Best of the Year - 2023 Edition

mt_flyfisher said:
The elusive 30” trout? Maybe.

A woman and her husband were sitting on the bank and watching as I fought and released the fish. When I walked to the bank the woman declared that she had captured the whole thing on video, and asked whether I’d like her to email it to me. I said I did.

Later that evening when I returned to my cabin and checked my emails I had received one from her as she had promised, but this is all that I got. One frame only, after I had released the fish and it had swam away. It could have been my best fish ever.

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No way is that even close to 30 inches. Another example of people exaggerating the size of a catch. It's even clear your holding the fish just to make it look bigger. Sheesh. :)
 
This was one of my favorite fish of this year due to the challenge it presented and then the beauty of the fish. Took a sulfur dry. Lifted it out of water for a quick picture. I am really enjoying the posts. I like seeing everyones fish.

Screenshot 20231219 090726
 
caddisflyer said:
This was one of my favorite fish of this year due to the challenge it presented and then the beauty of the fish. Took a sulfur dry. Lifted it out of water for a quick picture.

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That’s a pretty fish, and I also like seeing the water ring below it as a testament to how quickly you lifted it from the water before taking that picture.
 
I didn’t really catch a ton of big fish this year. Had a few mid-teens Browns, but they were caught on spinning tackle.

Had a really good day Brookie fishing in July and caught a pair of nice Brookies. My best Brookies in a couple of years probably, so I’ll give them the “fish of the year” for me.
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My surgery got postponed to another 3 months (Someone at doctor's office dropped the ball :rolleyes:)

Went out this last Saturday, double rigged with nymph and a fly. caught these with in a minute apart. it was good day.

F1


F2
 
2023 was a solid year for me. I fished pretty frequently, traveled all over the place in PA and around the east coast (VT, NC, ME, NJ, MD, etc). Caught all types of trout, warmwater species, and two new to me species caught in the salt. I fished many new streams and many familiar old favorites. It's hard to name my favorite fish, because there was a lot of great memories. While some of the bigger fish have eluded me this year (Still think about a few browns from the Spring, and some large brookies in Maine from Sept.), but I guess its a reason to go back.

Some highlights:

Favorite brown from PA
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Redfish from NC
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Smallies on lesser known water, this was my best this year
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Brook trout and stripers from Maine

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Walleye on the fly?
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Hopefully before the end of the year, I can get into some more great fishing!! I took off all next week, so we'll see.
 
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