FFing in 2017

[afishinado]

....in the rear view mirror:


Didn't fish as much as I would have liked too....but I never do.

Winter/spring mostly fished PA in SE close to home, as well as trips to NE and central PA streams and rivers for trout. Fairly good year for me trout fishing overall with decent spring conditions.

June-July kinda tough with higher water levels for SMB, but August thru fall the fishing was excellent on the Susky for me. Best year in years.

Saltwater trip to Fla in early spring and just one fall trip in Jerzee, and no fall surf fishing this year. Didn't miss all that much from my understanding.

Looking forward to making plans for next years trips. Got a new tent and camping gear for x-mas and have a lot of overnight trips on the radar. If I get to do half the trips I have on my list....2018 will be a good year.

What about youse guys?

 

[Camp]

2017 was a very good season. Got out more than any other year and was able to catch and release at least one trout every week from 2nd week in March to this week. Weather looks unfavorable for the rest of the year.

Caught 5 trout of better than 20 inches and a bunch over 18. Wasn't trying to target larger fish, just a byproduct of better technique.

Doubled the number of trout caught in 2016.

Fished and caught trout in 17 new streams and explored new areas of many favorites.

Only bad news is 2018 is going to be a challenge to improve on.

 

[dryflyguy]

I didn't have a good spring season.
Started off bad in march when, right at the beginning of a week I was on vacation - to fish BWO's - a late winter storm dumped a foot of snow in central pa.

Had another week off in april, during which I had hoped to fish grannoms on little j. But my timing was terrible for that, and I never did fish them there.

May was OK, but still never really seemed to be able to hit things just right.

I never made it the Delaware river this year - for the first time in quite a while. On both occasions that I had enough time to get up there, it was too high - for wade fishing anyway.

The Yough river ran at a higher than normal flow for most of the year, and I never really had much chance at it also

Over the summer - at least on this end of the state - we had way more than average rainfall. And that set up some great small stream and brookie fishing - right up until fall.

And then, all of that ample rainfall seemed to provide a nice carryover of fish for the fall season. And I had a blast in september and october.

So, as a whole, I guess I would call 2017 a good, but not great year.
Here's hoping for a better 2018!

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Trip to NZ made up for any lost time here. So for 2018 just to get on the stream more often. Invite to N. Georgia to fish and back to the Jam in May. Maybe steelhead, although the NY tribs are a better bet,imo. Gotta play the cards I'm dealt. GG

 

[djs12354]

Not much fishing of any kind for me after the loss of my job. It was compounded by my main Fly-Fishing buddy also losing his job and leaving the state for employment.
Planning on some fishing next week before the license runs out and getting back into the sowing of things in January.

 

[John96]

I fished less then previous years, but had more productive outings on average. I'm totally fine with that.

I got to fish some new waters and and found some spots I'm really looking forward to fishing again this year. I also worked on some new techniques. I did a lot of dry fly and wet fly fishing, when in the past nymphing was my bread and butter.

Most importantly I made some good memories!

I am graduating college this Spring, so I am anxious to see what the future holds for me and how I can work some good fishing into that.

 

[Nymph-wristed]

Surpassed the century mark in trips . Holding at 105 right now, I think, with a few days left of 2017.

Fished with some good guys I met through here and hope to fish with a few others in the upcoming year (maybe even Lestrout despite the rumors).

Continued to learn the Lack, the Lehigh River (AFishn/Tom to thank), and even learned a little something about my home away from home stream from Kev/fisherboy3.

Kept a blog of my trips going for nearly three years now and met some nice people through that too (maybe even helped some new to the sport). The blog is also how I know how many trips I logged and what I caught on what and in what conditions.

Learned how to czech nymph with confidence from a talented acquaintance/family, now becoming a fishing buddy, and I reconnected with a guy who taught me to fly fish for real, for real 25 years ago (after a few years of winging it). Still winging it.

