Good Fishing Logs(Journals)? 2024

PondBassin reply :

Hey guys,

One of my New Years resolutions was to start a fishing log (or journal, whatever you want to call it), and record all of my catches for the year. I want to record weight, lure, and conditions in which I caught each fish. I've heard of others doing this, and I was wondering if you guys had any good templates, tips, adivce, or awebsite link that you could provide. Anything is accepted.

Thanks in advance,

Goose52 reply :

There's a very detailed fishing log template right in the Tools section of this board - go to: http://www.bassresource.com/fish/fishing_log.html

Also - this topic has been discussed several times over the past year or so - if you search on fishing records, you'll get some more good info.

PondBassin reply :

Alright, thanks a bunch.

Red reply :

I use an Excel spreadsheet, worked great for me this year. If your "smart", like my wife, you can set it up to automatically add up your totals. I had the Date, Location, # of fish caught, # of keepers, Weather, and bait Used. Then I used Bold and Italics to mark different things. On mine, a bold faced trip means I caught a fish over 5lbs. Italics meant I fished in my buddies stock tanks.

bassfisherjk reply :

I have kept a fishing log for years,it's similar to the one we have here on site.I do it more for fun than anything else,Good luck with it.

basser89 reply :

I've been using a fishing log for a several years now. Like Red, I set up an excel spreadsheet to record a bunch of things I've pulled from different logs I've checked out over the years. Location, date, moon phase, weather conditions, water conditions, # of bass, lengths, weight, baits, presentations are several of the categories I track. It's pretty easy to modify using the spreadsheet too. I just add a new tab at the start of the year and I'm set. I even track overall yearly totals and how many bass I catch in different weight ranges. It's really up to you on how detailed you want it to be.

J Francho reply :

My tip, get a digital voice recorder, or use an app like iTalk to simply record the fields you want to capture. Then you can go back, and enter them in a book, or database.

basser89 reply :

Great tip J.

I should add that I use the Casio Pathfinder (the fishing version) watch I have to mark when I catch my bass. It helps limit the amount of things I have to remember when I get off the water. I might have to look into the voice recorder to help out a little more.

Goose52 reply :

Excel for me too. Create one workbook for your fishing stuff, create separate worksheets for different data. Works great. Depending on how you organize/enter the data, can be automated to calculate totals, averages, etc. You can sort and shake-and-bake the data different ways.

It may, or may not, improve your fishing...but it's fun to play with the numbers...

December data from my file - while I fished different baits on several rods at several lakes, I only CAUGHT at one lake, with one rod, and one bait...

J Francho reply :

Escel is a good format, as long as your log is under a few thousand records. After that, I highly recommend using something like Access. Once you learn queries, you can really get granular with the dta. For example, show me all the spinnerbait fish in water temps less than 50°, grouped by lake.

Crestliner2008 reply :

On 1/3/2012 at 11:51 PM, J Francho said:

My tip, get a digital voice recorder, or use an app like iTalk to simply record the fields you want to capture. Then you can go back, and enter them in a book, or database.

Great suggestion for the people just starting out. Trying to "remember" everything, trip by trip, is just too hard to do. On that note, I want to direct those interested in doing this, to a little paper back book I read many years ago. Entitled, "Phycho-cybernetics" - can't remember the author. The meat of this literature suggests that we are all born with a hell of a computer between our ears - it's call a brain. What this does for us is when you repeatively do things over time, your brain tells you what you are suppose to do - without you thinking about it.

Think about the last time you were driving down a highway and had to "think" about whether or not you were in the center of the lane? It don't happen. Your brain does it for you (phycho-cybernetically). That is an over-simplification, but it's something that caused me to stop keeping a fishing log many, many years ago. After repeative fishing, during various seasons, water temps, water types, structures, etc., you develop a pretty reliable starting point for each and every situation you are presented with....without having to scan logs and spread sheets to "re-confirm" what you already have learned.

I occaisionally get a chuckle out of reviewing some of the logs I kept back in the '70's & '80's. Talk about WORK! Details and specifics about each and every venture forth....including shore fishing. My goodness.....the time I wasted. I don't worry about such stuff these days. I just go out and fish. And ya know something.....I don't do half bad. I let my built in computer do it for me.

