Anyone Super Type-A Like Me and Keep a Spreadsheet With Types of Lures and Fish Caught?

[Smallies]

Maybe I'm weird, but I've started doing this recently.  My spreadsheet is VERY limited at the moment because I just started keeping it, but I'd be interested to know if anyone else does this and what the results have been.  What's your number 1 lure for different seasons, etc, based on hard numbers?  What's your number 1 crank bait (lipless / square bill), Plastic worm, Jig, Jerkbait etc.?  

 

I know there have been other posts on the topic of best lures, but I think it would be cool to see in black and white with numbers.  Also, if you haven't been doing this, and you want to start, I'd love to see what the results are and I think others would too.  Obviously it will be different for different guys/gals depending on bodies of water fished and location, but I still think we could get some good hard data going here if anyone is interested.  

[Jig Man]

I’ve been doing it for several years.  I track at least 20 things.  I used to use filters and develop year end reports.

[Kirtley Howe]

I do, but I use my phone. I record the info (time, weather and water temps and condition (muddy, stained, clear, etc), lure info (color and pattern, size, manufacturer, etc), presentation, location, and anything else I think of at the time. Record on phone, with picture of lure and fish if possible. I also record general notes of what did NOT work.  When I get home, I write it all in a journal. Before going fishing for a specific species, or to a location I have been to before, I look up the info, and make up a "cheat sheet" to take with me.  I often review the journal to look for patterns, and to try to see what I have done that has worked or not worked. I doubt that my journal would make any sense to others, but it works for me.

[TnRiver46]

Absolutely not, I’m closer to type z. I do take pictures of the fish though, and that has a date stamp so I know what I caught and when anyway. I also have a crazy ability to remember most everything in the past, that’s a blessing and a curse 

 

also most of my trips are archived on bass resource, so there’s that 

[Holetail]

I have not graduated to a spreadsheet, but I do keep a log of my catches with area, weather, depth, bait, etc. First year I have done this so not sure how valuable it will actually be, but I feel it has potential to help eliminate areas / baits during different times of the season. 

[WRB]

Being a aerospace engineer very analytical about too many things. During the 60’s kept track of the location, time, lure, depth and water  temperature at depth and basses body temperature. Also noted animal activity.

Bass being cold blooded their body temp should match the depth they were acclaimed to. I started to put together seasonal patterns knowing when the bass spawned was obvious a different season the balance of the year. 

Seasonal periods were not known back in the 60’s, uncharted bass behavior.

I did the study about a decade before publishing my Cosmic Clock and Bass Calendar In 1974 for a seminar. The audience were like deer in the headlights, silence. I remember being very proud of my seasonal period and bass behavior chart based on water / bass body temps. 

Sent a copy to Ray Scott and got back a note that clearly indicated to him no one can predict bass behavior. Also sent a copy to Al Linder after receiving a invitation to be a charter member of his new magazine coming out in 1975. Al was impressed and said he was on a similar thought process and offered to have me write a few articles, which I did.

The 60’s study set my path to bass fishing to this day. Knowing basic bass behavior is priceless, much more valuable the the tackle we use.

So yes, I am curious and analytical it’s who I am.

Tom

[Catt]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

Being a aerospace engineer very analytical about too many things.

 

Pretty similar background, I was a manufacturing engineer for Boeing, Gruman, Northrup/Gruman, & Air Bus.

 

2022 will be my 50th year of record keeping, only 2 things I did different than Tom was moon phases & I was about 87% night fishing.

 

[Bankbeater]

I’ve been keeping a detailed spreadsheet since 2002. It’s how I started fishing muddy water in spring and fall and grassy water in the summer. 

[fin]

I would share my records with you if you were a blood relative. And I was dead.

[Team9nine]

I kept records for a while of various kinds, but in hind sight, never really found a big benefit from doing so outside of just being a data nerd. Still do to some degree, but now it's on a seasonal basis and everything is pretty much one-off. Here's an old Pareto chart I did for all the keeper bass I caught during half a dozen tournament seasons on a local lake by lure type - guess we threw a lot of jigs back then

 

 

 

[Deleted account]

6 hours ago, Smallies said:

Anyone Super Type-A Like Me and Keep a Spreadsheet With Types of Lures and Fish Caught?

OCD and Type A are two very different things, each needs it's own tab...

[Bird]

Opposites attract they say. 

My wife is " super " A type personality and has a photographic memory and keeps records. 

I couldn't tell you what I did yesterday. Lol

But I do know what water temps to start throwing certain baits and section of lake that produce. 

[Columbia Craw]

Absolutely!  I almost needed a second page this year. 

[flyfisher]

7 hours ago, Smallies said:

Maybe I'm weird, but I've started doing this recently.  My spreadsheet is VERY limited at the moment because I just started keeping it, but I'd be interested to know if anyone else does this and what the results have been.  What's your number 1 lure for different seasons, etc, based on hard numbers?  What's your number 1 crank bait (lipless / square bill), Plastic worm, Jig, Jerkbait etc.?  