Tried to catch one in the surf since the schoolies were thick this year. I will post about that in the SW/Warmwater thread so you and Frederick and can bust my chops and offer me some advice, I hope.

Swattie will be happy that I bought myself a pair of G3's for an early Christmas present (after returning two pairs of LL Bean's for full refund). Fishing 85 to 100 times a year, I finally tire of taking the ride to KOP or Center Valley for new waders...

 

[afishinado]

Nymph-wristed wrote:
Surpassed the century mark in trips . Holding at 105 right now, I think, with a few days left of 2017.

Fished with some good guys I met through here and hope to fish with a few others in the upcoming year (maybe even Lestrout despite the rumors).

When I first met Les, years ago, I ask why do you call yourself "Lestrout" and not "Moretrout" or sumthin' like that?

He said, when you fish with me, "Lestrout for you....more trout for me!!" :-o

Lol...good job on 100+ trips in 2017!...that's my goal for next year. While I never counted trips in the past, I will begin in 2018.

 

[ryansheehan]

afishinado wrote:

Nymph-wristed wrote:
Surpassed the century mark in trips . Holding at 105 right now, I think, with a few days left of 2017.

Fished with some good guys I met through here and hope to fish with a few others in the upcoming year (maybe even Lestrout despite the rumors).

When I first met Les, years ago, I ask why do you call yourself "Lestrout" and not "Moretrout" or sumthin' like that?

He said, when you fish with me, "Lestrout for you....more trout for me!!" :-o

Lol...good job on 100+ trips in 2017!...that's my goal for next year. While I never counted trips in the past, I will begin in 2018.

Love it, that's the line of the day. My days on the river were the lowest since my kids were first born, around 25. I would love to say 2018 will have more days on the water but realistically it won't. Kid's sports are more and more time demanding and a recent job promotion won't help either. The less I fish the more I value my time on the river, funny how that goes.

 

[dc410]

I also spent less hours on the stream in 2017 mainly due to time constraints and increased work load. I enjoyed some good trout, smallmouth and carp fishing throughout the year and spent some cherished times fishing with some very good friends. I had a great early summer bustin' carp on the mulberry hatch this past season. I really value any chance I have to get out there and soak in the great outdoors. Looking forward to 2018.

 

[Tigereye]

Hilight was having my son catch his first salmon. Also, he was spoiled as we hit the run perfect. We landed upward of 100 in 3 days fishing. Fantastic fishing.

Also my wife caught her first fish. First time ever fishing.

I'm happy

 

[sarce]

Great 2017 here. I enjoyed the fact that we had a bit more rain over the spring and summer than last year, so I was able to have good trout fishing into July. The absolute standout trip was a 3 day adventure in West Virginia, I caught brook trout in 10 different streams and my friend and I averaged over 70 fish per day total. Several were close to 12". Another standout trip was a quick after work outing that resulted in two 20"+ wild browns in under an hour. Third most memorable trip for trout would have to be the July 4th camping trip with my dad in Shenandoah National Park. Caught brookies at will and didn't hear or see another human for an entire 24 hrs.

Came down with Lyme shortly after that trip and that hampered my summer fishing for the next two months, but I still got out for bass and panfish.

In October and November, I committed myself to learning how to catch schoolie stripers consistently. I had really good luck fishing at night and also encountered two surprise walleye and several jumbo crappie (14-15" range).

To finish out the year, I've been chasing pickerel on the fly. Limited success so far but it is just another different fish to learn, so I enjoy it.

2018 will be a year of continued learning and exploring, every year it seems I learn of 10 more things I don't know for every thing I learn.

 

[Swattie87]

Nymph-wristed wrote:
Swattie will be happy that I bought myself a pair of G3's for an early Christmas present (after returning two pairs of LL Bean's for full refund). Fishing 85 to 100 times a year, I finally tire of taking the ride to KOP or Center Valley for new waders...

