Fishing log

[JRammit]

How do you keep your records?... How much info do you keep?

Ive tried several of the cell phone apps.. But couldnt find one i liked..... Any opinions on the best app?... Or is it pen and paper for you?....... If so, how do you keep it dry??

Is there a such thing as keeping too much info?... So much you wont wanna read thru all of it later?.... Or do you only keep the basics??..... Time? Temp? Weather? Location?... Other?

[.ghoti.]

I used to keep records. I made notes during the day, and on the way home. Then entered data into a spreadsheet. Did this for several years, and then decided it was not something I really wanted or needed to do.

I'm reminded of the line wrongly attributed to Thoreau: many men fish all their lives without knowing that it's not fish they are after, or something like that.  doesn't matter if I misquoted it; Thoreau didn't write it anyway.

But, it sums up my attitude about fishing. I'm not really after the fish. They just happen to be a bonus.

To better answer your question; design your own spreadsheet, as I did. You can make it to suit yourself, not what somebody else may think you need.

[RMcDuffee726]

1 hour ago, JRammit said:

How do you keep your records?... How much info do you keep?

Ive tried several of the cell phone apps.. But couldnt find one i liked..... Any opinions on the best app?... Or is it pen and paper for you?....... If so, how do you keep it dry??

Is there a such thing as keeping too much info?... So much you wont wanna read thru all of it later?.... Or do you only keep the basics??..... Time? Temp? Weather? Location?... Other?

I can actually send you my Excel template if you would like to use it.  Very effective and also simple.  If you send me a PM with your email I will send you the file.

[Dye99]

I have a callender in my shop where I keep all my tackle..

Whenever I get home, I mark down what I caught, where, and on what bait...I fish one main lake so Ive given my AO's nick names.

I call it my  AAR "after action review"

Its pretty cool to be able to see what the last few years fishing has produced. I fish twice a week, so its surprisingly  accurate.

[flyingmonkie]

I use a Google Sheet, which is nice because I can update from any device. I have the key stuff... time, conditions (air, sky, and water), location, lure, fish info.  I keep it updated, but procrastinate and surely miss things from time to time.

That being said, I need to go update it from my quick trip Thursday.  

[j bab]

I thought about keeping records, but then I realized that even if the report said it shouldn't be good on a particular day, I would still go fishing anyways  

[Bluebasser86]

[j bab]

1 minute ago, Bluebasser86 said:

How do you like that camera? Is it just as good as a go pro?

[Bluebasser86]

Just now, j bab said:

How do you like that camera? Is it just as good as a go pro?

I love it. Takes very good video and is very easy to operate. I have the wristband that I can remotely start/stop, and take pictures with. I have an app on my phone so I can see what the viewfinder sees before I take a picture or start recording and I can operate it from my phone as well. 

[JRammit]

The spread sheet is a good idea... Im prob the only guy on the planet without a computer, but there are mobile spread sheet apps too... I think excel is one of them

 

5 hours ago, RMcDuffee726 said:

I can actually send you my Excel template if you would like to use it.  Very effective and also simple.  If you send me a PM with your email I will send you the file.

Much appreciated!... Would love to see what ya got that could help me design my own

Sending pm

[Bankbeater]

I keep an excel spreadsheet.  I use to write everything down in a notebook, but organizing on the spreadsheet is a lot faster.  I record date, day, temp, wind, baits used, and fish caught.  Even if I don't catch anything I still make a log entry.

[blckshirt98]

I keep a spreadsheet with day/location/fish caught/time fished, then I jot down some notes.  Notes can be what I used to catch the fish with, any large fish caught, any "non-ideal" conditions such as heavy/no wind, lots of moss, water color, baitfish activity, water levels, temperature, etc.

[frogflogger]

I kept a fishing diary for years - quit from sheer laziness - I look at them now and realize they really helped me fish more intelligently - perhaps that's why I quit.

 

[bass_masster]

I have thought about this for a while. I use an spreadsheet with Google Sheets currently but...considering coding an Android app to track everything.

App would automatically pull GPS location and weather data for time of the catch, barometric pressure, moon phase and add it to your entry. Could build a list of commonly used baits to also pull that in for each catch.

Have also thought of a BT scale companion that goes with it, and overlays the weight (and weather/baro conditions if you want) to the in-app camera, allowing you to take photo with the weight recorded at the same time. Could also set the BT scale with a small NAND memory chip to store something like previous 20 weights or so.

