# Who keeps a fishing log?



## Tokugawa (Apr 29, 2008)

I've decided to start my fishing log this year. I will record the date, location, TOD, temp hi/lo, wind, barometer, # of fish, weight total, smallest/largest fish and notes on what lures/techniques caught them. Am I missing anything? Does anyone else keep a log, and does it help you become a better bass angler?


----------



## Curly (May 15, 2006)

Me and my bass buddy are going to do the same thing this year. You could add water clarity, water temp and cloud cover (maybe also type of clouds). What is TOD....time of day? I'm going to make some charts on the computer and print out a crap load....then we just fill in the blanks.


----------



## Curly (May 15, 2006)

More stuff to add.....tackle (line weight ect.), moon phase and in the water section of the log we need water level also.


----------



## jcustunner24 (Aug 20, 2007)

With the lures/techniques portion, a thing I've often noted is speed of retrieve. When I combine that info with the conditions it gives me a great starting point the next time those conditions are met. It will ABSOLUTELY improve your productivity.


----------



## Curly (May 15, 2006)

Attatched is a copy of my rough draft for my log


----------



## JignPig Guide (Aug 3, 2007)

Tokugawa said:


> I've decided to start my fishing log this year. I will record the date, location, TOD, temp hi/lo, wind, barometer, # of fish, weight total, smallest/largest fish and notes on what lures/techniques caught them. Am I missing anything? Does anyone else keep a log, and does it help you become a better bass angler?



Although I don't do this, I recommend it. It can only help your fish catch.


----------



## JimG (Apr 6, 2004)

Curly and I have about the same log and each time out I record my day before leaving the ramp.
Have done this now since 1987 and with the advancement of computers I placed everything on a spreadsheet and use it to start every year.

Believe me, if you make up your mind to fill it out right away and then post it in your computer you can do wonders with figuring out where and when to start.

Not being a pro in computers I took my information to the high school and a teacher made it a project for 4 students to put together a program . What an assist that was and it only cost me a pizza party for the 4.

Now the program just totals and adds weather and conditions to simplify all information.

You won't regret it,
JimG


----------



## Tee (Apr 5, 2004)

Here is a good Bass fishing log:


----------



## jcustunner24 (Aug 20, 2007)

I think the displayed logs are great, but they're far more detailed than mine. I do A LOT of shore fishing and walking around. That much info is too cumbersome for my habits. If you're THAT detail oriented, more power to you, but for me a simple indication of location, lure, retrieve and conditions work wonders for me.


----------



## mystic4314 (May 20, 2006)

here again i see we are using our massive melons every brain cell firing to the point of meltdown tryin to outsmart a creature with a brain the size of a green pea my log is only as good as my memory good days on the water are vivid and the bad ones fade away


----------



## Bassnpro1 (Apr 6, 2004)

I am keeping a much simplier log that only counts the number of bass I catch. Unproductive trips will not be recorded, but there are very few days where I don't catch at least one bass, even if it is just a dink. I am recording date, number of bass, numbers of 12", number of 15", weight if a tournament, body of water, lures used. I know if I try to keep more information that it will get cumbersome and I won't keep up with it. I'm hoping to keep up with this and see just how many bass I catch in a year. I honestly can't even guess how many so this will be interesting. I'm trying to record EVERY bass I catch. Initial prediction is going to be around 600 for the year, which includes trips, ponds, streams, etc. I'm sitting at 1 right now excluding ice season. And with these simple categories I can use some formulas on Excel to break things down easier. I couldn't find a way to bucket conditions for a quick lookup.


----------



## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

What about GPS coordinates?..........


----------



## rrw4258 (Aug 4, 2005)

I kept a bass log last year, on Excel, and at the end of they year when i printed, it was 16 pages long... 576 bass.

Ryan


----------



## Tokugawa (Apr 29, 2008)

Oh man - this is all good stuff...thanks for the ideas fellas!


----------



## seapro (Sep 25, 2007)

I currently use a Palm Pilot to log all my information. Works great and is easy to use. 

For those of you who think they aren't necessary, how do you track your progress? I guess I still have a lot of Business Management in me, I track my progress on everything. 

Learned a long time ago, that if you wanted to be successful, you tracked and managed your goals in order to make comparisons against previous objectives. 

I realize this is just fishing but I take it very seriously...........well at least sometimes anyways! 

Now today, I got skunked and learned what not to do! My thoughts of what I should have tried, are logged for the next time.


----------



## Curly (May 15, 2006)

Went fishing today with my bass buddy. We got to use our new log. He caught a nice 2 pound 9 ounce smallie. If this fish were caught in a month from now he is easily a 3 and a half pounder. Heres the pic.


----------



## CRAPPIE LOVER (Feb 11, 2007)

Have been keeping a log for the past 15 or so years...It seem's to work for me...Just used a note book but after seeing Tee's Log page ...will make a few changes this year...Just started loging GPS Coordinates last year......I'll bet all Pro Bass Fishermen have a log book....JIM.....


----------



## Tokugawa (Apr 29, 2008)

I'm doing mine in Excel so I can sort by body of water, temp, etc...I have a notes section where I add what lures, retrieve, etc...


----------



## spfldbassguy (Mar 23, 2009)

i go old school and just use simple 1 subject notebooks for all of mine.i keep track of everything that's weather related,lures used,retrieves used,the date and length of said trip,body of water,number of fish caught or missed,fishes size and weight,plus any random thoughts about the day or a particular body of water.i also keep fishing reports the the newspaper publishes.


----------

