I’ve lived a good fishing life. I’ve caught a 12 pound bass, fished with KVD (for both largemouths and smallmouths), had my birthday announced from the Bassmaster Classic stage, been to the Amazon three times, and I’ve been paid to offer up my thoughts on the sport. And yet, all of that fun just whets the appetite. I’m hungry for new experiences and new opportunities, and while 2023 was a great year, I hope that 2024 can be even better. Here are 24 fishing, writing and travel goals for the upcoming 12 months, in no particular order:

Catch a roosterfish and/or a cubera snapper on a topwater – I’ve caught both on bait, but I want to get that artificial luregasm.
Ask for a raise from one or more of my publications – It’s not about the money, but as we near retirement and our time is increasingly limited, every bit matters.
Drink more water when fishing – Man, I live for Diet Dr Pepper, but I know that more H2O would do a body good.
Appear on Bass Talk Live again – Matt Pangrac has been very good to me, and I always have a blast recounting my memories and spewing my theories.
Come up with a better line management system – I have a drawer in my office full of spools. It’s an absolute mess. There’s gotta be a better way.
Enjoy a front row seat when Hanna catches her first marlin – She’ll have chances to catch her bucket list fish in both Panama and Guatemala, and I hope this is the year that it happens.

Large Aluctecnos reel trolling for marlin

Continue to dial in my Livescope – I’ve had a lot of fun with my forward facing sonar this fall, and I see how much more fun and productive it could be if I really knew what I was doing.
Get published in a new venue, preferably a non-endemic one – I have a really cool project in the works with a semi non-endemic company, but since that started in ’23, I’ll want to find another in ’24.
Fish Virginia’s New River – I’ve caught smallmouth in Virginia, but never on our oldest river (despite the name), and I want a trophy.
Catch a replica-worthy fish – I haven’t ordered a new one since I caught my PB smallmouth in October 2021. We have the wall space, I think.
Maximize the benefits of our AmEx Platinum – We did a great job in year one, but with looming increasing fees and potentially decreasing benefits, we’ll have to be careful to make sure it’s worth it.
Sight fish a bass over 5 pounds – I love sight fishing, and try to spend a few days doing it each spring, and while I’ve gotten better at the process, I’m still not great at finding the larger fish. I’ve never caught one over 4 pounds in Virginia while looking at it.

Figure out my favorite (or favorites) 50 pound braids – I go through a lot of 50 pound braid, but I’ve vacillated among different brands and strand counts. I feel like I could be more efficient.
Be better about sun protection – I wear long sleeves and long pants most of the time, and I put on sunblock every day, but this old weathered skin could still use some more TLC.
Write an in-depth or particularly meaningful article at the Bassmaster Classic – With on-the-water blogging no longer necessary, BASS gave me more freedom to chase stories last year, and I had fun writing about Brandon Card’s medical comeback and Shelby Gustafson’s plans for Day Three.
Take a last minute trip – Someday when I hear the bite is off the chain somewhere and I have a few days, I need to just pull up stakes and go, cost and effort be damned.
Help out an Elite Series rookie – Work with one or more of the newcomers to help them max out their media coverage and build a trusted source.
Learn to use a GoPro – Hanna bought a bunch of equipment over the past few years and I’ve never used it. That needs to change (the same can’t be said of the lawn tractor she bought 20 years ago).

Best brands of premium braided fishing line

Keep up seven HPFC posts a week – We started off with three, went to five, and for quite a while now it’s been seven. I’m afraid that at some point I’ll run out of things to write, or inspiration to do so, but I know it’s imperative in pursuit of our long-term mission.
Convince Hanna to rock a fish bra – Enough said.
Build airline status – I need to put more effort into maximizing my mileage and status on a particular airline, tailored to some future trip.
Take one of my nephews or nieces fishing – The only one of the now six of them who has ever gone is my nephew Tai, who caught a 46” musky in 2019 and then promptly went back to playing Madden on his phone. I’d love for one of them to show some interest.
Catch a cobia – It’s another fish that lives in my general region, you can catch them sight fishing, and they taste delicious. Why haven’t I done it yet?
And finally, BE PRESENT.