation for all of it.  In 2021, I got to fish with many great people and great fishermen.  Here are some of my highlights for the year.

Good-
Just being able to get out kayak fishing again.
I caught several PB fish, including 31.25” coho, 43.25” lingcod, 21.5” rockfish and 16.5” greenling.
The PB rockfish and PB greenling came in as a double on a trout pole.
I tied my PB smallmouth at 17.75” and caught it on a fly.
I caught my first shad on a fly.
In AOTY, I caught ten species on the fly for the first time.
I got to introduce several new people to kayak fishing and getting to share the fun.

Bad-
I broke a fly rod on a lingcod
Not getting out fishing as much as I would have liked(probably never will)

Ugly-
I lost my phone in the ocean when it had four AOTY upgrades including my PB rockfish and PB greenling and the photos weren’t saved to a cloud yet. (But now I have a phone tether, so that’s good)


For 2022, my goal is to go fishing with Jed and out fish him at least once.  Doing it on a tournament day would be a bonus, but I’ll take any day.

Hope to see you on the water soon.
Being retired, they pay me when I go fishing, therefore I am kind of a professional fisherman.


C_Run

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Location: Independence, OR
  • Date Registered: Apr 2011
  • Posts: 1214
I got out on the kayak five times I think. My modest AOTY scores reflect most of the fish I caught from the kayak in 2021. I think I got skunked twice, once at Sunset AOTD and then once salmon fishing in the fall. Other than that, I was 0 for 3 bank fishing steelhead last winter and caught three surf perch. I finally got one wild steelhead out of my buddies drift boat real late in the season and a single fall Chinook out of another buddies drift boat.

2022 goals. Get out more times and catch more fish. Kokanee fish again and maybe get in the salt again.

Lately I've just been sorting through my gear and trying to think ahead as the snow piles up.


  • Location: The Gorge
  • Date Registered: Feb 2009
  • Posts: 697
Good idea for a thread!

Let's see... The GOOD: I was able to make it out and back in at multiple spots on the coast and in the Columbia safely without a single garage sale. I caught my first ocean Coho - EVER! I salvaged a dismal Fall salmon count near the end of the season with a score of freshwater Coho and I shared a lot of my catch, both saltwater and fresh, with friends and family.

The BAD: I didn't catch tag a single Chinook all year! I got a $100 parking ticket at one of the neighboring lakes because the sign to not park was conveniently hidden by tree branches.

The UGLY: I suspect that the times I went to crab at PC my traps were either picked clean by poaching thieves or I just had the WORST luck crabbing even though everyone else basically limited out around me. Either way, I decided to fish with Shad the next time I get out...

Fred "True" Trujillo
"This above all: to thine own self, be true, and it must follow, as the day the night, thou canst not then be false to any man."


jed

  • ORC_Safety
  • Salmon
  • *
  • With a But like mine, you'd want to flaunt it too.
  • Location: Vale, Oregon
  • Date Registered: May 2014
  • Posts: 866
Hope everyone had a great year on the water. My year has been about average, got out on the salt a few times but would liked to have gone more. figured out some new areas and fisheries that I plan on hitting again in 2022.

The Good- Took my daughter out kayak fishing much more than in the past and fished for fun a lot this year. Got my pb walleye and Brown trout this year. Fished with some new anglers and had a great time.

Good/Bad- Made enough at the bass tournaments to have to fill out a 1099. Otherwise nothing really bad this year.

Ugly- Just me :D

2022 goals- Hit some of those new fisheries and fish with some friends... and James too I guess  :laugh::laugh:

Congrats to Nobaddays for catching 10 species on the fly. That's a great accomplishment.


SD2OR

  • Salmon
  • ******
  • Location: Eugene, OR
  • Date Registered: Jul 2020
  • Posts: 619
I certainly had a great year of fishing in Oregon.

So many more angling opportunities, species to chase, and challenges, than where I used to live in SoCal. There it was, for me at least, almost all just fishing public lakes for largemouth. Every once in a while going to the mountains for trout.

I got my Hobie on the salt for the first time tho this year, don't know why I never did in San Diego, kicking myself for it now.

I'll be doing AOTY for first time in 22, and look forward to the fun. I also want to try a kayak camping trip.

The Good:~ Caught 8 new species (Chum, coho, pacific halibut, petrale, china, yellow eye,
                  copper, speckled sea trout in FL).
               
                ~The coho was significant not only for being a new species, but also my first salmon
                   in a kayak, and my first salmon without the help of a guide.

                ~Caught my first steelhead without the help of a guide. Took something like 12-
                  15 days of freezing my fingers off before I got the big 36" fish (my PB), totally
                  making up for all the cold mornings.
               
                ~Upgraded from my 2007 Outback to a 2021, and loving it.
                 
                ~Caught my first couple chinook, without the help of a guide.
               
