AOTY 2022 Wrap up

Congratulations to Jed for taking the grand prize! Jed once again showed me how insignificant the fish that I catch are, 8 of the species that he entered this year are higher points than the highest scoring fish I have ever entered into AOTY.

SD20R did a great job of holding the top spot for like 99% of the year and finishing in 2ND! Congrats and thank you! I am sure that you helped to bring out the increased level of competition this year! Cameron also posted the 2nd highest point fish of the year, a 232 point 29 inch brown trout! WOW!

Merz did a great job all year finishing in 3rd place! i really thought he was the one who would fend off Jed. Great job Evan!

Nobaddays continued to show us that being retired has its perks! Great job James!

5th place belongs snopro who climbed about 12 spots in the last month! Great finish Brian! And from a SUP!

I achieved my annual goal of posting 10 species. that barely kept me in the top 10 this year!

Great Job everyone! I am thrilled to see that everyone from 2022 entered fish, I look forward to 2023!

Drifter2007
Dan Bennett

Congrats to all who participated in AOTY in 2022.  Again, amazing job Jed for three wins in a row.  Watch out though, we are not going to go as easy on you this year.

Snopro had a great finish (didn’t see that one coming) to win both the SUP and fly category.  Even though it cost me a first place finish in the fly category, I really liked seeing the renewed interest in fly fishing.

Drifter2007, thanks again for all your work getting all the prizes.  Your time and effort is greatly appreciated.

Definitely congrats to all the Top Guns in 2022! I was also impressed that every person who entered posted at least one fish, that's pretty cool! As far as Jed's run, it would be easy to be irritated with him if he weren't such a good guy. It's really impressive and, as Nobaddays said, look out, Jed, we're still coming for you!

I enjoyed getting to know SD2OR and oneflyguy this year, and I put up with Nobaddays and Merz when I had to  I'll echo what other people already said - SD2OR holding the top spot for almost the entire year was impressive, as was Snopro's out-of-nowhere finish in December. He and kemfish both knocked me down another spot in the last couple of weeks when my lazy butt was inside by the fire. Seriously, Snopro, yellow perch, on the fly, on the SUP, in December? Ridiculous. Also, he got 5th place with only 9 fish.

My 2022 AOTY story is a bit of "what might have been". Among other things, I lost what would have been my personal best lingcod (around 40" - look at the mouth on that thing!) and my personal best flounder (around 22") off the boat, something I haven't done since my first year on the kayak.



My main goal for the 2nd half of the year was to catch up to and surpass oneflyguy, a goal which I worked at in November and December and came up short. The way things ended up I'm just glad I eeked into the top 10 - it was a good year for points!



Speaking of points, at the beginning of 2022 I bragged about my 2019 and 2021 Tiny Fish division wins, and apparently SD2OR took that personally and went on to totally outfish me. So, congrats, and enjoy that trophy, because I'm gunning for Tiny Fish again in 2023. I think if I'd entered this flounder I would have won - I won't make that mistake again!



Thanks, as always, to the volunteers who keep this thing going - Drifter and bsteves and Snopro all contribute substantially to keeping this thing running, as does whoever is paying the bill for the forum itself. I'm glad we can take this into 2023.

I need the contact info including name and mailing address for the follow folks: kemfish, oneflyguy, NickW, MonkeyFist, and Billfishing.

I also need anyone who has moved within the last year who I may need to update the address on.

Please send to me in a PM.

Thank you!

That Tiny fish slam is tough. I made a significant effort at it this year, but there was still a number of times at the end of the day when I forgot to take photos of the little guys that were let go.

Lauren that is an impressive flounder!

It seems to me that since I can't catch big fish, i should be able to remember to take pictures of the little guys.

I may not catch Jed for a while, but i will be retired in 7 more years and it will be ON!! My 1st year of retirement may very well be spent chasing AOTY points! Oh yes, 2031 will be mine!

I may not catch Jed for a while, but i will be retired in 7 more years and it will be ON!! My 1st year of retirement may very well be spent chasing AOTY points! Oh yes, 2031 will be mine!

Man, that's playing the looooooong game! 

To echo the Captain's sentiments, many thanks to everyone who makes NWKA possible.

Covid took over the world a week or two after I moved to Oregon,  and to this day, the only friends and acquaintances I have in this state, are a direct result of this forum, or are in some way connected to it. NWKA is and has been a huge part of my life since moving. I've met a bunch of kind and generous people here, and couldn't be more grateful.

I hope to meet and fish with even more members this year.

Tight lines everyone!

Congrats to all that participated in 2022. Huge THANK YOU to Drifter and crew for the hard work they do throughout the year to make this tourney happen.

SD2OR congrats on a great year and I hope to see you in May. Thanks Capt, that looked like a huge ling. Hope you can have a second round with that thing this year. Drifter thanks again and I hope to fish with you this year. Also, by 2031 there will be flying cars and my avatar will be doing all of my fishing  Thanks Nobaddays 23 is your year! Maybe 
Last thought- Don't every count Snopro out. Ever. Never ever. Not even on Jan 15th 

What a fun year.  Congratulations to everyone who caught and posted fish.  A big thank you to Drifter for acquiring sponsors and swag distribution duties.  Thanks to everyone who makes this event happen.

What can you say about Jed that hasn't already.  He's flat out fishy.  Congratulations!  The bar is high and I'm enjoying everyone letting him know they plan to step it up and reach it in 2023.  It should be a super competitive season.....until Jed post a 60lb Snake River flathead and 17" perch in October.

Thanks to Nobaddays for backing off and letting me take the fly rod category.  Fly caught walleye has been on my life list for a long time.  Excited to finally cross it off.  Speaking of fly fishing, the Tiny fish challenge looks interesting and I think size 20 nymphs might be the key to dominating with a record low score.

Hope to fish with everyone in 23.

I got my swag shipment a few days back...it was a wonderful surprise to come home to. Those big hammer blueback herring swimbaits look like they're going to knock the heck out of some black bass. Thanks so much for organizing AOTY and for wrangling all the amazing prizes.

--Steve

Agreed, loving my prizes, can't wait to use em all!
Some especially killer looking stuff from Pitbull Tackle!
Now we just need the ocean to give us a day or two to play...

Now we just need the ocean to give us a day or two to play...

Tell me about it. Usually I just stay at home and play with myself!

Congratulations to all that participated! Jed, you are an absolute animal. There is no way to describe the amount of miles, hours, heart and nights sleeping in your car a hundred miles from home that goes into being legitimately competitive in AOTY, especially against Jed. Way to keep the standard high. Congratulations to all who give it a shot