Goose52 reply :

Yeah - data collection on the water or bank is an issue. Certainly the digital recorder is the most elegant solution.

Me - I have a paper cutter at home and cut-up empty cereal boxes into 3"x5" squares. They're stiff enough to write on without a backing and I just take notes as the day goes on. When I get home, I transcribe over to the Excel file - only takes a few minutes.

Not very elegant...but no batteries required!

deaknh03 reply :

On 1/4/2012 at 2:07 AM, Goose52 said:

Yeah - data collection on the water or bank is an issue. Certainly the digital recorder is the most elegant solution.

Me - I have a paper cutter at home and cut-up empty cereal boxes into 3"x5" squares. They're stiff enough to write on without a backing and I just take notes as the day goes on. When I get home, I transcribe over to the Excel file - only takes a few minutes.

Not very elegant...but no batteries required!

I can't decide if that looks like Einstein's notes, or the Unabomber's...

Hyrule Bass reply :

On 1/4/2012 at 1:51 AM, Crestliner2008 said:

Great suggestion for the people just starting out. Trying to "remember" everything, trip by trip, is just too hard to do. On that note, I want to direct those interested in doing this, to a little paper back book I read many years ago. Entitled, "Phycho-cybernetics" - can't remember the author. The meat of this literature suggests that we are all born with a hell of a computer between our ears - it's call a brain. What this does for us is when you repeatively do things over time, your brain tells you what you are suppose to do - without you thinking about it.

Think about the last time you were driving down a highway and had to "think" about whether or not you were in the center of the lane? It don't happen. Your brain does it for you (phycho-cybernetically). That is an over-simplification, but it's something that caused me to stop keeping a fishing log many, many years ago. After repeative fishing, during various seasons, water temps, water types, structures, etc., you develop a pretty reliable starting point for each and every situation you are presented with....without having to scan logs and spread sheets to "re-confirm" what you already have learned.

I occaisionally get a chuckle out of reviewing some of the logs I kept back in the '70's & '80's. Talk about WORK! Details and specifics about each and every venture forth....including shore fishing. My goodness.....the time I wasted. I don't worry about such stuff these days. I just go out and fish. And ya know something.....I don't do half bad. I let my built in computer do it for me.

thats pretty much me in the underlined part. i just go out and fish, i have no pressure nor desire to record my catches in a log. I dont know if i would tell others theyre wasting their time, they may get something out of it though. but like you, i would feel like im wasting my own time. if its a nice catch or several nice catches, ill record them via a photograph. but im not gonna spend my time documenting every bass i catch or measuring 8 inch bass and stuff.

to me, a fishing log seems like adding work to something i do to get away from work....

Goose52 reply :

That is a scrawl isn't it

To translate.

I fished Lake Oxford (5 acres) by canoe (for the first time). Max observed depth was 11 feet. Surface water temp started at 60deg and went up to 63deg at the end of the trip.

I worked around the edges of the lake with a Zoom Fat Albert 5" grub and caught 5 bass (including my 1000th fish of that year) with the biggest being a 14"/1.54lb bass.

I worked a little pool at the back of the lake with a 7.5" Yum ribbontail and got 3 more bass with the biggest being another 14incher.

Then I went to mid-lake and cranked with a Wiggle Wart and got 8 more bass with the biggest being a 15"/1.67lb fish.

Then, I finished at the dam end of the lake in the deepest water, cranking with a Deep Little N and got 2 more bass - the biggest being 16"/1.96lb.

Simple, really..........................

JIGFISHERMAN. reply :

The voice recorder, IMO is a great idea. I haven't done it yet, but was planning to this season. I suspect it will be GREAT.

I think it will make waypoint ID easier too. On my old school LCX15, I'll be able to just mark a waypoint, and be done....Give the number, and what I'm marking on the voice recorder, then when I get home go back to the waypoint number, and use other ID symbols, notes, or whatever, and can also use that to mark what the way point is on the map.

