Best/favorite catches of 2020!

[FASTEDDIE29]

To say it’s been an interesting year is an understatement! Sheeesh! This year needs to die and the sooner the better. Lol! Let’s brighten life up a bit with your best catches of the year or your favorite fishing memory of 2020! Show me the fish please!

I’ll start off by saying 2020 was the year I fished the least. Between work and my young athletes baseball career this year flew by. I didn’t have much time but when I fished I caught. Consistency, consistency! The catching that sticks out the most is early season Stripers on the Raritan river in March and early April! I’m out there wading the river with my ultra lite St. Croix spooled with 5lb. PP and 10lb. Flouro leader when the The fish with Stripes start blitzing on top. Man, they were boiling on this day. Caught quite a few shorts and keepers and 1 beast around 20 lbs. I thought my rod was going to explode and the Stradic was making noises ive never heard. Not sure how I got those fish in with that current and light line. It was nuts! TIGHT LINEZ FELLAS! I hope you are all well!

[saxmatt]

My most memorable trip of 2020 was a carp trip I did up in Connecticut in May. I camped out for a few days and got a 39.13, a pb 28.5lb two tone, a mirror, a fantail and a bunch of other big commons. My buddy Chris drove up from NJ and fished for a day with me and landed his 2nd biggest carp ever at 35lbs and his first fantail. Our 4 biggest carp combined for over 139lbs. It was one of the best carp trips I’ve ever had.

[Jigman13]

I did minimal sweetwater fishing this year. Had walleyes up to 27" on the river and some smallies, plus a pretty good run of spring stripes. I spent most of my time getting salty. Back bay stripers in the early spring, back bay fluking once the season opened, a handful of offshore tuna trips and one inshore bluefin trip this past May. Finished the open water season with solid tog action in our inlets and canals on jigs w fish up to 20" and scored some tasty winter flounder limits with fish up to 16.5".

My memorable catches were the 5+ lb largemouth I nailed while crappie jigging in March on 2 lb test and a 1/64th jig and the 60" bluefin I decked in May. I actually herniated a disc in my lower back on that fish. The 3 to 5' seas, faulty belt and harness (wasnt mine or fitted properly) and the power of the fish did a number on me. As payback I plated epic tartare and sushi turning it in bluefin poo. I win lol. Pics below.

Caught a lot of variety but no beasts in 2020. Oh, and I had the 'Rona. That sucked majorly...

[Lard Almighty]

Looking back on the year, I didn't catch a whole lot of big fish. I did, however, have my best weekend of fishing ever on the Raritan River, catching schoolie stripers and walleye on Saturday, then landing what would wind up being my biggest smallie of the year on Sunday. That was the pinnacle of the season, but I did have a few other memorable catches, like what might have been the biggest largemouth I've ever caught in NJ, what might have been the biggest crappie I've ever caught anywhere, and an accidental carp while trying to learn how to fish a Ned rig on light tackle. I also finally christened the kayak with some fish slime.

Spent numerous weekends at my new cabin as well. Fishing was solid, but I haven't figured out the really big ones yet. Now that I finally have a boat up there, I'll hit it hard next year and unlock its secrets.

[FASTEDDIE29]

What I love about this post is that it brings out the best of the best and some of NJ’s finest anglers! Awesome stuff here!

Saxmatt those are some beautiful Carp brother. Crazy size to them as well. Hoping to see you in the ice this year in NJ! It’s been too long!

Jigman! It’s been a rough year and I’m happy your still here! That Tuna is a beauty! Looks great on the plate and absolutely delicious. An eye for an eye! A Tuna breaks a persons back, the Tuna dies! It’s that simple! Lol! See you out there somewhere hopefully!

Lard! I watch your videos when they come out! Your passion for this is unmatched! This year was tough but you always seem to find something to catch! Congrats again on the house up in PA! That story has so much meaning most wouldn’t get it unless they watched the video!

Hopefully we get more posts on the thread! It definitely brightened my day! Thanks again fellas and TIGHT LINEZ!!!

[thmyorke1]

I broke a few PBs and new species this year.

But my favorite moments this year were regardless of the fish caught,
My vacation to the Adirondacks and experiencing the sh!tshow of the Salmon River for the first time were definitely big highlights.

Another special moment was scoping up two pike at once; the larger one would not let go of the smaller one I hooked

It's pure joy fishing and sharing moments with all of you!

[Jigman13]

[QUOTE=FASTEDDIE29;555512]

See you out there somewhere hopefully!

/QUOTE]

I hope it's one the ICE!!!

[Chrisper4694]

2020, the year everyone lost their damn mind and i fished more than ever before... started off with the shortest ice season I've ever encountered (yes even shorter than this one we just had haha) followed by a few local trout outings and a carping session with saxmatt.

early in the year, I upgraded the tincan by buying a bigger princecraft and with the help of njsquatch and mikeytopaz, got it ready to fish the crap out of NJ. I promptly named it 'The Essential' so that no government nonsense could stop me from fishing!

Multispecies mayhem ensued throughout the year, with some of the more memorable catches being the first musky on one of my first trips in the new boat at the 'closing bell'; some xl landlocked salmon; night walleyes and hybrids; beefy bass and panfish; pretty much stalked most species NJ has to offer, especially the deep dwelling lakers!

I didn't do as much saltwater fishing as usual, but did take a trip to cape cod late summer to bag a huge bf tuna with my high school buddies! probably the memory that will stand out the most for the year!

Happy new year and i'm going for more of the same in 2021!

[Chrisper4694]

sorry idk how to do collages haha

[FASTEDDIE29]

Great year Chris! Beautiful pics as always! Keep the MAYHEM going in 2021! Hell yassssssss!!!!