With the occasional exception here & there, particularly those who fish for muskies & are having a good season, it seems many of us have found fishing to be somewhat off this summer.
Ganman, I know what you mean about comparing past & present, for I, too, am working off nearly 30 years of fishing memories & I recall those days where fishing fantasies came true. I'd like to think my skills have increased over the years, so then why has my "net harvest" (bad pun) decreased? For the past several years, my role as Mommy has grossly cut into my fishing time. There's reason #1. But I think there's more to it than this, &/or 1 season of bad weather. I agree that increased fishing presence/pressure has negatively influenced the bite and perhaps the populations of some game fish.
I'm glad to hear the summer has produced some great & memorable firsts for some of you. I really enjoy reading your posts & seeing pic's.
I'll be heading out either today or this wknd to stock up on some different tackle in an effort to entice this summer's finicky fish to my boat. I just read an article in In Fisherman about drop shot fishing, & also got some good advice & tips from my veterinarian-friend about the same tactic, and am eager to give it a whirl. This would be a different style of fishing for me, and I think that's what I've got to do this year to change my luck.
So, whether your fishing is awesome & excellent (God Bless your eternal enthusiasm & optimism Float Fishin'!) or rather lacklustre (such as with Bassstalker & myself!) ... hey, at least we're FISHING, right?
W.
Thanks, Dad, for taking me fishing when I was a kid.
The fish...have not been real plentaful...but they were good quailty....so because of that ...and so much of the year left to go....so i'm giving the company I fished with an "A" 
Some evenings I only share the river with a couple other anglers. 
on the Mississippi, as well as a nice 18 1/2 LM and a nice 28" Pike. So that has been satisfying, but the fishing has'nt 
