There’s just a week left before the decade ends and maybe turning the ordinary resolutions into “Fishing Resolutions” can help you accomplish most of what’s in your list. Here’s our list of Fishing Resolutions that you may want to add to yours!

1 Fish More 

The missus won’t be happy about this first one, but in order to grow as fishermen and wardens of Mother Nature, we’d have to spend more time on the water to continuously develop our skills and to keep the waters we love clean and protected. We can substitute binging on Netflix during the weekends for more fishing time. Maybe skip the odd music festival for a weekend out at sea for a healthier unwind. Can’t say enough good things about going fishing more. Trust me, it is good for all of us.

2 Bring the Family Fishing

This is the perfect solution to resolution number 1. You can fish more while keeping the wife and kids happy. Getting the kids hooked on the outdoors is a priority to avoid being sucked into the modern world of social media negativity. Hopefully they catch on as having your kids as fishing buddies can be an amazing thing. Starting them young is the key and bringing them to spots where they will get the greatest chances of success can help to the cause.

3 Take More (and Better) Photos

Having photographic evidence has never been this important in today’s social media age, but instead on focusing your efforts on trying to stump the keyboard warriors, focus on saving memories. It is worth practicing taking better fishing photos for your archive to show your friends and family especially after going on a long expedition. Framing, scenic shots, close up shots and action shots should be part of your photo checklist. With the technology available on our phones, taking good photos doesn’t require you to buy an expensive camera anymore. Just take more photos!

4 Set Aside a Fishing Fund

Having a designated fishing fund can be surprisingly awesome. Keep your extra funds aside every week and after a couple of months you’ll be surprised to see how much you’ve saved. You can use these funds for a new rod or reel, new lures, and even a big overseas fishing trip. Your missus will be happy that you won’t need to touch your savings to get your new reel that you’ve always wanted.

5 Eat More Fish

Yeah, you don’t need to decimate the entire fish population at your local fishing hole, but in an effort to eat more fresh fish, you’d end up happier after your fishing trip and your friends and family will have something to look forward to when you head out to sea. You’ll make an effort to learn new fish recipes and might even improve your cookery skills along the way. It’s a win-win situation for everyone! You might even get lucky with the missus if you make it romantic!

6 Try New Techniques

There have been plenty of innovations in the fishing world and it may be time for you to stop scoffing at the newfound jigging technique and try it for yourself. Fishing requires us to constantly evolve and continuous education can only be beneficial to ourselves in the long run. Go ahead and try out a new technique you’ve seen on the internet the next time you head out and see how much it can add to your personal ammunition box of tricks.

7 Travel More

You’ve been fishing for decades but you’ve only gone to your local fishing holes as you hesitate to fish unfamiliar waters. Do yourself a favor and get out of your comfort zone next year and pull the trigger on the planned fishing trip with the boys. Take the long drives to the new spots, and even maybe splurge on the international fishing trip you’ve been dreaming of. Your designated fishing funds will come into play here! Travelling more will widen your fishing knowledge in ways you never even thought of. Different places, different fish, different techniques. You’ll only take home more experience and knowledge.

8 Perfect Your Knots

Have you ever wondered why you keep losing fish to some unknown reason? Most likely they are knot failures and you hate to admit it. Take time to perfect your braid to leader knot to avoid losing your fish. Cinch knots, loop knots, FG and PR knots. There are plenty of fishing knots out there but only a handful that you will use in your lifetime. Make sure you perfect them so you minimize your chances of lost fish.

9 Share Your Knowledge

The time of keeping secrets from other fishermen has long past, and sharing your experience and knowledge to the new generation of anglers is the right way to go. Having more educated fishermen will benefit the environment and the local fisheries by creating awareness of catch and release and fish keeping practices. More educated fishermen doesn’t mean less fish for you, surprisingly. It may help increase the local fish population as more anglers means more desire for a better fishery.

10 More Patience

We are patient enough as is, but we cannot want more patience. Fishing requires an insane amount of patience and developing your personal bank of this precious commodity can be helpful not only for fishing but for your overall well-being. Do yourself and others a favor and be a zen monk when things go awry.

We here at Ocean Blue Fishing wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year! We hope you consider adding these resolutions to your personal list that you’ll make for the year 2020. Tight lines and keep fishing!