With the year coming to a close (I will have 1 or 2 trips left for this year – I’ll only fish if it has been 3-4 mild to warm days in a row after Nov. till Feb.) – I wanted to tally up my PWF experience.  I have the link to my trips below with dates/notes/sizes/totals after redacting for guests/daughter.  Here are my takeaways that might help some of you with your own ‘year in review’: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Rhp5Rzv-C-ZNBgdmAQ17aTMkqBjdWKd_sBLube6jO5o/edit?usp=sharing

1. I’m at 998 fish at PWF lakes for the year with a PB of 11.5, and a fish over 8lbs with a bunch of 6’s and 7’s.  If you remove outliers, my worst avrage days were 6 fish and my best average days were over 50, averaging 20 fish per trip with 3.25 fish per hour @ big fish average over 4.1lbs. 
2. I’ve made some new fishing friends which makes it much more fun – Stephen Ford, Scott Wheeler, Charles McCallum, and of course my El Salto partner, Randy Groves. It makes it easier to figure stuff out when more than 1 person is fishing a lake.  I try not to copy what they do, but find an alternative that works similarly in style to see if we can push it that much futher. 
3. I really refined my skills with a spook, jerkbait and moved away from just throwing senkos and TRIGs.  As I’ve fished faster, covered more water, added more casts to my day, my numbers have gone up consistently (even removing for outliers like Bluffs in Terrell). 
4. Spending time on BassU and Randy Blaukat’s channel have helped me get extra bites.  Earlier in the year when I’d struggle – I had adapted by mid summer to pick up those 4-5 extra fish that really made the day when I used to would have just not caught them – the small details with tweaks here and there. 
5. Attitude and confidence is everything.   By end of year, when I would struggle early, I still knew I’d find them if I thoguht through it enough (e.g yesterday at Frannies, I was down 12 fish to 4 but got on them really good by midday). 
6. I immensely struggle with shallow/dirty water.  I need to fix this next year.  (e.g. Blackhat in late summer, Travis, Tara, Triple J).  I did better with it when I prepped more (Backside of Moon) to find structure before I fished the lake.  
7. My biggest improvement has been with a sqbill in heavy timber and A- not getting hung up much and learning to guide it through and over the timber, and B- finding the right wobble/color to maximize the bite. 
8. I need to downize quicker when the bite is tough, especially on lakes that have consistent pressure (Double AA, Blackhat).  I need to keep a spinning reel with me and work on drop shotting and making that part of my routine. 
9. Late august/early sept seems to suck unless there is deeper water to fish.
10. Spring was spotty – it was a weird rainy windy spring here in North Texas after the freeze.  Bass/Bluegill/Shad spawned on top of one another and normally that is more spread out. 
11. I want to add punching to my repetoire next year.  I’m really bad at it. 
12. I do best when there is timber or a moderate amount of grass. 
13. I want to fish Backus and a couple of the Houston lakes next year. 
14. I want to stick with big baits on a lake with bigger fish and just use the one lure (e.g. glide baits) to target bigger fish. 
15. Focus on lakes with my daughter with silly numbers (e.g. Indian Hollow) and work with her on a couple more baits (e.g. sqbills and TRIGs). 
16. Implementing a CRIG when the water depth is over 9 feet was a complete revelation to my game.  
17. Stop booking friends in successive days – I just don’t have the energy level to get them on fish both days while still fishing myself. I’m not a guide.

What are your goals for next year?

Amazing summary as usual Joshua. One goal I have for next year is to build confidence in big swimbaits. I've spent countless dollars on baits and gear but never dedicated a full trip to throwing just big baits and thus have zero confidence in them. Maybe we can work on that one together 😀. I hear this is one of the best times of the year to throw glide baits!

One area I feel like I've majorly improved on since joining PWF this year in April is boat handling and picking apart new bodies of water. Prior to this year I was restricted to the bank or fishing with guides so learning how to position the boat in the wind and how to navigate tight structure has been huge for me. Also learning how to read electronics, especially down and side scan which I never had before July of this year.

Yeah Charles – let’s do it man! Agree with you – I still need to work on the electronics but I have a pretty simple fish finder.  

I'm sure most members are thinking like me when they see this post and your spreadsheet…..”I wish I got to fish that often. Since I can't, I'm glad Josh does and he shares his experience in detail.” That is a strong year, and you are sure to pass the 1000 fish mark in the coming days.

I am sure I told you, but I have an almost identical spreadsheet that I keep. Mine also includes cost analysis, but it is good to have as quick reference to look back at when and where you catch or don't catch.  

I encourage the members that didn't yet check it out to take a look at Josh’s fishing log.

I have made it on the water quite a bit this year – I am fortunate to have been able to do so. 

I think it was a combination of making up for lost time (started a firm a couple of years ago, had a job that required 100+ days of travel before that for 2+ years), Covid, some sage advice from someone I trust that said – don’t wait to do the things you want/love to do, and an addictive personality.  I will say when Aaron Martens got brain cancer (died yesterday) part of me realized, if you love to do something do it now, b/c you can’t plan on it later. 

Your spreadsheet was the basis for me making my own.  I try to be a data driven person.  This data can help me determine next year – am I getting bettter, what measurable improvements have I made, how have bass responded to pressure in one pond vs another, and other evaluations.  The reports help the owners know what’s going on and maybe some PWF members to locate some fish – this stuff helps me. 

Looking forward to hitting the water next week with you Stephen. 

Great report. You are doing great. So you rommend Bass U?

I think for $99 bucks you get quite a bit of instruction and access to information about what’s going on – for me, I had a fair number of holes in my game when it came to certain techniques, so it was a good way to build on what I had and put it to practice at PWF.  

Thanks. I may sign up. I have lots of holes in my game. I can fish with m6 brother and biggest majority of times, he catches much more than me. We can tyrow same thing and still, he outfishes me, so I know it is technique most likely. I am not competative but know I am doing something different.

I really enjoyed your post. It showed me some of the areas I need to work on to become a better fisherman. I view a Bass U a lot also, but is has led to me mostly buying an excessive number  of different baits. :) If you need a fishing partner, I would love to fish with you. Tight lines!

Originally Posted by Glen Armstrong

I really enjoyed your post. It showed me some of the areas I need to work on to become a better fisherman. I view a Bass U a lot also, but is has led to me mostly buying an excessive number  of different baits. :) If you need a fishing partner, I would love to fish with you. Tight lines!

Always happy to hit the water Glen – if I get a weeks notice, I can generally make it work.