A lot of the fishing apps I see focus on the "social," aspect, which I mean, if you know serious fisherman...who wants to share where/when/how usually?

I would want to build a personal fishing database over years, have it backup to Google Drive, and then maybe figure out a way to possibly project where/when/what lures would work best for given conditions. Unfortunately for that to even be anywhere near accurate I think I would need a massive amount of data points.

 

 

[Surfcaster]

It is Pen and Paper for me.  When I'm fishing I use a pencil, because ink will smear if wet.  I jot notes down if I must during a trip/tournament.  When I get home, I recount the trip and record it in a notebook.  One of the things I try to do is to note the weather forecast for the day and then note what the weather actually did.  I also note my initial strategy, if it worked or not and if I changed strategy during the tournament and why.  There is a good article in the Bass Resource archives about a fisherman who has won many tournaments and has kept detailed records of his trips.

[the reel ess]

My wife ordered a log book from Amazon that's really for fly fishing, but I just adapted. At first it doesn't seem like it helps much. But I have more than a year in it and it's nice to be able to go back and see what worked, what didn't and what was caught. 

[Red Bear]

i feel a fishing log is like work, and i go fishing to get away from work and the likes.

also, i just view it as a waste of time for me personally. i dont need a notebook or spread sheet to look back at past experiences. i dont care what anyone says, you can have the exact same scenario in every manor possible on two separate days, and still what works one day might not work the next day even though everything is exactly the same.

[Neil McCauley]

I take a picture of the sonar and navionics map screens for every fish I catch. The most important things to log for me are the location, depth, time and water temp, which are all shown in the pics. Next day I go through them and make a log for the day in a little composition notebook. For this to pay off it takes a few years and a lot of time on the same lakes but it's helpful to look back at. 

[Hog Basser]

I keep an excel spreadsheet log, but only for when I fish on my private pond.  I use it to keep records of the overall health of the fish in the pond so that I can make adjustments to my management practices if I need to.  It also helps me keep track of where I am with culling fish for the year, I have a lot more to go, which is good news to me!  I do track what lures are working, weather, time of year, weight, length, etc.  It is fun to go back and look through it and I learn some things, but if I'm fishing anywhere else, I just enjoy the experience. 

[Alan Reed]

Once you have this data collected, how do you use it? 

[RMcDuffee726]

32 minutes ago, Alan Reed said:

Once you have this data collected, how do you use it? 

I made created the specific table so I could search based on all the categories, which makes it incredibly easy to pick up on patterns.

[Onvacation]

18 hours ago, Dye99 said:

I have a callender in my shop where I keep all my tackle..

Whenever I get home, I mark down what I caught, where, and on what bait...I fish one main lake so Ive given my AO's nick names.

I call it my  AAR "after action review"

Its pretty cool to be able to see what the last few years fishing has produced. I fish twice a week, so its surprisingly  accurate.

Somebody spent too many years in the Army.  Is it so ingrained that you find yourself showing up at 0200 for a 0300 start fishing time and dont toss a line until 0600?

[Dye99]

2 hours ago, Onvacation said:

Somebody spent too many years in the Army.  Is it so ingrained that you find yourself showing up at 0200 for a 0300 start fishing time and dont toss a line until 0600?

Haha...That and I never NEVER wash my cover..My fishing hat has to be faded, stinky and intact no matter what. If it gets washed its bad luck!

[Onvacation]

Good to know that while everyone else is wearing BPS foul weather gear, at least there is one other guy out there wearing ACU gortex. 

[Fish the Mitt]

3 hours ago, Onvacation said:

Somebody spent too many years in the Army.  Is it so ingrained that you find yourself showing up at 0200 for a 0300 start fishing time and dont toss a line until 0600?

Standby to standby, right gents?!

1 hour ago, Onvacation said:

Good to know that while everyone else is wearing BPS foul weather gear, at least there is one other guy out there wearing ACU gortex. 

While I can't speak on behalf of ACU Gortex, I know a thing or two about MARPAT Gortex!!


 

 

On 5/4/2016 at 10:14 PM, JRammit said:

How do you keep your records?... How much info do you keep?

Ive tried several of the cell phone apps.. But couldnt find one i liked..... Any opinions on the best app?... Or is it pen and paper for you?....... If so, how do you keep it dry??

Is there a such thing as keeping too much info?... So much you wont wanna read thru all of it later?.... Or do you only keep the basics??..... Time? Temp? Weather? Location?... Other?

I actually have a blog/website dedicated to my fishing adventures. It's kind of my way of 'logging' things.