For a number of years I submitted a series of fishing wrap-up posts over the winter. These posts served multiple purposes. They recapped the previous year, fueled the fire for the new one, gave me a stat fix and fed my writing habit.

Well, here we go again as I’m bringing back a look back. This time around, the series appears a little later than previous years and even comes after adding some 2018 bass to the log. It doesn’t look like I’ll be back on the water for a while though, so instead of fishing reports you get a recap. You see, I just got around to the 2017 data entry from my fishing log this week, and as a result, I’m kind of fired up to share the numbers, pics and some thoughts. And once I get a blog idea in my head, well, it usually finds its way onto the web.

2017  Bass #2 (first is pictured a little below) – March 26 Little John Conservation Club 15.5″ 1-12 Jig & Pig

Part I of the series will take a general look at the numbers, while subsequent posts will delve into lures, locations, partners and a countdown.

Let the stats, pics and two cents begin.

2017 Bass #59 – May 13 Knox County, IL public strip mine 17.5″ 3-5 Senko weighted wacky rig

Grand Totals (bass fishing only)
135.50 hours fishing
418 bass
3.08 bass/hour
Comments: I knew I caught a load of bass this year but got lazy on transferring the log data into the database and spreadsheets so I really had no idea where I was at until running the totals this week. It turns out that I established a new yearly personal best with the 416 bass, easily outdistancing my 2013 mark of 345 bass. Kind of wish I had paid closer attention as the year unfolded, could have had some exciting blog countdown going. It is worth noting, however, that the 345 bass in 2013 came in only 91.25 hours of bass fishing for a better rate of 3.78 bass/hour.

2017 Bass #1 is also 2017 Top Bass, are you kidding me? March 4 Little John Conservation Club 22.5″ 6-2 Jig & Pig

First Bass/Last Bass
March 4 – Little John Conservation Club 22.5” 6-2 Jig & Pig
December 2 – Little John Conservation Club 17” 2-4 Rapala Shad Rap
Comments: Gotta say that the 6-pound first bass of the year was pretty nuts. The only fish I caught that day and wound up being the largest catch of the year as none of the 417 to follow could measure up. A few five-pounders came close with the best being 5-11 but was technically all downhill after that first catch. The December bookend did turn out to be a decent catch as well at 2-4 and was the only fish landed on the finale. A pair of one fish days to start and finish the season but when they add up to eight and a half pounds I’m fine with the results. Not sure if a 273 day season is a record but has to be awful close if not.

2017 Bass #416 – December 2 Little John Conservation Club 17″ 2-4 Rapala Shad Rap

Top 5 Weight
26-13 (6-2,5-11,5-9,5-0,4-7)
Comments: The 2017 total establishes a new personal Top 5 best going back to the kickoff of the project in 2014 and likely my all-time mark though I have yet to do the research to make it official. My previous Top 5 best was 22-12 in 2015 so got a pretty substantial boost, just over four pounds. Included in my creel was my first ever six-pounder although not a personal best as I do have one over seven in the ledger.

2017 Bass #182 – July 23 a cool 50th birthday gift from Little John Conservation Club 19″ 3-8 Buzzbait 

Based on these numbers, I’d have to say that 2017 was my best year ever when it comes to bass fishing. Pretty cool to coincide with the introduction of my own website back on May 1. I did hit it a little harder in an effort to provide plenty of fishing content but even so, I must say that the bass sure helped me out and even made me feel kind of smart every now and then.

Plenty more stats where these came from over the next week or so to fill my self-imposed blogging quota and keep me outdoor occupied until I get another shot to actually get outdoors. Talk to your later. Troy