2015 was a blur (isn't every year?) but I did get a lot of fishing in, learned a lot, made some new friends, and had a good time. Here's some of the highlights from the year.
Toccoa River float with Louis Cahill. We saw a couple really big browns on this float, but only landed small fish. Still a great time getting to know a good guy. Maybe I’m getting to that point where the people I spend time on the water with matter more than the fishing.
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Louis on the sticks |
Pere Marquette River/Barothy Lodge with Chris Reister. It was late March. We stayed at a fancy cabin with a whole crew of guys from Detroit. It was bluebird/T-shirt weather, the steelhead bite was off, but we managed a couple fish and had a great time.
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Reister with a good brown |
Any trip with Alex Cerveniak. Streamer floats, opening day of trout season, getting lost in the Pigeon River Country, night fishing, bumming around the UP- Any trip with Alex is a good one. He’s one of my best friends and one of the best people you could ever hope to spend a day on the water with. I don't think our season was nearly as productive as the previous, but who cares?
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Alex on a Michigan trout stream |
Lower Black River with Zach Ginop. We were after musky. We caught pike. It was a rare day off during my busy season. If Zach weren’t so modest then probably everyone would know his name- he’s a superb and innovative fly tyer, a great guide, and the fishiest young guy I know. He catches more brown trout over 24 inches each year than you’ll ever catch in your lifetime.
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Zach with an absolute slob of a smallmouth |
The Upper Peninsula with Tom Hazelton and Dave Karczynski. Big smallmouth on Lake Michigan, and big rainbows inland. It was a great evening of technical fishing in which we caught a couple, had our butts handed to us by some much bigger fish, and had a great day messing around in the north.
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Tom's monster smallie |
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Dave being Dave |
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my fish of the day |
Carp on the flats solo. I had my best day ever carp fishing in early July. I took the kayak to be more mobile and landed 6 nice fish in less than two hours. A beautiful day in a beautiful place with lots of action and aggressive fish.

Florida, late August. I went with my girlfriend to Sarasota area and scored my first saltwater fish on the fly. The threadfin herring run was on and fish were busting in the surf and canals everywhere. Yeah, I only caught ladyfish and a couple other small species, but it was a great intro and I learned a lot. I had some close calls with snook, barracuda, a bonnet head shark, and was broke off by a Jack Crevalle. The salt definitely calls to me, and could easily take the place of all my freshwater pursuits.
I shared the water with a number of other good folks (you know who you are Brett Watson) and had a good time. I want to thank everyone for a great year and great company. Here's to 2016.
Sounds like a stellar year to me Jason. Of course, what do I know? Glad to see you back in the blogging wars!
ReplyDeleteThanks Howard! Glad to be back, and good to know you're still at it too.
DeleteGreat post, Jason. Thanks for the recap.
ReplyDelete-Dave
Always happy to oblige. I'll try to keep it interesting.
DeleteCheers to a fine 2015 and an even better 2016!
ReplyDeleteCheers brotha. Hope I didn't break too many rules here. Ha!
DeleteHappy New Year Font!!! So good to hear from you!!!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Joyce! So good to see you and Alan enjoying the North. Catch some fish will ya?
DeleteThat looks and sounds like a fantastic year. Hope 2016 brings you all of that and more!
ReplyDeleteThanks Justin. Same to you.
DeleteJT ~ I enjoy reading Louis's writing. Your gal is sure pretty. Here's to a healthy and happy 2016!!
ReplyDeleteThanks RD, Happy New Year!
DeleteThat was quite a day in the UP. I think about it a lot. Great writeup -- great year.
ReplyDeleteThere were several pretty amazing revelations that day. There's some more exploring to do there for sure.
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