End of the Year Review Part 1- Goals from last year

Every January I come up with goals for the upcoming year. Come the end of December,I go back to see how many I reached. So here I go.

1. Catch 30 species.

This was by far my most important goal. I spent the first half of the year catching common species and chasing oddball fish. I ended up catching a total of 32 species. I'll name them all in my 2014 fishing post. None the less,I was very happy to reach this goal.

2. Hike to Franconia Fall, 13 Falls an Welton Falls

3. Fish Ethan Pond

4. Go to Flat Mountain Pond or Lonesome Lake.

All three of these goals are hikes in New Hampshire. I ended up going one for six. Of the three waterfalls and three lakes, the only one I went to was Franconia Falls. I can not complain. The reason I did not go to these places was I got myself in good enough shape that I was hiking to the tops of mountains instead of waterfalls. I hiked the Baldface Loop and Franconia Ridge in back to back days. So although I went 1/6 I more than made up for it with summit views.

5. Fish for bowfin 3 times.

I fished for them twice. Neither time I caught any.

6. Fish for walleye once.

Never went for them this year.

7. Catch a trout through the ice.

Yup, I caught 3 jigging on Falls Pond.

8. Catch a catfish or bullhead through the ice.

I did catch a bullhead on a dead shiner ice fishing after dark. It was a big one about 16-17 inches.

9. Go cod fishing from a headboat.

This is another goal I made the conscious choice not to do. Once I found out how much they cost, I couldn't justify spending all that money. I can buy a lot fish at the market for eighty dollars. So I decided it wasn't worth it.

Going by the actual numbers, I did not reach many of my 2014 goals. Yet it was a terrific year. I spent a lot of time trying to reach 30 species. The thirtieth was fallfish in the Connecticut Lakes area of New Hampshire. Species 31 and 32 were two of my favorites, false albacore and hickory shad.

Like I said above, I had some great hikes in New Hampshire. I was on top of six mountains over 3900 feet. I also had some beautiful weather.

My other goals of trying to catch bowfin and walleye. I just found other daytrips and other fish to chase. I just never made the time.

Lastly I ice fished A LOT last winter. Sometimes staying on the ice for three hours after dark. There was a large amount of satisfaction that I still remember when I pulled the first fat rainbow through my hole in the ice. It was bright and healthy. Since I only caught the one, after I unhooked it I slid it back down the hole again.