                ~Caught PB smallie (18")
                ~Fished many new and beautiful places, with many new good friends 

The Bad: ~I only got out for sturgeon once this year, and only got one tiny shaker.
              ~Though I went to FL, I did not get a tarpon, or a chance to try for peacock bass
              ~Have yet to get a kokanee or shad, or been able to try for walleye or lake trout. 
              ~While I caught a ton of coho this year, less than 50% were hatchery fish, able to be
                retained. Not exactly the worst problem ever, admittedly.

The Ugly:~By far, the ugliest event this year was the probable theft of my brand new McKay
                crab trap, and the for sure looting of another member's trap, off PC.
              ~Had my first ever yard sale, actually two in one day. One launching, the second
                landing, at PC. Broke a favorite salmon/rockfish rod (luckily I bought it for $14 at
                Goodwill), and lost a hat.     
   
A day without fishing probably wouldn't kill me,
but why risk it?

3rd Place AOTY 2023

3rd Place ORC 2023

1st Place Team Event BCS 2023
12th Place Individual BCS 2023

2nd Place AOTY 2022
1st Place Tiny Fish Slam 2022



2007 Red Hobie Outback "Serenity"
2021 Camo Hobie Outback "Lagertha"


Lutefisk

  • Rockfish
  • ****
  • Location: Washougal
  • Date Registered: Jul 2017
  • Posts: 115
Good: Trolled 25 miles down the Columbia River by kayak from Washougal to Caterpillar Island. I got skunked, but my buddy got one nice springer. Still it was really cool to troll for 25 miles straight. 

Bad: Only 2 ocean fresh coho this summer. So sad that I couldnt find more time for that.

Ugly: When my vehicle was broke into, smash and grab, on the Clackamas River (Barton Park). Not going back there again.

Happy New Year crew!


Clayman

  • Salmon
  • ******
  • Location: Newport, OR
  • Date Registered: Feb 2017
  • Posts: 778
Cool thread idea!

The Good: Tapping into the Oregon striped bass fishery. I missed these guys when I moved to OR from CA. Despite having great success on stripers this spring, I still have a lot to learn about these Oregon strains, and I'm very excited to dive into this fishery more in 2022.

A fantastic ocean salmon season, both for coho and Chinook. Some days were tougher than others, but overall, 2021 blew the previous few years out of the water. Picked up a couple nooks pushing 30 pounds.


The Bad: Trolling for fall Chinook on the bays was pretty "meh" this year. I only tagged three Chinook in the bays, and it wasn't for a lack of effort. Released a ton of coho though, so there wasn't a lack of action by any means.


The Ugly: Winter steelhead season was awful. I landed a whopping four steelhead last winter/spring, a far cry from previous years. It was so bad, I basically gave up on them by the end of February.


Best Fishes to all in 2022! Coho jack counts up the Columbia are on par with last year, so we may be in for another stellar coho run this summer.
aMayesing Bros.


Larry_MayII_HR

  • Rockfish
  • ****
  • Location: Corvallis, OR
  • Date Registered: Jun 2017
  • Posts: 150
Loving this thread. The end of the year is always a good time to reflect on the past year and to make plans and set goals for the year that comes...  Here is my list of the good, the bad, and the ugly from 2021....

The Good:
--Moving from Portland back to Corvallis.  Being only one hour from the ocean has lead to many more opportunities to take advantage of low swell days in the open ocean.  I've also really enjoyed learning the local spots within 1.5 hours of my house and finding new dirt-bag bass spots (getting back to my southern roots).
--Getting to know folks from the forum and making new friends on the water. 
--Buying a dry suit and enjoying the blessing of being dry and warm year-round both in fresh and salt water.
--The birth of my first baby (5 months old now!) and dreaming of the day when he's old enough to fish with his mom and I. And so thankful for my wife who encourages my fishing passion and forces me out the door on low swell days so I can recharge my batteries and restock our freezer.
--An EPIC ocean coho season, and filling out the most tag entries of my northwest fishing career in 2021.
--Seeing Clayman pick my pocket twice in the same hole and limit out in 15 minutes.

The Bad:
--Getting stuck in matted weeds in the same spot twice (I didn't learn) and having to paddle with my hands for an hour to the point where I got blisters (twice).  Smelling like boiled cabbage afterwards and then having to scrub by boat for an hour each time to get the slime and marine invasives off.  No turd-pond largemouth bass is worth that.
--Spending SO MANY hours trying to get a yellow perch for AOTY and maxing out at about 6 inches. Womp Womp.
--Missing kokanee and macs on my only trip this year to Odell (but having an damn good time doing it).
--Missing the chance to fish smallies and walleyes on the Columbia this year.

The Ugly:
--The summer heatwave where we saw 115 degrees at my house in Corvallis.  Seeing increasing signs of a radically changing climate and wondering if my son will have the opportunity to see and do the things I have done in my life. 

