Keeping a fishing log.

[Willow Drifter]

I was curious how many of you keep fishing logs? Focusing on location, weather, presentation, temperature, and hooked/landed. What else do you keep in your logs? I have started on up here on Alaska and it has already been useful. I am just looking to add to it. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

-Todd

[Lure Dragger]

That is my New Years resolution this year, to keep a fishing log. I plan on keeping track of dates, weather conditions, air temp, water temp, fish hooked, fish landed, what color lures, what time of day, and hours fished per fish in the boat. Hopefully I will have a lot of years left to fish and it will be interesting comparing from year to year.

[Rusty]

I started keeping a log on Jan. 1st 2003, and will be beginning to compare success starting this year. I wish I had been doing this for many years past.

I keep--Date: Conditions: Location: Species Targeted: Partners: and Success (or lack thereof)

Rusty

[Twitchs_Tackle]

I've been keeping one for a few years now. I highly recommend Rite-In-The-Rain notebooks. The waterproof paper comes in very handy at times. I record most of the usual with a few exceptions: date, water temp, visibility/color, location, weather, water flow (CFS), moon phase, #hooked, # landed, # seen caught, colors/tactics used, misc. notes. ALSO, bobber depth per hole if float fishing (must take notes of flow for this). :grin:

[Billy Tillamook]

A friend gave me a salmon trout and steelhead diary as a gift in 1994. I continue to use it religiously...salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, trout etc. I keep notes on everything weather, air temp,water temp and visabilty,sun,rain, clouds location, who was with me etc. I always take my notes on the same day while its still very fresh in my memory. You'd be suprised the little nuances and fun memories you can forget if you wait to long to record things. It is very gratifying to look back on the trips and read about not only what,where,how,who but by taking 10 minutes at the end of a trip... in a few years you have some great reading and a ton of little keys to your fishing success that start becoming very, very obvious. It's to the point now where a few friends will call and drill me about the fly and presentation I used in a particular weather pattern on one our favorite lakes... it's pretty cool and alot of fun in my opinion! Happy Writings Billy

[Jennie@ifish]

Bill has been keeping one since he was 8 or so. He has stacks of little notebooks!!!

I am so envious! The only thing I have is my column that I have been writing for five years, and it really doesn't mention all that I have caught. :depressed:

J

[Bobby Ray]

Willow Drifter,

Your on the right track. You might want to add river levels or CFS and write down what the tide was doing at the time of your experiences. You can't have enough ifno.

I have a section in my log book that I designate to other reports. When I get a legitimate report (a hot one) I log in any info I can gather (location,levels,weather, etc., etc.) There's so much information out there that can help out your next trip.

[ampersat]

I started an Excel spreadsheet that I kept track of my trips with. I'd count the location, outside temp roughly, general weather conditions (clear, cloudy, rainy), river level, barometric pressure, and in the rare event that I actually caught something I'd record the type of water I was fishing and what I was using. It got depressing writing down all that info for all of the trips that I didn't catch fish so I gave it up. The times I do catch fish are so memorable I couldn't possibly forget how I managed to catch them.

[fortywinks]

Over a decade ago, my son and I decided that we were going to try to figure out how to catch a spring chinook salmon in the upper Willamette, since it was right in our back yard so to speak. We new squat about it, had never caught a Salmon except in the ocean, and at the time, the upper Willamette springer fishery was pretty much a zipper-lip affair. The guys that did it had pretty much pioneered the fishery and were not keen on spreading the wealth or sharing information. And there was no Ifish!

Well with a new first boat we started feeling our way around the river, and just getting up or down river from the ramp a mile or too was a challange. We started keeping a log of weather conditions, water clarity, river levels, air and water temps, lures and colors used, time of day, all sorts of stuff, and we tracked the Willamette Falls fish counts along with the log. We kept these records for I think two years, until we got a pretty good handle on the fishing and catching. We/I no longer keep those detailed logs unfortunately, just because of work and time constraints, but do keep a very abbreviated form still.

This information was invaluable to learning the fishery and figuring out what worked, and when. There is a great sense of satisfaction in doing it from scratch, on your own.

If you have the time and dicsipline to keep up your fishing logs it can be an invaluable tool and a memorable one too.

[Flatfish]

I keep one. I write down solid reports from others, along with our own stuff. Time, temp, tides, barometer, and a bunch of nerdy stuff that gets me laughed at.

