Keeping a fishing journal

[bigspirit]

Those of you who have one and record trip data, what all do you keep track of?

 

It’s something I’ve thought about, but I feel like there’s 100+ variables or values that you could record and I’m just not going to do that for every trip. 

Not sure I want to even subject myself to having a journal at all so surely don’t want to fill a page for every trip 

[roadwarrior]

https://www.bassresource.com/fish/fishing_log.html

[DinkDreams]

I started keeping one this year. I have a note on my phone where I log the date, place I’m fishing, air temp, water temp, general condition info (windy, cloudy, sunny, rain, etc), lures used and if I had success or not.

 

I know some people who include recent weather patterns, humidity, barometer reading, and stuff like that but personally I like to keep it relatively short and sweet. If I really slayed them that day I may put info in about my retrieve but other than that I like to keep it pretty simple. 

[Bluebasser86]

I don't keep a journal, but I do record most of my trips. It's nice to be able to go back and review what worked and what didn't later on. It's helped me correct bad habits I didn't know I had by watching myself also. 

[TOXIC]

It’s interesting, I know guys who keep detailed journals and spreadsheets and it seems to help them.  I never have.  I have a mental checklist I go through every time I hit the water because to me, no 2 days are alike.  I’ve been amused at Facebook since my memories for the last 7 or 8 years come up and my fishing partner or I are pretty good about posting our trips and the results of the day.  One year we are in winter gear and 2 years later we are in shorts and T-shirts. ?

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I don't keep a journal, but I do record most of my trips. It's nice to be able to go back and review what worked and what didn't later on. It's helped me correct bad habits I didn't know I had by watching myself also. 

Me too.

A-Jay 

[MN Fisher]

16 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Me too.

A-Jay 

Me three.

 

[the reel ess]

Date, weather, time, technique, catch and size. And anything else that occurs to me. I did this for a few years until I basically remembered it all by heart. Last year I kept a big fish log because it was such a stellar year for size. I'm sure people are getting tired of seeing it by now. ? I had hoped it would point me toward the lures most likely to catch a big fish. The only consistent big fish lure was the jig/T rig. That caught 4 of them. I also got 3 on the Plopper, 2 in the same day. Sadly, I haven't caught anything "big" since December, a 4 lb. Just when you think you're on to something. 

[MickD]

I didn't record anything until about 6-8 years ago, and have recorded significant data from all trips since.  I'm really glad I did because it really helps on getting to the right spot on the right date, and knowing what worked.  Significant data are all the things I think at the time important: time started , hours fished, spots fished , techniques, lures that worked, water temp, wind, climate conditions, water clarity.  

[Bankc]

I just snap a photo on my phone.  From that, I can tell what, when, where, and how.  My phone logs all but the how in the what and how in the metadata.  The coordinates aren't always super accurate, like they might point to the wrong cove, but I can usually figure out what it's pointing to when combined with memory and what's in the background.  The what and how are both included in the photo (fish and lure).  I can also usually tell approximate depth by the distance from the bank in the background.  It doesn't keep records of the weather, but I can usually tell wind speed by the waves, cloud cover by the shadows, temperature by what I'm wearing, etc.  

 

Mostly though, I just rely on my memory.  I certainly don't remember everything.  Far from it.  But I tend to remember the details of the best events.  Like I don't need to remember that one time I caught one small bass in eight hours while canvasing the entire lake in February.  But that time I was catching them on almost every cast off point 17 in about 12ft. of water on the flat with a shaky head with a bright orange Zoom trick worm on the first week of March starting around 3p.m. when the wind was about 10mph out of the east and a weak cold front had just passed through the night before that brough a light rain but didn't break the overall warming trend but by about 3 degrees... well, you get the idea.  

[the reel ess]

30 minutes ago, Bankc said:

I just snap a photo on my phone.  From that, I can tell what, when, where, and how.  My phone logs all but the how in the what and how in the metadata.  The coordinates aren't always super accurate, like they might point to the wrong cove, but I can usually figure out what it's pointing to when combined with memory and what's in the background.  The what and how are both included in the photo (fish and lure).  I can also usually tell approximate depth by the distance from the bank in the background.  It doesn't keep records of the weather, but I can usually tell wind speed by the waves, cloud cover by the shadows, temperature by what I'm wearing, etc.  

 

Mostly though, I just rely on my memory.  I certainly don't remember everything.  Far from it.  But I tend to remember the details of the best events.  Like I don't need to remember that one time I caught one small bass in eight hours while canvasing the entire lake in February.  But that time I was catching them on almost every cast off point 17 in about 12ft. of water on the flat with a shaky head with a bright orange Zoom trick worm on the first week of March starting around 3p.m. when the wind was about 10mph out of the east and a weak cold front had just passed through the night before that brough a light rain but didn't break the overall warming trend but by about 3 degrees... well, you get the idea.  

