I wasn’t planning on posting a reflection on 2019, but in starting off a fresh new year I couldn’t help but think about all that has happened over the past 365 days. The truth is that 2019 was one of the most challenging years for me personally. At this time I don’t wish to shed light on the difficulties I’ve endured, but rather share that through my own determination and with an amazing support system behind me, it was also one of the most incredible years of my life. So as not to leave you with a super long novel to read here, I’ll spare you all the ups and downs and instead I’ll share one aspect of 2019 that I’m proud of.

I set a goal for myself in 2019 to focus on creating more video. Since 2009, writing about fishing has been my main focus, and it is also how I have made the majority of my income in this industry. As you’ll see throughout my blog, writing has taken me to some unforgettable destinations with equally memorable catches, and has connected me with amazing people and opportunities that I’ll forever be grateful for. I still love to write but I was beginning to crave a new creative outlet. An outlet that would allow me to better document my adventures and share my passion, educate, and hopefully inspire. Video was (and still is) a whole new language for me, but it’s one that I wanted to become more familiar with. Throughout 2019 I focused on learning more about videography (through some trial and error), and I also taught myself to edit. My goal was to create a video each month to upload to my YouTube channel. I’m proud to say that I accomplished this goal and then some. I will highlight a few videos from my 2019 season below. Capturing and editing video this past year has meant that I didn’t post as frequently on social media, because I spend hours and hours and hours of my free time in the evenings editing video instead… LOL! It’s definitely time consuming but I have really enjoyed the process.

The videos of 2019…

I started off with ice fishing for panfish…

Then landed a 35-inch walleye that brought me to tears of joy!

Then my boat came out of storage for the open water season, which kicked off with giant lake trout on Lake Ontario.

During the spring, I caught a common carp in a flooded ditch.

Eric and I embarked on a cross-Canada summer road trip beginning in Ontario with smallmouth bass, and northern pike.

We travelled north to fish for splake and brook trout by canoe.

We stopped in Kenora to target walleye with our friends Andrew and Michelle from Alumacraft.

Next we stopped in Manitoba for an epic 2-hours of channel cat fishing with our friend Todd Longley.

We skipped across to Alberta and where we fished for various trout species in the mountains, one of the most beautiful places on earth.

GMC Canada hosted me on the adventure of a lifetime at the Calgary Stampede.

Then came autumn, with two of the best days of walleye fishing ever… including a day where 8 walleye over 10 POUNDS made it to the boat! This also included a 14-plus-pound GIANT!

These are just some of the adventures you’ll find on my channel (although there are other videos I didn’t include in this blog). Looking back now on the lows from the past year, I’m so grateful I pushed myself and showed up. I was truly blessed this past year!

Thank you for staying connected over the past year, for all of your kindness and support. I’m so grateful to be connected to you all. And I am SO excited to share even more videos with you in 2020! Subscribe below so you don’t miss the next video!

You can check out all my videos at: youtube.com/shelovestofish

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