Bigbarge50 reply :

Quote

thats pretty much me in the underlined part. i just go out and fish, i have no pressure nor desire to record my catches in a log. I dont know if i would tell others theyre wasting their time, they may get something out of it though. but like you, i would feel like im wasting my own time. if its a nice catch or several nice catches, ill record them via a photograph. but im not gonna spend my time documenting every bass i catch or measuring 8 inch bass and stuff.

to me, a fishing log seems like adding work to something i do to get away from work....

I have not kept a log but have always been real curious about it. I am not sure a log is "work". Does a guy who keeps score at a baseball game working? How about the millions in this country with hours pouring over stats of sports to do their fantasy teams. And that is not even real.... it is a make believe team (hence fantasy).

Some people may use a log as a tool to record and learn from their trips. I guess that can be work, especially if they are doing it to improve tournament performance. Others may just enjoy the numercial side of fishing, like the guys who really like stats in other sports. Fishing logs and stats makes more sense to me, seeing the guys who know someone's batting average is not actually doing the batting.

Just the opposite side of that coin.

PondBassin reply :

I agree. I want to look back at the end of the year and see what worked, when, and if anything I think it may be a little fun! I'm just curious as to what produced, and what my total fish count would be at the end of the year. It doesn't seem like much work, or work at all. I'm not going to take it incredibly seriously, just a good record of what happened over the year.

piscicidal reply :

I've been targeting bass seriously for about 2.5years (August 2009). When I did get serious about this, I started making a journal starting Jan 1, 2010. I log the information in a composition notebook, one for each calendar year. Each fishing day constitutes one page in the journal. I include sketched picture of the lake, where I fished and when, and any pertinent information (water temp, wind speed/direction, weather conditions, baits used, size of fish caught, large fish dropped off, etc...) I will keep notes about any kind of pattern which was attained. i will also record in the upper left hand corner the weight of my five biggest fish. This serves as a quick reference for me so that I can go back and quickly reference those days which I had the most success.

I make a point to make the journal entry at the end of that fishing day. It is a useful exercise for me to go thru and replay the day's events events in my head (I used to do this when I was attempting to become a scratch golfer...) and do a thorough play-by-play account so I can see what I did wrong/right/etc...

Now that I've been doing this for two years, I am starting to accumulate a pretty good "database" of information that I can refer back to. I can go back to my "2010" and "2011" journals and look for specific details which may help with the trip that I am making that day.

Hyrule Bass reply :

On 1/4/2012 at 7:41 AM, Bigbarge50 said:

I have not kept a log but have always been real curious about it. I am not sure a log is "work". Does a guy who keeps score at a baseball game working? How about the millions in this country with hours pouring over stats of sports to do their fantasy teams. And that is not even real.... it is a make believe team (hence fantasy).

Some people may use a log as a tool to record and learn from their trips. I guess that can be work, especially if they are doing it to improve tournament performance. Others may just enjoy the numercial side of fishing, like the guys who really like stats in other sports. Fishing logs and stats makes more sense to me, seeing the guys who know someone's batting average is not actually doing the batting.

Just the opposite side of that coin.

like i said, others may get something from it. i just make mental notes of things and refer back to those in certain situations, good enough for me. i cant see myself sitting there typing equations into excel to figure out catch per casts rates and stuff like that...

J Francho reply :

I kept logs for years, but I don't anymore. More than trying to figure out what to throw on a particular day, what was interesting to me was how the records described a particular lake. Trends, rigs, baits, and gear change so much, that it's hard to compare throwing a Culprit worm in 1989 to picking from the multitudes of creatures out there now. But lakes change ever so slowly.

NBR reply :

I'm with Crestliner. After more years of chasing largies and more recently smallies than I care to admit my game plan is pretty nearly the same year after year and is no longer written. Shortly after ice out I hit one of 3 or 4 lakes. And my in head computer says. Early prespawn go to point "A" north end of the lake, cast and burn a spinner bait, no luck slow roll that spinner bait, No luck - switch to a suspending jerk bait - no luck drag a tube. Again no luck - move to that big sand flat again no luck go to a steep drop off and use a dropshot and/or a c-rig. Still no luck - that is why we call it fishing not catching. Repeat on same or different lake then all of a sudden it is whoopee a few or no fish days become, I don't know I lost track at 32 - this won't last all summer so enjoy is as much as possible while you can. Then be content with fewer most of the time.

basscatcher8 reply :

I am taking the computer nerd approach. Im working on a droid app that i can record fish info on the water and it automatically transmits to my desktop so i can look at the numbers at home. I'm in IT for a living so i have time to think up crap like this LOL. Ill get a quarter of the way done and say screw it and open an excel document LOL.