 

I know there have been other posts on the topic of best lures, but I think it would be cool to see in black and white with numbers.  Also, if you haven't been doing this, and you want to start, I'd love to see what the results are and I think others would too.  Obviously it will be different for different guys/gals depending on bodies of water fished and location, but I still think we could get some good hard data going here if anyone is interested.  

What would make it more valuable in addition to what was used to catch is how many different baits were used that day and how many casts per lure.  

[DogBone_384]

Yes, very much. I started one in 2014, down to detailed weather conditions and time of day for each catch, lures that worked and didn’t work, etc.

 

I use the ANGLR APP to store the data while on the water, then transfer it to spreadsheet later.

[the reel ess]

I have kept a written log before and got tired of it. I kept a log of every fish over 3 lbs, the dates and the lures for 2021. It was a good year.

[OldManLure]

For years I’ve kept notes about every trip on the river.  I still keep and use them to decide 1)which stretch of river to target based on past catch rates at various depths/flow rates, 2)weather, 3)time of day that the bite was most active, 4)structure that was most productive, and 5)which baits/presentation provided best results.

I consider them extremely helpful for providing enough information to develop a plan for at least starting the day.  An added benefit, at least for me, has been that writing down the information (or entering it into my iPhone) has helped internalize a lot of it so that some of it is now as much in my head as it is in the notes.  The downside of this is that it allows me to sometimes tell myself that I have some idea of what I’m doing.  

[Smallies]

7 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I also have a crazy ability to remember most everything in the past, that’s a blessing and a curse 

 

 

That's so funny, I'm the opposite there, too!  I can't remember anything that happened in the past, always have been that way.  I have what I call "movie amnesia,", meaning I can watch a movie I've seen 1 or 2 times before and I forget what happens and it's almost like watching it again for the first time. So, that, too, is a blessing and a curse lol!

 

 

2 hours ago, flyfisher said:

What would make it more valuable in addition to what was used to catch is how many different baits were used that day and how many casts per lure.  

That would be amazing, and maybe I'll get there someday, @flyfisher.  I could definitely see myself doing this at some point.  Still a bit new to the game, and green in the gills if you will, so you never know what my OCD might produce someday!  haha

3 hours ago, Deleted account said:

OCD and Type A are two very different things, each needs it's own tab...

Yup!  I can relate!

3 hours ago, Team9nine said:

 

 

 

Oh Yeah!  That's what I'm talking' about!!  Looks like your conclusion should be ... you're just a good fisherman!

[N Florida Mike]

8 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Absolutely not, I’m closer to type z. I do take pictures of the fish though, and that has a date stamp so I know what I caught and when anyway. I also have a crazy ability to remember most everything in the past, that’s a blessing and a curse 

 

also most of my trips are archived on bass resource, so there’s that 

This^^^^

[snake95]

I am also an engineer and love data and see the value of it to improve understanding.  I admire you guys that keep good records.  I think that is cool.

 

This year I started with a really simple spreadsheet on my phone.  

 

Fill in a few cells each trip.  Seemed perfect.  My fishing buddy is another analytical guy with an engineering background.  First few months we did a good job comparing records.

 

I am also a father to two pretty active kids.  I made it to a lot of soccer games and almost all of their swim meets and various performances in 2021.

 

However, I did not stick to my record keeping this year.  Maybe in 2022.

 

[Bluebasser86]

I video my trips, I can go back and watch to see what I caught them on if I want and it's very useful at times. 

[Crankin4Bass]

I worked in finance and have made lots of spreadsheets and have done statistical analysis. I don't need that for my hobby. If I was a tournament angler, yeah, but fishing is for fun. I just like casting and sometimes I accidentally hook a fish or two. I use the force. It tells me what to do.

 

 

[fin]

I think I remember some things really well, but then I look back at my records and sometimes see my memory in some cases is way off.

 

Like I might think a certain bait is productive, but when I look back I might find it only caught one big fish, and it was after I hadn’t caught a fish in a long time. The fact that the fish was big and it was after a slump made the lure stand out in my mind.

 

Memory is a funny thing, it's easily distorted. Just because you think you remember things clearly doesn't mean that you do.

[Smallies]

2 hours ago, fin said:

I think I remember some things really well, but then I look back at my records and sometimes see my memory in some cases is way off.

 

Yup, This.  I'd love to be able to someday look back and say, yes that lure is definitely producing during the winter for me on this body of water, so why am I going to spend money on a bunch of different lures.  Of course, that can change from season to season, and as fish get used to a bait, but mostly it's just me getting my data analysis fix.  I do it with my trading too, and I'd be completely lost without it - journaling (or logging) as well.  

 

To each his own, though.  If it felt like work to me, I would stay far away! hah

[TnRiver46]

3 hours ago, fin said:

I think I remember some things really well, but then I look back at my records and sometimes see my memory in some cases is way off.

 

Like I might think a certain bait is productive, but when I look back I might find it only caught one big fish, and it was after I hadn’t caught a fish in a long time. The fact that the fish was big and it was after a slump made the lure stand out in my mind.

 

Memory is a funny thing, it's easily distorted. Just because you think you remember things clearly doesn't mean that you do.

Spread sheets ask me what happened because they forgot