Eh, yeah, as long as you weren’t satisfied...Merry Christmas anyway.

I bought a pair of El Cheapo STP Frog Toggs closeouts at some point in 2017. They’re reasonably sturdy, no leaks yet, but suffer from a high rising crotch, which limits my flexibility for climbing over small stream obstacles in them. Ponied up for another pair of Kennebecs for my flagship pair when Bean offered one of their big 20% off on everything sales. Promptly ran them into a pretty good green briar thicket on their first outing, but they made it out ok. Those Kennebecs breathe so much better than any other waders I’ve had. Baggy cut helps I think.

It’s cool hearing how different everyone fishing year in 2017 went. It was a slow year for me overall, comparatively. Probably only fished 20-25 days, not counting surf bait chuckin. Some big vacations with family chewing into PTO time, generally mediocre to poor flows, and I cancelled all 3 of my usual Fall multi day fishing trips I have planned each year...Sick dog, sick ex father in law, and a really lousy forecast to blame.

Higlights were a few smash up small stream outings in May, a good night on Sulphurs at Kish at the Jam, some big Brookies in WV, and finding a ton Brookies while exploring some places I didn’t necessarily expect them this Fall. Fish of the year was a 17” streamer caught Brown on Penns in September after a rain had dirtied it up a bit.

 

[tomitrout]

Well, went through the journal, fishing days were definitely lower than previous years at only 21, but also logged well over 500 hours volunteering for TU which included lots of time along the stream, just not with a fishin' pole.

Highlights were a couple of stellar days on Penns back in May, a bunch of nice chunky browns on dries. Also finished out a cane blank from Tim Zeitak (8'/5wt Payne 102) as a winter project and fished it a bunch, then also revisited some streams I grew up on which was pretty cool. Was neat to reconnect with the roots and see how things change, yet remain the same. Then summer rolled around and the fishing took a back seat as the ebb and flow of life found me back to riding bicycles more than I have been recently and re-prioritizing some things this Fall, there'll be much fewer volunteer hours moving forward. It's always an interesting balance with only so much free time from week to week, I wonder how 2018 will play out?

 

[afishinado]

tomitrout wrote:
Well, went through the journal, fishing days were definitely lower than previous years at only 21, but also logged well over 500 hours volunteering for TU which included lots of time along the stream, just not with a fishin' pole.

Highlights were a couple of stellar days on Penns back in May, a bunch of nice chunky browns on dries. Also finished out a cane blank from Tim Zeitak (8'/5wt Payne 102) as a winter project and fished it a bunch, then also revisited some streams I grew up on which was pretty cool. Was neat to reconnect with the roots and see how things change, yet remain the same. Then summer rolled around and the fishing took a back seat as the ebb and flow of life found me back to riding bicycles more than I have been recently and re-prioritizing some things this Fall, there'll be much fewer volunteer hours moving forward. It's always an interesting balance with only so much free time from week to week, I wonder how 2018 will play out?

^Thank you for your efforts...hopefully you will have more time to fish in 2018, and all your past efforts will pay dividends in the form of big trouts on the line for you.

 

[JackM]

"logged well over 500 hours volunteering for TU which included lots of time along the stream"

That's enough community service to walk off a 4th DUI. Just sayin'

 

[Acristickid]

I made it to Spring and fished for sulphers in April that was a nice day.

Fished sulphers later in the hatch with tossel hat , musta been cold for May. Caught a large wild brown on a dry which made my day-biggest fish of the year.

Fished GD’s mainly in the dark- got broke off by a big boy. Never, I repeat never stay at the Millhien Hotel.

Within the last year , I moved close to trout water and took short evening forays after work. Catching a few here and there- with a few wild rainbows thrown in to keep it real.

Fished a blue bird sky day at Penns in the fall , capped the day off with my first fish of the day and my last of the year on a dry. Long day but met my goal of a fish on a dry.

Had a sensational day on an Erie creek for Steelhead- perfect timing. Also had a bust of a trip a few weeks later.

