Sean
Last year I purchased a jon boat in March so the year of fishing was quite different than the previous years. I took the boat fishing every chance I could, and chose to bank fish when boating was out of the question.....due to extreme weather conditions, high wind, ice coverage, etc. Last year I fished out of a boat 102 trips out of 146 total trips, compared to 2011 in which I fished out of a boat only 8 out of 112 fishing trips. Although I feel that we did significantly better this year than previous years, I don't feel that the increased boat usage is the only attributing factor to our success. Each year we learn new tactics, try new techniques, and fish new waters. With that said, if you asked me if I thought a boat increases ones catch rate, I would have to say yes.As I mentioned above, I do feel that we had a successful year overall. Our best fish of 2012 can be seen here. Each of us set multiple new personal bests, while personally setting a new personal best Yellow Perch, Rock Bass, Common Carp, and Freshwater Drum. We also all caught 5 different species of "Fish Ohio Trophies" and achieved "Master Angler" status under the Fish Ohio Program. We didn't manage any huge fish, like Amanda's 48lb Blue Catfish of 2011, my 33lb Flathead of 2010, or Rylan's 32lb Carp of 2010. However what we lacked in size we made up for in numbers. In 2011 I fished 746 hours and caught 979 total fish, for a total of 1.31 fish per hour. Last year, 2012, I fished for 877.5 hours and caught 2,242 fish for a total of 2.55 fish per hour.
Along with an increase in number of fish, I had a much higher average Points Per Hour, a qualitative measure explained here. In 2012 I averaged 3.17 points per hour, in comparison to 2011 where I only had 1.51 points per hour. To put things in perspective 3.17 points per hour would be the same as 19 points for every 6 hours (average time spent per trip), 19 points would be the equivalent to catching five 1lb bass every 6 hours...or 2 7lb channel catfish every 6 hours, two 15lb blue catfish every 6 hours...etc.
Below is two graphs I created with Microsoft Excel showing the points per hour by trip for each year. The date runs across the x-axis, bottom, and the points per hour runs up the y-axis, left side. The points scale is the same so you can see how much better we we did in 2012. In 2012 you can see the peak in May/June and then again in October/November.
![]() |
![]() |
Goals:
Each year I set a few goals for myself in order to give me something to shoot for. Last year my main goal was to set a personal best carp, something respectable, because my previous personal best carp was 12 pounds. Almost everyone that I fish with has personal best carp well over 20 pounds... Jake with a 34lb carp, Rylan with a 32lb Carp. So I was shooting for a 20 pounder to set the year off right. On March 24th, I landed a new personal best carp at 30", 14 pounds and 15 ounces.
![]() |
My goal for the upcoming year will be to land a 25 pound or larger carp. My secondary goals are to become a master angler under the Fish Ohio Program, land a new personal best bluegill, and to help others get new personal best fish.
Rylan
Last year for me, like Sean, was the best year of fishing I've ever had as far as stats go. Number of hours, trips, fish caught, and points per hour were way higher than previous years. Like Sean said, all the boat fishing really made the biggest difference. I sold my boat back in June as I wasn't satisfied with it's capability and wanted something bigger and better. Currently I'm still looking for a new boat although various things are holding me back such as financial status and boat storage options. If I find the perfect used boat I probably won't hesitate. The one thing this year was lacking was any of those truly monster fish, although numbers and average size was very good. My personal favorite catch of the year was my 1lb 8oz 14.25 inch crappie, not a monster crappie but a solid Fish Ohio trophy and a solid personal best.![]() |
1lb 8oz 14.25 inch White Crappie |
2012 | 2011 | |
Number of trips | 101 | 85 |
Total hours on water | 521 | 512.5 |
Average hours per trip | 5.16 | 6.03 |
Total points | 1399.5 | 694 |
Average points per trip | 13.86 | 8.16 |
Points per hour | 2.69 | 1.35 |
Total Fish | 1167 | 607 |
You can see that although I fished more times last year the average hours per trip was somewhat reduced as working and tiredness reduced trip lengths.
Here's what my fish totals looked like from 2012 compared to 2011.
2012 | 2011 | |
Bluegill | 374 | 258 |
Crappie | 278 | 69 |
Largemouth Bass | 241 | 127 |
Hybrid Striped Bass / White Bass | 126 | 45 |
Channel Catfish | 38 | 33 |
Smallmouth Bass | 22 | 20 |
Rock Bass | 21 | 5 |
Freshwater Drum | 21 | 8 |
Spotted Bass | 12 | 9 |
Trout | 7 | 2 |
Yellow Perch | 6 | 8 |
Blue Catfish | 6 | 0 |
Longnose Gar | 5 | 2 |
Saugeye | 4 | 2 |
Common Carp | 2 | 4 |
Flathead Catfish | 2 | 2 |
Bullhead Catfish | 1 | 0 |
Buffalo | 1 | 0 |
Sucker | 0 | 1 |
As you can see the crappie numbers were significantly higher than the previous year. I believe the increase in crappie fishing along with boat fishing was the biggest factor in the significant increase in stats. With the new points modification to crappie, my stats would have been significantly lower.
Here's what my stats would look like with the points modification compared to my actual stats.
Actual stats | Stats with modification | |
Total points | 1399.5 | 1214.5 |
Average points per trip | 13.86 | 12.02 |
Points per hour | 2.69 | 2.33 |
Goals:
Last year my goals were to get master angler, and set a new personal best smallmouth bass, flathead catfish, and blue catfish. I met three of those goals with achieving master angler, setting a new personal best smallmouth of 1lb 11oz, and setting a new personal best blue catfish of 15lb 10oz.
![]() |
1lb 11oz Smallmouth Bass |
![]() |
15lb 10oz Blue Catfish |
No comments:
Post a Comment