Bigbarge50 reply :

Basscatcher,

Think you have a really good idea there. If it was really easy to record this data, think a lot more people would do it.

Ratherbfishing reply :

I am not so smart nor can I remember things so well that a journal might not possibly help however when I did record my catches, referring back to them did not really seem all that instrumental. I'm sure my experiences have helped me but in ways that aren't so "quantifieable" as a journal. For lack of a better way of saying it, I just "learn." When I do write my catches down, it's more in the form of a diary entry so when I'm old and grey (or bald), I have something to reflect back upon.

J Francho reply :

Scoutlook is in development with some of the HOOK1/KayakBassFishing pro staff developing a fishing app. it should have tons of cool features.

The problem with a smartphone app is again data entry. We don't always fish in the nicest weather, and lets face it, you want to have your $300 iPhone out on a fishing boat? Well OK, I do it, LOL. But that's for video. I just have a hard time gathering all that data and tapping it in after catching a fish.

basscatcher8 reply :

I would have my phone out there because its more of a tool in this case. Plus 3/4 of the info can be captured by the phone automatically by just pressing one button to tell it you caught a fish. But your right it was an idea i had. I like to hear the feedback like that on it.

jmed999 reply :

The phone could automatically record weather and location thus taking some of the work out of journal entering!

J Francho reply :

That is assuming your in proximity to weather recording station. Some places I fish, especially on the Great Lakes where I fish, weather can be completely different just 20 miles away. But yeah weather, location, even tidal or flow rates could be totally automated.

JIGFISHERMAN. reply :

On 1/5/2012 at 2:13 AM, J Francho said:
I just have a hard time gathering all that data and tapping it in after catching a fish.

That's what the voice recorder is for....But then, if you record, then come back to the recorder when it home, you don't really need an Iphone/app for it.

SirSnookalot reply :

I'm with Crestliner and Red Earth, these guys I'd fish with. I don't care what happened yesterday, last year or 20 years ago, I'll figure it our for today's outing. I use the tape on my phone to remind to replace tackle I've lost and to pickup a gallon of milk for my wife.

Only for me, what others do is their biz. I have no idea of what a 10" or 12" fish looks like, if it were that small I wouldn't bother measuring it, I hope it comes unbuttoned. If the fish has some size to it, I may pace it off with my shoe, I have a real good idea on what the length is, apx. weight is close enough, 2 decimal points for a fish under 2#, come on............. sorry Goose, I still love ya.

Now lets talk about pictures, they do not tell the story. Someone holds up a fish at arms length embellishing a 3# fish into something that looks like it's 6#. I say the angler with the longest arms catches the biggest fish......lol. For me it's the quality of the catch, meaning the fight. I'd rather catch a 5 pounder that rips my arms off, than a 10# that felt like I was dragging in seaweed, yet the 10 pounder is more photogenic. If a pic is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a 100,000.

I say we ban photos and allow only videos of the fight...... ..

Goose52 reply :

On 1/6/2012 at 4:03 AM, SirSnookalot said:

.... apx. weight is close enough, 2 decimal points for a fish under 2#, come on............. sorry Goose, I still love ya.

Yeah - I record to two decimal places 'cause that's how the scale reads...

A little background. When I first moved to TN, I only weighed fish 18" or longer. Then I noticed that the bass I was catching seemed a bit leaner than those I used to catch in FL. So, I started weighing all fish 14" or longer and keep the weights in an Excel workbook that keeps a running average weight. Comparing that data to some of the LMB length/weight data on the 'net shows that most of these fish run under national averages - a testament to the quality (or lack thereof) of the fishery. The local bass club also weighs to 2 digits and retains data regarding average weights. So, my data has the same fidelity as the club data (~ with differences in scale accuracy). In 2010, I actually caught more bass than the entire bass club's catch in their 16 tournaments - thus, I have as much, perhaps more data than the entire bass club. Additionally, I fish lakes that are not fished by the club so I probably have the ONLY length/weight data for those lakes The point of all this is that in the event that our Lakes Committee gets serious about improving the fishery, there will be data available regarding average lengths/weights that may help the committee determine where to put their limited funds.

