My season pretty much ended after the Ovid tourney with no fish in the boat in 3 trips out. I spent most of two of the trips twitching shallowraiders which I found to be a lot of fun. The hot summer and new addition to the family made it hard to get out.

My goals for this year is to more effectively fish the water rather than waste time fishing where I want them to be instead of where they are.

My 2011 season was the worst and the best I've had! After my leg happened in May, I was at the mercy of friends to take me out, and I owe a big thanks to Ed, Spencer, and Bob for getting me out. But as the fall came around I was able to gimp down to the boat ramp and get my boat in the water and fish solo.

I only caught a few fish this year, fished a few days, and then LSC was torn up mud so much of the fall it made things more difficult. Biggest fish of the year were only a couple 44's, but I had some good fish (including a 50 class) boatside that wouldn't eat….but an 8 is hard on a fly rod.

But after the phenominal year I had in 10 and the numbers and size I had that year, I can't complain. I even said in the fall of 10, "if I never have another muskie season, I had this one…" Turns out it was prophetic.

The flip side of that season's success was that I let myself get eaten up by muskie fishing and my head got a little nutty. Then this season, being forced to chill out, calm down and enjoy myself, I actually had as much or more "fun" than I did in 10. It came down to that in 2010, I was upset when I caught a 44 because it was "only" a 44 and I'd caught so many fish 47 (I caught three 47's in about 15 minutes one day) and below that I was only interested in seeing 48, 49, 50, etc. and if I didn't get a monster, I was slightly let down by it. Then after my big fish in September, I was on pure monster hunt, and the pressure and stress that comes with it.

Well this year, I was just happy to be on on the water! And that's the way it should be for me. I caught a few fish, and this year a 44 was a trophy again and it felt so good just to hold a fish!

Right now, I'm not sure if I'll be here this season or not, but if I am, I'll take what I "discovered" this year and that's to just settle down, apply what I know, and fish will come…and what comes, comes. I'll be enjoying my 44's again and be glad that I was able to launch (and afford to launch) my boat, be free of injury and able to cast all day and just enjoy myself again…with ZERO stress on myself.

For those of you who've never fished stress-free, I suggest you try it. It's actually fun to fish when you make it fun again, and not a weight on your shoulders. At least for me.

My last 44, December 12th, 38*, Sun on my shoulders and friends Ed and Scott were in their boat to watch it happen and congratulate me. Great way to end the season.

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My first 44 of the season. On the blind 8 at like 3AM in MN fishing solo, which after all summer on crutches and being at others' mercy, it was my best accomplishment of the year. Notice I'm kneeling…I could still barely walk right. Well, not totally solo, I was with my dog, but he's not fishing because he doesn't have thumbs, so I'm the only one fishing in the boat.

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I'm at work so I don't have any of the actual numbers available to me right now. I know I personally caught 31 (29casting, 2 trolling) fish in around 260 hours. Not good hour/fish ratio at all compared to the previous year, but it didn't help when my hour/fish ratio is approx. 6X higher on my favorite lake (Austin) then the year before. I went from boating 44 muskies at Austin in 2010 to 7 this year, and it wasn't due to lack of effort. It really almost made me cry looking at my stats from Austin from 2010 to 2011. Biggest fish was only 44.5", and very few over 40". Very few big ones seen all year.

My brother did catch a muskie on all 4 trips he took with me this year, which was really cool. Especially because they were only his 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th muskies of his life. The kid has always been a way better fisherman than myself despite not putting in a fraction of the time or effort I do into it. He just seems to have the touch, and it doesn't matter what species. He also lost the only BIG fish we had an encounter with all year. Was a solid, thick upper 40's that bit on the 3rd turn of his figure 8, but shook off after a furious 15second battle. That was probably my favorite moment of the year but also a heartbreaking one.

Most hours I've had for muskie fishing this year out of 4. Had roughly 420 hours, 10 fish from other waters than LSC. I was there for a touch over 100 on LSC, exciting moments for me was my buddies firtst 50", my first tiger, first boatside 50", and a day with almost 20 ski's landed casting in one day with Pete and Duke! A big increase to my hours was Pete letting me use his boat during the week to save me from dragging my boat into work everyday! Oh and not to mention Pete fixing all of my rubber baits weekly!

Man, you guys really keep track of exact hours like that? 😯 I just know that my hours on the water were way down, my number of fish was down, and my avg size fish was the same. And I want all those numbers to be higher for next year. [smilie=biggrin.gif]
I did have some highlights, though. Ethan got to see a couple muskies, and I guided both my brothers to their first LSC fish. Aaron got 2 which were his first muskies ever. So, now all the men in my family have gotten slimed. Being able to test the new prototype Pounder before it was public knowledge was cool, even if lightning did chase us off the lake. Oh, and taking my wife out a couple times casting, and she didn't get a single backlash. Now THAT made me proud. All the hours spent in the front lawn practicing looking like dumasses paid off. [smilie=2thumbsup.gif]

Ill have to look at my log for hours/fish, but I know this was a terrible year for me in terms of fish caught. Lots of close calls and lost fish; going to hit it hard next year to get my fish caught number up around 40.

I’m with Jim and don’t really have a way to keep track of exact hours but looking back at which weekends I got out and for how long I can guesstimate. I’ll break the year down in halves for summer and fall. The first half of the season from opening weekend thru September, I spent around 110 hours on the water where I was specifically targeting muskies. Most of my time was spend on the lower Antrim chain with a weekend on Margrethe and a little time in the UP as well. Saw a total of 7 fish in that time, 5 of those being on the chain. None of which hit my bait and obviously none landed.