Certainly less fly fishing this year but as I sit and think , I keep recalling fishing day trips.

Don’t think I tied on a trico or a blue wing olive this year.

I have a lot of fishing to do. Need to explore a handful of new streams.

 

[SurfCowboyXX]

I didn't keep track of my fishing days this year, but it was definitely more than last year. I had a slow start and don't believe I even cast a rod until sometime in March. Once I got started however, I got a lot of trips in.

I fished the Upper Delaware at least 8 or 9 times from April-June. I had one of the best dry fly fishing days of my life and lost the two biggest trout I've ever hooked on a dry on the same day. I learned a nice section of the river well enough to know that I should start learning a new section this year. I can't wait until April.

I fished the Lehigh, the Lackawanna, Penn's, and Big Spring this year and pulled a big wild (that one from Lehigh Gorge might be just wild-ish) fish from each. That probably isn't going to happen for me again any time soon. But I'll try again in 2018.

In June I caught a bunch of stripers from shore in Martha's Vineyard, and I also caught them while sight-fishing from my drift boat on the flats in Menemsha Pond. June was a good month for the fly rod.

I fished the Susky system above Harrisburg a ton (10 or more times) this summer once the smallmouth season opened, and it had to be my best year since the early 2000s. I can't guess how many 16" or better fish I caught this year, and how many of them were on poppers. I know I wasn't able to get a 20" smallie, but I did get one at 19 3/4", and that was good enough for me. I continued to learn more about my preferred stretch of river and found a new productive bank, but again, it looks like time for me to learn a new stretch.

I did do some striper fishing this fall, and I did have one decent morning with 3 fish on the fly (one around 32"), but overall, the salt was not too productive for me in NJ.

I'm just tying now. Tuesday I tied a dozen stoneflies and a bunch of BWO and Blue Quill emergers. Yesterday I knocked out a dozen Articulated Butt Monkeys for the early high water on the Upper Delaware. Today, who knows?

I'd like to get into some midging trout this winter, but I don't feel like frostbitten testicles, so maybe if the earth thaws a bit...

At any rate, it was a good 2017, and I hope you all have a 2018 full of bent rods.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

Mixed year. I had major exams and a big move right at the end of May, which of course, was prime hatch season. I explored a bit my "new home waters" a few times, had a great July 4th trip w/ Tim Robinson, a few good runs up to NCPA, including the NCPA Summit, but generally I did a lot less fishin' this year than prior years.

 

[WildTigerTrout]

I did not fish as much as I would have liked in 2017 but most here could probably say the same. Highlights this year include my now annual trip to Colorado to see my boy at the US Air Force Academy. My wife and I go early so I get a few days to fish the South Platte River. This year I also got to fish inside the Rocky Mountain National Park as we also visited Estes Park. I caught a good number of nice trout there this year to include several 20" class Cut-Bows. The Trico hatches on the South Platte are awesome. First time I have ever fished a 6 weight rod with 5x tippet and a size 24 trico spinner. The fish are wild, big and strong. What a rush! Looking forward to next year.

I also dabbled in fly fishing for Smallmouth Bass this year. Caught some and had a great time. Those things really fight , even the small ones. I will continue to pursue them this next year. A new addiction I think. It's a blast!

I also fished a lot more with my Tenkara rods this year. Caught quite a few and even some nicer ones. I mainly fished the low summer water on Spring Creek. One goal this year is to successfully fish the trico hatch with my Tenkara rods.

I also got to fish several times this year with my mentor, Old Lefty(Dave Rothrock) which is always a pleasure. I hope to get more time this year for us to fish together.

Dave and also went a couple of times in early spring to gather nymphs for photos. That was almost as much fun as fishing. Those Hendrickson nymphs can be very elusive!

Overall a good year. I fished some, I learned some and without a doubt had fun on each and every excursion. Looking forward to 2018. WTT