The data may, or may not, ever become useful, but the point of recording the data isn't so much for me knowing that I caught a 1.42 lb, or a 1.89 lb 15" bass, but in having recorded data with fidelity to match the bass club's data.

Sorta the same things with photographs. I used to only photograph the largest catches. Then, my Dad (who is 89 and has had to hang up his fishing spurs) told me to start emailing photos of my catches so he could at least remember what a bass looked like. So, I photograph most fish over two pounds plus anything unusual or funny. Doesn't take long to do it and he gets a kick out of it. He also gets a kick out of my statistics and likes to tell his friends my bass count for the year. Then he can tell them...I taught that boy to fish....

There's lots of reasons to keep records and take photos. It's all fun and for me, is not work and doesn't take much time.

On 1/6/2012 at 4:03 AM, SirSnookalot said:
I say the angler with the longest arms catches the biggest fish......lol.

You mean some of those folks are actually holding the fish out at arms length? And there I thought everyone was routinely catching 8 pound fish. I just thought that they had some strange medical condition that made their fingers swell to 2 or 3 times the normal size whenever they caught a biggun'

JIGFISHERMAN. reply :

On 1/6/2012 at 6:06 AM, Goose52 said:

Yeah - I record to two decimal places 'cause that's how the scale reads...

A little background. When I first moved to TN, I only weighed fish 18" or longer. Then I noticed that the bass I was catching seemed a bit leaner than those I used to catch in FL. So, I started weighing all fish 14" or longer and keep the weights in an Excel workbook that keeps a running average weight. Comparing that data to some of the LMB length/weight data on the 'net shows that most of these fish run under national averages - a testament to the quality (or lack thereof) of the fishery. The local bass club also weighs to 2 digits and retains data regarding average weights. So, my data has the same fidelity as the club data (~ with differences in scale accuracy). In 2010, I actually caught more bass than the entire bass club's catch in their 16 tournaments - thus, I have as much, perhaps more data than the entire bass club. Additionally, I fish lakes that are not fished by the club so I probably have the ONLY length/weight data for those lakes The point of all this is that in the event that our Lakes Committee gets serious about improving the fishery, there will be data available regarding average lengths/weights that may help the committee determine where to put their limited funds.

The data may, or may not, ever become useful, but the point of recording the data isn't so much for me knowing that I caught a 1.42 lb, or a 1.89 lb 15" bass, but in having recorded data with fidelity to match the bass club's data.

You're just a numbers/stats guy.

Not sure where or how you fish, but with such detailed info, maybe it would be useful to local water management teams. (DNR)

Goose52 reply :

On 1/6/2012 at 6:14 AM, JIGFISHERMAN. said:

You're just a numbers/stats guy.

Not sure where or how you fish, but with such detailed info, maybe it would be useful to local water management teams. (DNR)

I was editing my post when you grabbed it - revised post above.

Yeah - the whole point is to have data available for the Lakes Committee. I mostly fish private lakes managed by the homeowner's association, with an assist from TWRA (DFG)

jojo&laken reply :

this is funny because i just joined yesterday and right before i joined i made my own log up on an excell spread sheet because the others on the internet were not enough info for me for some reason i can not send it as an attachment so here is my email just contact me and i will send it to you if it is not what you need just adapt it to what you do need. I think a journal is an anglers best tool besides a rod and reel. Qjoeswift@aol.com

Daily fishing log 1-5-12.doc

PondBassin reply :

On 1/6/2012 at 3:27 PM, jojo&laken said:

this is funny because i just joined yesterday and right before i joined i made my own log up on an excell spread sheet because the others on the internet were not enough info for me for some reason i can not send it as an attachment so here is my email just contact me and i will send it to you if it is not what you need just adapt it to what you do need. I think a journal is an anglers best tool besides a rod and reel. Qjoeswift@aol.com

That is perfect! EXACTLY what I was looking for. I'm emailing you right now. Thanks!

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