My fishing in 2021 - the year in review

[J.A. Veil]

I fished a lot during 2021. I fished on 215 different days (a new personal record), catching 2,728 fish of 58 species. 199 of my fishing trips were made in kayaks.

I caught four new species this year (Florida gar, hogfish, sailfish, and soapfish). I added 11 personal bests in length of the fish (amberjack, bonefish, channel catfish, jack crevalle, lemon shark, mangrove snapper, Mayan cichlid, mojarra, needlefish, nurse shark, and snook).

The largest and most memorable fish of the year was a 6’6”, 80-lb sailfish, caught from a kayak while fishing two miles out in the ocean off of Boynton Beach, FL. The second largest was a 5’ lemon shark (also caught from a kayak). During the year, I caught fish at least 20” long of 16 other species. Photos of a few of the larger fish are shown below.

I wrote up a much more detailed review of my 2021 fishing experiences, with photos of fish from all 58 species. Interested readers can go to 2021 Fishing Review and download that file. The review is 49 pages long, but is an easy read with lots of photos.

The four most frequently caught species were white perch (1,027), striped bass (920), pickerel (341), and speckled trout (123).

sailfish 2.jpg
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tarpon 2.jpg
amberjack 3.jpg

[dsaavedra]

Impressive stuff John. I don't know anyone who fishes more than you. Congrats on a successful year and congrats on pushing yourself to set new records. I had the pleasure of joining you on maybe 2% of your trips and appreciated your insight and experience. Hope next year is just as good for you or better, happy New Year.