I keep reminding myself after the photo I should have gotten the lure in the pic. But I don't photograph every fish I catch. 

[Team9nine]

Once upon a time, but in hindsight, I now lean toward them being mostly meaningless outside of just being fun to look back through once you get older . Instead, I like to capture pure numerical stuff from time to time like # of trips, fish caught per trip, trip hours, fish per bait, etc. just for future reference and comparison purposes to see how years or fisheries change. 

[TnRiver46]

I have to tell my buddy all the time that fish can’t read a calendar. He swears if they were biting somewhere on June 4th one year then they must be doing the exact same thing on June 4th in subsequent years.
 

So now he always sends me old pics and says “calendar!! We need to go”

 

I think it worked once out of several

hundred attempts 

[papajoe222]

For years I kept a journal but I stopped doing so a while back.  I found that I would refer to my entries for similar calendar period, water temps. barometric pressure, moon phase weather pattern and such and base my strategy on the similarities.

What I ended up doing was what I call fishing history. It was beneficial only 50% of the time and the rest of the time, I spent too much fishing time devoted to that strategy.

What I started doing instead, was using the conditions I was faced with and building a game plan from there.  It works 50% of the time, but the other times, I make observations and make changes accordingly.  I know it sounds counter productive, but my mind is wired different than most and it works for me.

[fishhugger]

i do...  it's kind of hard knowing what is tmi. but it's better than relying on my poor memory for these things. i can look at my log, and what actually is recorded is not what i remember.... 

is it better to go by your successful rigs ----- like, i got this big one on this thing.... or is it better to look at ----- all the failures....   wow, the umpteenth time i fished this, with no success......

i like pencil and paper. computer would be too tedious. i think an 'index' on the rear page of my journal would be good to record actual catches, by date, so i don't have to leaf thru my book.. or color coded...for good daze.

happy fishing and logging

[crypt]

started keeping one on my phone.every trip gets info on the basics, location,lures used, weather for the day etc. do it on my way home while it's fresh in my Mellon.

[detroit1]

I have for 20 or so years kept a record of my trips. Just 1 line for each trip on the old notepad. Date, lake, guest?, solunar table (0 - 100) from bassmaster mag.), all fish caught(record length), sky, and any different weather conditions (strong wind etc.). In the spring i will note water temp. The only time i refer to it is in the spring.

[fin]

Date.
Start/Finish Times.
What was caught, what it was caught on.
Where I fished.

 

That’s my basic format, the minimum. When, where, what and how. You’ve got to keep it simple and easy, otherwise it’s easy to fall out of the habit of doing it.

 

From there, I might add all kinds of details that I think are important at the time. Sometimes I add stuff just to assist my memory, like incidents while fishing, people I fished with, what they caught, reel maintenance, all kinds of stuff.

 

I have access to weather/water history online, so I can always look that up later if desired.

A text document, like Word or TextEdit provides the maximum flexibility, but a spreadsheet document is best for extrapolating data. You can set up a spread sheet so that you’re only checking boxes and entering numbers. I started years ago with a single text document without putting a lot of thought into it. Sometimes I wish I had done a spread sheet, but my random notes can go on and on, and that wouldn’t work well with a spread sheet.

 

A picture is worth a thousand words and is automatically time stamped.

 

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I have to tell my buddy all the time that fish can’t read a calendar.

 

Yep, some years it might be early February, the next year it might be late March. They can't read a thermometer either, but they always seem to show up when the water temperature is right.

[schplurg]

I video all of my trips and that is the extent of my record keeping, so far.

[throttleplate]

I keep a hand written journal for every trip i make. It consists of time, weather, lures, fish caught, strange events.....

I looked at it today and seen that i caught my first bass of 2021 on april 17 in minnesota while fishing for crappie from the bank.

In fack i caught so many bass i had to stop as to not break any laws as bass fishing here doesnt open till May 14th.

[Catt]

I log the following information into Micro Soft Word date, time, weather, water clarity, depth, structure, cover, techniques, lure, total number caught, total keepers caught, & largest bass caught.

 

If you eliminate your history you have eliminated your experience!

 

I'm not trying to duplicate anything. 

 

Empirical: based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic.

[NYWayfarer]

Yes. I have been for awhile. Dates, times, fish caught and baits used. 

 

I like to see what worked at any given time over the years.

[N Florida Mike]

I can go back through my bassresource posts in the “latest catch pics thread”. 
Other than that, I don’t keep a written record.

I do keep a top 10 biggest fish record mentally, and my highest numbers day. I also track the number of fish over 4 pounds Ive caught in my home lake since 2007.

[Bankbeater]

I've been keeping logs in Excel for around 20 years now.  I record dates, locations, weather, water conditions, fish caught, and baits used.

[DougHall_NY]

I keep track of air temp, skies, time of day, water clarity, lure used and approximate fish size on an Excel spreadsheet. It really has helped throughout the years.