Amp,

The no fish days are just as informative as the multi fish days. Just not as bragable( is that a word?) on the net.

Mark and the dog.

[GutshotApe]

I've been keeping fishing & hunting diaries since 1983 and have a record of nearly every outing. I'm on my 9th book...

I recommend not scrimping on quality...get the sturdiest blank books available because if you take them along (recommended) and use them they will get a lot of wear & tear. My best journal entries are the ones made on the spot, while still "out there"...around campfires, by lantern light.

My entries have quite a lot of variety...but I always include the date, who I was with, where we went, what the objective of the trip was, a little about the weather, terrain, etc. Sometimes, if in the mood, my entries are quite detailed with info about tackle, lures, flies, etc...other entries are terse, cryptic accounts. The better entries are those with sketches of campsites, hand drawn maps of the area, and sometimes I've stapled or glued momentos such as receipts for entry into national parks, photographs, or non-resident licenses, etc. into the page opposite the entry.

What good are these journals? They probably will never be of much interest to others...but are invaluable for jogging one's memory of past good times...and reliving fishing & hunting trips. Its amazing how much one forgets over time... :depressed:

[TYEE-FISHER]

I've always kept a small pocket calander.

I log date of fish caught, what species, location and water level.

Easy general refrence for timing of runs, and optimal water level for success.

[Green Willie]

Used to keep a notebook--included photos, etc. Would look at it to see what was doing what at different times of the year. Developed some interesting patterns (location, species). Then, I fell out of the habit. Started again at the end of 2002. It's amazing what you learn/remember. I thought that I fished alot in 2003, my tally came out to 53 trips--a record. Without the notebook, I wouldn't know. My little notebook told me that I caught 127 black rockfish this year off the Jetty at Barview in 27 trips. It's also fun to write down your experiences for future recall--like the 60lb skate my oldest son pulled up in a crab ring behind Lyster's this year. Keep the notebook, even it you only enter basic information.

JN

[ 12-30-2003, 11:00 PM: Message edited by: Jetty Nut ]

[WaterDog]

fortywinks,

Doesn't seem that long ago does it? Then I think about the spreadsheet we used, QuattroPro. :shocked: The boat was cheaper too. :grin: [img]graemlins/hearton.gif[/img]

I have a log in the boat for salmon. I also use my daytimer as well as a short version to keep track off all of my fishing trips.

[SlimPickens]

Agree with all the above.

The info. I use the most when looking back on fishing trips is river flow/height and date. Find a nearby USGS river gage on the web and document river height for reference. This really affects where the fish hold, where i caught a fish, and where i didn't at a particular river level. Very important for larger rivers in the winter and spring.

I'll think back on a trip and recall the river being 4,000 cfs when it was really 2,000 cfs. Thought good fishing was in January when it was really late Feb. Your memory becomes blurred...at least mine does....

[whatugetemon]

I've been keeping an excel spreadsheet for a couple of years now with most of the data mentioned in this thread.

[float2ber]

Been keeping records for 8 years. For fly fishing I keep notes on hatches, water conditions, weather, what works and how to improve the fly patterns for next time. For winter steelhead, water conditions, flow, where the fish were and what worked ie. bait,jigs,spinners. The information has been very helpful.

[slabhunter]

For sure track the tides in your area. It would take steelhead about two hours after the local high slack to get to one of my favorite spots. You will be ahead of the curve when you are able to pick-up on trends over the seasons.

[Beaver1]

Just started to keep a record last week. I found it was fun and hope I can keep up on it.

[Silver Ghost]

I too have kept a log for a while now, and am beginning to notice the times to fish the rivers I frequent. I like to keep: date, time of day location, number of fish hooked, species of fish, what I was using, temperature, water flow from USGS, and number of fish seen caught. Have found it very useful.

[Willow Drifter]

Thank you all for the ideas. I found a site to minitor Alaska river flows and added that to my spreadsheet. Great idea.

[Thumper]

I kept meticulous logs of the 6 years I guided part-time. It was fascinating, but now serves mainly to depress me. I was better back then. :depressed:

[ 12-31-2003, 02:42 PM: Message edited by: Thumper ]

[Empire]

I keep a log using a spreadsheet program. I note all the usual stuff, but I also note moon phase. I am thinking about starting to log barometric pressure fluctuations in the previous 24 hour period.

[h20dog]

I got one for Christmas, made my 1st entry last Sunday. I wish I had started when I first got my boat. Oh well live and learn.