Looking forward to fishing with you all in the coming year!  My God bless you and your families richly, and may you find many fish and happiness in 2022.



rogerdodger

  • Fish Retriever
  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • roger
  • Location: Florence OR
  • Date Registered: Dec 2012
  • Posts: 1490
OK, here goes-

The Good- Pepper and I getting a beautiful Chinook (plus lingcod, rockfish, and crab that same day) on the ocean in late August out of Sunset Bay. Then in November, we tagged our full 5 lake coho together this year (3 Tahk + 2 Siltcoos) and got to share time on those lakes chasing coho with several NWKA friends.  Off the kayak, we punched up 150 razor clams, all within 5 miles of Florence and 'salvage tagged' my first deer, a 110# blacktail doe killed instantly by a truck with literally no damage.

The Bad- after 5 consecutive years of Siuslaw steelhead success, no winter steelies for me in 2021, didn't even hook one.

The Ugly- the thrusters I added to my Outback rudder were defeated by very strong seaweed on the ocean out of Fogarty creek, it jammed them, causing drag. Not a good ocean propulsion option. On the other hand, I picked up an ePropulsion 3hp Spirit+ for my PB and since the Outback is now registered, seems a shame not to try the e-outboard on it just for fun.



« Last Edit: December 29, 2021, 08:18:59 AM by rogerdodger »
2019 Hobie Outback (Fish Retriever)



workhard

  • Salmon
  • ******
  • Get off your computer and fish
  • Location: Bellingham
  • Date Registered: Sep 2015
  • Posts: 712
Good - Hooked landed and kept 7 Chinook in a weekend.

Bad - Pretty much the only fishing I did was that weekend.


Captain Redbeard

  • Lauren
  • Global Moderator
  • Sturgeon
  • *****
  • Location: Portland, OR
  • Date Registered: May 2013
  • Posts: 3290
Best thread of December. Here’s my thoughts, all jumbled together:

I lost, broke, or damaged more gear this year than I have all my other years of kayak fishing combined. I lost or permanently broke at least $1000 of stuff, and damaged more. Luckily I could fix some of that and even more luckily Nobaddays does a pretty good rod repair and brought 4 of my rods back to life!

Even though I can’t help but be happy with how AOTY is ending up, my total points don’t really match the effort I put in this year; i.e. I worked harder this year for fewer points. But hey, that’s fishing. It does look like I’m going to be taking back the Tiny Fish title this year, which accurately describes my year overall :)



I also got skunked more than I have in recent memory. I didn’t manage an Oregon halibut (well, in-season, anyway), I put in some hours on striped bass with nothing to show, and I struck out at Hoodsport. All my ocean coho weren’t clipped, and I couldn’t connect to anything but pikeminnow in the Columbia when I went out for salmon. Honestly, I had a lot of bad luck this year. Hopefully I learned something from it.



One of the bright spots for me this year was fly fishing. Nobaddays finally twisted my arm hard enough to get me more into it, and now that I’ve had some success I think it’s going to become a habit. Key fly catches for me this year were an 11” crappie, 17” trout, and 16” smallmouth. Also, getting a couple of shad on the fly was a hoot, and something I can’t wait to improve on next year.



I also registered some fish on the SUP this year, which was fun, including my first SUP + Fly fish. It’s both more challenging and more fun fly fishing on the SUP than I first thought it would be. I hope to keep doing more of that.

My trip up to Alaska was the best memory of the year for me. We kayak fished for half a day one of the days, unguided, on Kachemak Bay, and I caught my first kayak halibut and my wife caught a pretty nice cod. Countless other good memories from the trip and just like every other time I go to Alaska my main take-away is: How can I get up there more often?



2022 is shaping up to be a busy year for me. Will I be able to get out fishing as much as I'd like? I've got a couple of trips to fishy destinations already on the calendar, so let's hope so!

Happy New Year, everyone!


Klondike Kid

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • The Eagle Whisperer
  • Alaska Outdoor Journal
  • Location: Kenai Peninsula, AK
  • Date Registered: Sep 2016
  • Posts: 488
Whether I get out fishing or not, a breath of fresh air is always available by dropping in on the Forums for the latest scuttlebutt and advice. And to relive some of your adventures vicariously.

The GOOD:
• 3rd year in a row I never took the snow cover off the power boat.
• 50 years in AK with a lake full of a natural population of kokanee just 45 miles away that I have always ignored and I finally caught my first koke and from the yak at that. Dialed them in good and looking for even better results next summer.
• All my standings in AOTY for Tiny Fish, Fly Fish, and Overall were my PB...no where but up when your previous 'record' was at the bottom.
• Am very encouraged about moving the 'bar' way up in 2022 in AOTY knowing the potential that some of my local fisheries have swimming in the lakes.
• After watching the thermocline drive kokanee, arctic char and lake trout below the 50-70 foot depths, I installed a downrigger on the Outback that conveniently fits inside the hull when not needed. Really looking forward to using that for deep lakes as well as saltwater salmon in the years to come.
• Tied up a large number of saltwater baitfish fly patterns for rockfish, greenling, lingcod, and maybe even a flatfish. Always the potential for a passing salmon to grab that too. Now to get them wet.


