To all those that are serious about catch records , how many ,if any keep a log of the trip and what kind of info do you put in it.


(Kerplunker... you need not respond I don't give a s-it how many nates you kept for you're table!!!! )

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Tight Lines
FISH ON ------<*)>><
Men are like fish we get into trouble when we open our mouths to much!!

Every trip I make a quick note of the flow (if available from the web), stage, clarity and what I caught fish with. Someday that last column will have some usefull info, hopefully.

Steelboy,
yep, every trip gets notes written in my daytimer. Very useful information sometimes and then for years like this past you can just about throw the darn thing away...very fun to keep though...amazing how one can relive a trip by just seeing a few notes!



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Jim Bain
Always have Fun while Fishing!!!

I started about 5 years ago. I keep it on a day planner. I put down where I went, with whom I went, what the river conditions were, what the tide was for salt water or tide-affected areas, what the weather was like, what we fished with, what we caught fish on, and any unusual, noteworthy thing that happened. Also jot down if I observed anything new or different being used successfully and notes about what to try out just forget next time, if anything like that made a real impression.

I also keep notes about places I read about and how and how far ahead to make arrangements to fish. All kinds of things. Like was mentioned above, it's amazing how just a few lines will bring back memories that would otherwise be lost. It's just fun.

Yep! I do.

I'm not anal retentive(love that term!) about it and don't have to write a thesis after every trip. But I do jot down about a paragraph of notes similar to what the guys above mention.

I started about 8 years ago because I was having trouble remembering particular events on a given trip a few years later. When you do 50-75 trips a year you simply can't remember everything. It has proved invaluable when needing to recall what part of a tide the action occurred or what technique was dominant on a river at a certain height at a certain time of the year......just to name a few examples.

I've never been into serious writing;probably never will but I do find myself looking forward to jotting down the days notes at the end of a good trip-it's fun. And like the other posts said...a good way to recall good times.

Something else you may want to make note of is the barometric pressure the day you fished, the day previous, and the next day. I have found a definite pattern which has resulted in a lot more fish.

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How critcal is water temp? I log visibility and surface conditions and was wondering about temp,I keep lure or bait used and time,weather etc. Barometer good idea ! thanks again

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Tight Lines
FISH ON ------<*)>><
Men are like fish we get into trouble when we open our mouths to much!!

I write a journal also not so much for technical data although its very helpful. But I write a little note or two for my kids. My father was a hell of a steelheader and he wrote about some trips and it is nice to be able to see what it used to be like but I have some thing that I can look back on and there's something in my dad's own words from his own eyes and his own thoughts. He passed away about 20 yrs ago and It is my prized possesion.

Sorry for getting a little deep there but It is something my kids read bothe his and mine to let them see me a little differently.

I too have been keeping a detailed journal of my fishing trips. I include the basics, like river level and weather conditions along with what lure/bait I caught the fish on. Most important I make a note of where in the drift I hooked the fish. I find myself refering back to my notes often.

I owe Bill Herzog money, so I have to keep plugging his books (just kidding) but on p. 59 of 'Spoon Fishing for Steelhead' (Amato books) he lists what goes into his journal. Nothing particularly special except he places particular emphasis on water temp (omits barometric pressure though -- seems an oversight).

I keep more of a narrative when I'm on those week-long expeditions to one place or another. Aside from water temp, viz and height I spend more time recounting fish caught and lost, as well as interesting things seen along the way. I used to bet rather heavily on fishing -- first fish of the day, most fish, most species and big fish -- for both the day and cumulative over the trip, so there a lot of Bingo card tables in my notes, too. (I still remember one guide in the salt telling us he never used a net for silvers. I kept saying 'This is a very valuable fish. Please net it!' Of course, the leader broke as he hoisted the modest 11-12lb silver aboard and the fish swam free. My 5 buddies laughed their butts off knowing that we'd bet an outrageous amount on who would be the first person to catch a fish on that particular trip. Within minutes, my wallet was lighter -- and the captain used a net to add insult to injury!)

When I get back home, I often type up the notes and then bore the bejesus out of my fishing friends by Emailing them the full trip report. But there's nothing like pulling out the write-up of trip to Alaska in '94 and being able to recall the good, the bad and the ugly like it was on video tape simply because you had a couple of paragraphs on each day's fishing. Definitely worth doing.