My friend Kierran Broatch of The Connecticut Yankee blog recently posted on his fishing firsts in 2016, and it inspired me to take a look back at my season to do the same.
Though 2016 wasn’t my best striper season in terms of size or numbers, I did have a few memorable catches, including my biggest ever striper on a fly rod. I was fishing a good run of bass off the back side of Cape Cod in mid-June, and the bass were cruising right on the surface sipping small bait. After a few refusals from cruising fish, I had one eat the fly next to the boat and almost immediately take me into the backing. It was a long fight, but the fish eventually came close enough for Chris Megan to leader.
I caught my biggest ever yellowfin tuna this year, a fish that probably weighed in the neighborhood of 75 pounds. I caught it aboard the Gambler on an October overnighter chronicled in the January Issue of On The Water Magazine.
This year, I checked a fish off my list that I’ve been hunting for two decades—a double-digit fluke. The doormat fell to a popcorn rig while fishing aboard the Helen-H. Just a couple minutes before, I’d caught an 8- to 9-pound fluke, which was, at the time, my personal best.
I also caught my first ever black drum. It was on the small side, but it was a drum nonetheless. My co-worker Anthony Deicicchi said it looked more like “a scup in a drum suit,” but I’ll take the high road and not say anything about how his first-ever muskie, caught this year, was smaller than most pickerel.
Happy New Year, and I hope we all have some fishing firsts and bests to look back on at this time next year.
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Mine was a 38 lb bass caught on the back of cold spring harbor NY. Largest I have ever caught!
The year is not over yet fingers crossed.?
Nice fish. I had a 7, 8 and 10 lb Fluke in addition to a 115 lb Halibit and 40 lb Ling Cod. Isn’t fishing great.
Fishing is the best, John.
we caught a 328lb Mako shark in the Warriors for Warriors Shark Tournament out of Manasquan Inlet New Jersey this year
14lb Bluefish, and a Northern Pike, just under 18lbs.
A Farmington River Smallie that towed my Kayak for about 10 minutes before it managed to tow me into a snag and that was it. Next day I
bought an anchor
The day I caught my biggest bluefish – 13+ pounds – my teammate caught a 17.83 pound blue which led to his winning a grand prize in the Martha’s Vineyard Derby
Nice fish Anthony. Good luck from an old friend.
First trip and fish on my new boat. The guy came and picked up my old boat, dropped off the cash, then at noon my buddy and I headed out on father’s day weekend for an overnighter on the new boat. First light, 85 lb bluefin tuna.
Or, on the same boat in late August, took some coworkers to the Hudson. The guy had never caught anything bigger than a trout, until we brought along side his, and my, first white marlin.
My first legit YFT on my Parker 21SE. 65 lbs on the chunk during the day fishing the midshore out of Manasquan Inlet NJ. That will stick w/ me forever.
I was fishing close to you for much of the Gambler trip….I got 2 yellowfins, the bigger one came in around 80 lbs and also caught my first longfin at about 50 lbs. Was a great trip!
Jim,
It was a ton of fun! Can’t wait for next year.