The BAD:
• Plans for saltwater taxi overnighters to bang out a number of salty categories of fish never materialized. Complicated. Next season though!
• Related - that 100 plus pound halibut is still swimming out there with my name on it. I bought a 300 pound digital scale to put her on notice! (>50 lbs are female)
• A lot of house inside and outside projects to complicate my fishing schedule. Need to get organized.
• Like Capt Redbeard, its been a long time since I recall putting this much effort into something that put so little results on the stringer.
• It's been very discouraging to see the Alaskan contingent of anglers disappear from the forums. I know they are still out there - RUDY please come home!  ;)

The 2022 GAME PLAN:
Definitely going to get an earlier start to our short fishing season. With this super cold winter our lakes will be a couple weeks late going ice-free. Which means spring saltwater fishing for feeder kings, halibut, and flounder in between maintenance projects.  Whisky Gulch is great springtime fishing.
• Still plenty of species I failed to catch in 2021 so the freshwater plan will target those no-shows first.
• I have some great ideas for camera rigs I can drop down on ocean reefs and pinnacles and then pull back up and watch the recording on the camera's LCD screen to compare with the finder marks. Even have lights for a 200 foot drop.
• A MUST: Ocean water taxi drop off at a remote hostel with eight species of ocean fish (bottom & anadromous)  available literally within minutes of launch.

Here's to Good Fishing for Everyone~!
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Take a Kid Fishing and Hook'em For Life!  ~KK~


bogueYaker

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • Pace the halls and climb the walls
  • Location: Now back in NC
  • Date Registered: Aug 2019
  • Posts: 405
I had a lot of fun this year. Life/work requirements allowed me to hit the MA10 salmon fishery hard, to the point that sleep and physical energy were my only constraints. After the first half of the chinook fishery I was thinking I'd figured them out; after talking to a few folks I spent most of the second half just thanking my lucky stars that I could make time for it all. Also had some really nice coho days once I got them dialed in.

Most memorable part of my season occurred during a super foggy morning at Meadow Point that saw a red hot bite lasting maybe 20 minutes. Fog so thick that I heard tons of boats hooking up but saw far fewer. The bite/conditions combo were memorable enough, but towards the end of the bite, a large finned marine mammal breached close in at my 12 o'clock, heading right towards me with a big salmon in mouth. Super cool experience.

Hoping to put more miles under my tires in 2022. Columbia springers and MA4/5 bottom fish are on my mind. Looking forward to hitting it hard and seeing some of y’all out there.


BentRod

  • Rockfish
  • ****
  • Location: Issaquah
  • Date Registered: Mar 2016
  • Posts: 135
Good:
Caught my first halibut, not from a kayak, but still.
Finally got my pedal kayak (Sportsman 120 PDL)
Caught a Steelhead (x2) after a four year dry spell

Bad: 
Broke three rods - one tip in the car door, one tip by a family member stepping on it, and one full on blow up on a snag in Deception Pass jigging for Lingcod. 

Ugly:
Nothing really ugly, so I'll count my blessings

Goals for 2022:
Get a drysuit
Catch another Steelhead or three
Try jigging for Lingcod from my kayak
Catch another (bigger) halibut. 


BasinYakGuy

  • Rockfish
  • ****
  • Location: Klamath Falls, OR
  • Date Registered: Mar 2016
  • Posts: 116
The Good:

Feelfree came out and did a video of my home turf... which was a great little fishing trip
I got a few more friends to try out kayak fishing
I may have a homebase in Baja for future kayak fishing adventures


The Bad:
I fished less in 2021 than i did in my first three months of 2020. School, clinical, and internship has been killing me this year.
I didnt get to do my annual walleye trip with Jim Davis... which is half fishing and half giving jed shit... which are both really fun for me.
my new puppy ate the seats out of my feelfree kayaks for fun.

The Ugly:
Jed won AOTY again... hid behind his kid the whole time when we all know he just wanted to punish us for his never ending reign at second place.
My ford ranger is nearly 35 years old and is starting have all the fun problems that old trucks have (which limits my fishing).


Goals for this coming year:
Participate in the AOTY but not let it stop me from fishing Norcal more.
try and get 1800pts as efficiently as possible.
catch a rooster fish in baja from a yak.
Spend more time in the salt.
1st Place at your moms house 2022
3rd place to your sisters prom 2019

Plastic Pirate