2021 Year In Review (By The Numbers) And Report Card

 

In 2021 I set records for the number of fish caught in a year (3938), the number of days fished (242), the number of trips taken (330), and fish caught per hour (4.96). However, my bass numbers were down 113 fish from 2020. I had a record number of trips I rated as Great (74) and Good (190), and I only had (16) Trips rated as Poor, down from (33) poor trips last year. Not a lot of skunks were had this year (17). 

2021 was the Year of Ice Fishing Where Crappie Catches Were King
2021 started with me on the same old suck truck for ice fishing success. But then I got my new Fish Trap, Smitty Sled, and broke through on a school of fish on Rock Lake in January, and my fishing numbers were on fire for about a month. I ended the year on two fifty fish nights on Bulldog. If it wasn't for the snow and me getting sick, I probably would have reached the 5 Fish Per Hour and 4,000 Fish in a year milestones. I caught a record number of crappies in 2021 (834).
Ice Fishing Grade: B+

Crappie Fishing Grade: A

2021 Bass Fishing:

I would describe bass fishing in 2021 as solid but challenging. No matter how tough the fishing was, I always seemed to boat one or two, but man, did we have to work for bites. I fear that the bass population in Platte/Sullivan is decreasing. I never really whacked them once non-stop in 2021. If there are schools out there, they were not shallow in 2021. Hopefully, it is just a shallow water and baitfish issue that will work out if water levels and temps are more normal in 2022. We got a good number of 4's and 5's this year between the brothers and me.

Bass Fishing Grade: B-

Bass Size Grade: B+

Tournament Fishing in 2021:

Overall it was a tough tournament season for me, but I got lucky with Platte/Sullivan for the blind draw, doubly fortunate to get Darien Kiefer as a boater, and the rest is history.

Whitefish Lake: 13th Place (Saved by a rally in the final hour and a half)

North Long: 20th Place (Didn't fish well at all)

FishTrap Lake: 8th Place (Rallied in the final hour and a half)

Edward Lake: 15th Place (I sucked, Beau caught 'em fine)

Leech Lake: Skunked

Blind at Platte/Sullivan: 1st Place, Lunker, and Top Co-Angler

Serpent Lake Challenge Cup: (Snatchers came in last, my head wasn't in it)

Tournament Season Grade: A-

Tournament Performance Grade: C

Sure I sucked for the most part, but I got a W, so it's all good. 

2021 Walleye Fishing:

Ouch, this wasn't expected. Walleye fishing crashed back to historical norms after the last few boom years. Low water on Mille Lacs this Fall is the primary driver of the decline.
Walleye Fishing Grade: C

2021 Grumpy Old Man Hole (GOMH) Fishing:

Low water and lack of baitfish made fishing the GOMH the toughest in memory. Thank God for the Trophy.

GOMH Grade: C-

2021 Pike Fishing:

The great thing about the drought and early high water temps was that it through the pike in Platte Lake for a loop. I only lost about 10 frogs this year. Last year I lost two dozen at least. I also caught some tanks.
Pike Grade: A

2021 Bowfin Fishing:

I landed a 3 this year, including one tank on August 8th fishing with Steve.
Bowfin Grade: B+

2021 Smallmouth & Tulibee Fishing:

Didn't catch either one in 2021. Straight up F's Homey!
Smallmouth Grade: F

Tullibee Grade: F

2021 Fishing Grade: B