Over the course of the next 3 months, October thru December, I spent a lot more time on the water. Approx. 105 hours. Time was spent on Thorn, Murray, Oster, and Ovid with 3 weekends up in Antrim. Saw a total of 19 fish this fall. Had 9 fish come into the figure 8 with 3 of them hitting my bait, and 1 actually leaving my 8 and hitting my friends bait on Ovid. All 3 strikes missed hooks completely, meaning I personally landed a big ZERO on the year. However, I was happy to be able to be in the boat for the landing of one fish on the upper chain by Chris Musselman in November and that weekend we saw a good number of fish overall up there which really boosted my confidence for the next time I get up there.

All I can say is it has been an incredibly frustrating year, I know partially due to the waters I mainly fish but the fall really started giving me some confidence as I saw more and more fish in the months of November and December, telling me that I wasn’t doing everything completely wrong. I think failing as bad as I have has only made my obsession with catching one even worse. Talking to some guys, reading guys posts, and learning from how the fish I did see act I think I have a lot better understanding of how these fish work and have some ideas on how to up my chances this year. I will be putting a lot more time in this year and I will be painfully waiting for the end of April to get here…

Until then I’ll be sitting in a shack looking down a hole catching easy fish to make me feel better about myself until I have to go back to the real fishing…

Had a good year when I was on the water, but as usual, it's always less than planned. In summary, SW lakes 8-10xs, a few days in the U.P., 4 days in TC waters, and some new water for me: Hamlin, Manistee Lake, Chicagon, Emily, and Craig. The SW lakes were good to me this year with at least a chance or one in the net every time out (didnt really have any of those "god aweful" days, which is encouraging.) Even got lucky and put a PB in the net for Northern Strain, at Campau, I know (almost 50"), hahahahahahah…..but was by myself and was running a lure in a spot where I thought she would be. It was still very rewarding considering I've put my time in there in the past. I think Murray gave me 4 fish in 6 trips and a look at some quality fish, always good to see. Never got to Long, Austin, or Ovid…..but did hit Thornapple twice. Had a really fun day with Scott Williams that ended the season there.

The Spring Trip to TC was special as always and the boat was fortunate enough to nab three fish there in May 38", 39", and 41" with a miss and a quality fish from a challenging lake that made her presence known. Blanked on Manistee and Hamlin during opening week, but thanks to Cyberlunge for the continuing education in the "NW territories." 😀

Didn't make LSC this summer or fall, rather not talk about that, it's depressing.

My U.P. trip was special since a long time friend joined Mitch Duba and I at Craig and Chicagon. He got his PB pike 36" at Craig and we saw a couple muskies, my first kayak pike, and a fat 40" muskie in the canoe that I will always remember the strike (and how hard we worked to catch her!) Stupid wind. Chicagon was a blast and can't wait to go back, such a cool lake. Kicked our butt for three hours and then shows ten fish in 45 minutes before dark, really cool for the rookie in the boat. Also got the PB Pike I've been searching out for a long time 41" x FAT…..had another approach a lure on Duba's side that was BIGGER. Wow, we'll be back [smilie=bow.gif]

2012 I want a new boat, but no boat payment. Anyone know where I can find that deal let me know, otherwise I'll be in the garage fixin mine up (to bad I can't stretch it out to be wider) oh well as others have said, focus on being out there. I'm happy to be healthy, able to cast, take time away from a JOB, and have a family that keeps me off the water who is loved even more that the stupid fish we chase when we're on the water. Tight lines in 2012 fellas! Oh and most important in 2011 GLS GLS GLS GLS!!!!!! [smilie=2thumbsup.gif] [smilie=2thumbsup.gif] [smilie=2thumbsup.gif] and some pretty darn good legislation in the works. Thanks to all and be safe in 2012…..Adam

This was a good year since after lots of obsessive hours of trying, especially the past few seasons, I finally broke 50 on the small inland lakes I fish. My PB of 51 followed two weeks later with my second best fish ever of 48. The season had a decent number of other fish but it took lots of hours. I don't know what my hours per fish would be but it's not good, I'd guess at least 10-12 hours per fish and it could be more like 15 hours.

There are multiple fish days that help but there are many more skunks than those. It's still a good day to get one and often it takes a very long day to do that. When populations seemed to peak several years back I caught more fish in less time, but like a lot of us have experienced the average size of fish is getting better. One thing I've learned is despite lots of effort, I'm simply not good at muskie fishing but the challenge keeps me hungry for more maybe in part since all species before muskies were also a blast, but I thought I could almost always catch them.

Not so with muskies, there are streaks where I think I'm getting it together then long runs of futile suckville, at least when it comes to actually doing all things right to boat them. I do think the amount of contact I get is pretty good but I haven't yet attained the skills to close the deal more consistently, and I definitely have no talent for it. Nothing has come easy, the PB was after countless thousands of hours over the years, much of it filled with heartbreak.

Hopefully I'll fish better now that I'm pressing less for the big muskie of my dreams, feeling satisfied that it finally happened and looking forward to a Fittante replica. I'm already finding the skunks less painful, and enjoying the overall experience more no matter what happens. I'd like to work more for my Michigan dream pike over 45, haven't topped 40 in Michigan for a while now after managing sometimes one a season and one year with two, back when my home waters were less degraded. Still decent numbers of them over 36 this year, which I think are really good Michigan pike.