Whats your fish of the year 2011...

As the year draws to a close its time to reflect on the past years angling adventures
personally my year has had its ups and downs, i've had 5 new species, 2 pb's including a new biggest fish ever but also a broken leg which saw me miss the whole summer

that aside i'd like to share what for me was my best fish of the year, a wee lumpfish, i caught it on the 2nd of january at ramore head,t as i'd never seen one before its definitely the most interesting thing ive caught in a while and was really pleased to catch it.

i invite you all to share you best catch of 2011, it doesnt have to be the biggest, the rarest or a bass. just the fish you were happiest to catch.

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wow that's one class looking fish have never seen one of them before , well done

best fish i caught this year was this smoothie first and only time ive ever fished for them as they dont come down south to us..............plus the only 1 i caught..........u can tell how happy i was by the shmile on me face ha ha ............most memorible moment of my fishin carreer so far!!!!!!!!!! cant wait for next summer already to make another trip up wickla again!!!!!

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sad state of affairs where i got a double of flounder around the 35cm mark back in may - turned out to be my catch of the year - how little did i know

that said i havent gotten out as much as other years

best nights fishing was a comp where i think i only had one blank cast on my second cast - a night where i found sandeel to be a brilliant bait for once - think i had 17 counters in the finish - happy days

in another comp i had 3 huss one was 9.5lb - but i prefered the double flounder

my fish of the year, difficult choice, it could be the only bass caught on my southern tirp this year( it meant i beat stevecrow for once) or the two 8lb ray i got while teaching the nephew to fish, i think it has to be........

cunnigar bass 10-11-11 (Small).JPG

the wee bass after all its not that often i beat steve and he has to pay for the pizza and beer( got a nice curry instead)

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a double of flounder around the 35cm mark is a very welcome sight! very nice indeed. defo a big fan of the flounder mesel. i must have caught over 100 flatties over the summer but none of them that size.
best fish of the year for me was my only second ever bass that weighed 8lb 6oz
mind you, my first ever bass, which was caught and hour or 2 prior to that, came very close to it! its because it was my first, and it was just a crackin wee fish caught on a soft plastic. about 3lb
heres the pics
cheers

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Smoothhound for me to. Agian first time I fished for them and had six over two nights all about the same size.

have never caught a smoothie. lovely looking fish there. great pic

My best sea fish of the year was a pretty good pollack off the shore taken on fly, a 4lb 3oz fish taken on the 11th of July just as the last light was fading on a very nice evening, this fish pleased me even more than an approx 15lb conger also taken off the shore in June. That pollack narrowly beat my previous best fly caught pollack of 4lb 1oz taken in Aug 10. Great fighters on fly tackle.

Those are some nice fish above, good idea for a thread yngkmd, looking forward to the posts to follow. That lumpsucker is a real novelty.

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SOME CRACKIN FISH COMING LADS KEEP EM ROLLIN IN!!!!!!!!!

this is slightly embarrasing but here goes anyway
the plan was set for me to catch my first ever smoothie, i passed a silly comment like "i dont care what size it is, i just want to catch one"
we had about a 2 hour fishing window after a long long day so got set up as quick as possibly.
well, i got one and shortly after we were on the long road back to the cod capital of ireland with a new species added to my 2011 list.

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Great thread yngkmd ! Most satisfying days angling for me was in Donegal Bay in May. 7 species and a couple of lovely Cod.

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Have caught some nice fish this year including my first Bass, my first Huss, a 5.5lb Bass, Conger and Smoothounds but this little fella is my proudest catch for a few reasons. 1 being the place I caught it and 2 because myself and the lads have been all over the bloody country in search of Ray and I get one on my home turf. Was so overjoyed I nearly broke my mates arms with hugs screaming "Its a f%$#ing Ray!!!". Must of been the Dutch courage The little fella went back safe and sound and will hopefully be around next year with a few more mates.


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Year is not over yet, so im still hunting for "my fish of the year"
So far maybe when i caught my first cod ever, some emotions, but gets boring if you keep catching them every night you go out

Cool thread

Toss up between this fella and my tadpole fish... but I think size wins it...

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this is slightly embarrasing but here goes anyway
the plan was set for me to catch my first ever smoothie, i passed a silly comment like "i dont care what size it is, i just want to catch one"
we had about a 2 hour fishing window after a long long day so got set up as quick as possibly.
well, i got one and shortly after we were on the long road back to the cod capital of ireland with a new species added to my 2011 list.

we caught a few pups in our session aswell they're mad little yokes denis arent they!!!!!! if it wer possible ide love a few in a fish tank their so kool boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FAO red, that wee smoothie is a great picture, this is a very interesting thread, good on ya yngkmd. Stox1 your cod is very nice.

Keep them coming folks.

[red]

my fave fish was very nearly this little fella as it was another first for me. the smoothie pup just won out cos it was targeted and the turbot wasnt altho i did target and catch many more after this one.
personally i had a very poor year where angling was concerned, i had a few half decent fish but apart from the 2 new species, nothing memorable.

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Last edited by red on Fri Dec 02, 2011 8:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I bet Lugworm is only bursting to get up a pic of his smoothound shimano badge he got to go with it!!!
Red I had a double of smoothies the size of your one which I would have been delighted with if Danny hadn't landed 'jaws' right next to me :lol : made it a very long drive back to cork then

I bet Lugworm is only bursting to get up a pic of his smoothound shimano badge he got to go with it!!!
Red I had a double of smoothies the size of your one which I would have been delighted with if Danny hadn't landed 'jaws' right next to me :lol : made it a very long drive back to cork then

ya, seans one wasnt too far off the size of dannys. kinda wiped the smile off my face a little bit.