There are two weeks left in the year, so it seems a good time to ask. I had a very enjoyable, if challenging, year of fishing. I stuck with my pledge to mostly fish close to home, a task made tougher when I lost Granbury, which had my favorite fishing holes for eight months of the previous year, to golden alga.

My Whitney late winter hole was dynamite in January, with the fish averaging larger than they ever had before. I had a couple of days where I went extended periods of time catching a fish almost every cast or drop.

I tried Aquilla for the first time ever in early spring, and was instantly hooked on that lake. I didn't catch as many big fish as I had the spring before at Granbury and Cedar Creek, but boated more jig and bobber fish than I ever had in one spring, and stayed on fish there until late May. When my head would hit the pillow after a day of fishing on Aquilla, I would still be seeing that bobber disappear in my sleep.

I also, for the first time ever, managed to catch shallow jig and bobber fish at Benbrook, which is only 10 miles from my house. I didn't catch good numbers, but really caught some big crappie and enjoyed these short trips a lot.

I probably caught fewer summer fish than I had in quite a few years. Benbrook crappie guru Pat gave me some timber fishing pointers there, and I probably caught more crappie at Benbrook than anywhere else in the summer. Like the spring there, I never managed very good numbers, but caught some really nice size fish.

Benbrook got tougher for me in early fall, and the two farther than usual trips I made (to Bardwell), one of which was to make sure my grandson had a good day fishing, were my only really productive early fall trips.

So, I started visiting my Whitney winter hole earlier than usual, before the end of October. I didn't get good numbers at all, but caught some really nice size crappie. The numbers are there now, and Sunday was my best crappie fishing day of the year.

I wasn't on fish as consistently as the year before, but I'd still have to call it a great year. So how was your year?

Excellent post,Mr. Baker. Last winter I caught more fish and bigger fish than in the Spring and Summer combined by the time the Sac a Lait bug kicked in this year the water levels were challenging to say the least, I met some very good folks this year who enjoy fishing as much as I, which means they are will to go under any conditions and are up to the task of fishing hard and aggressive for extended periods of time without eating every five min-LOL

We've had an excellent year catching more fish than ever before, mainly due to running more trips than ever before. The low water level had us trailering which is new to us. We normally have our boats in the lift on our boat dock. Overall it's been an excellent year but I am worried about our water levels this coming year. I'm afraid of what our lakes will look like if they drop another 6-8ft.

Note to self: Hide snacks if/when fishing with Pat.

or your bring a couple of WinField burgers with ya, and bust em out later. I have a feeling he will stop for a couple of minutes to devour a burger...



i had a pretty good year in the creeks and at bardwell, NM , no big numbers, or huge fish, but plenty of GOOD TIMES with good people.