Keeping records. 2024

Scorcher214 reply :

Just from reading posts on the forum, i know quite a few people keep records of the fish they catch. My step dad keeps records of pike and muskie he catches, and I thought I would start recording the bass caught next season. I'll will be recording weight, length, and the lure, along with the date. What are some other things i could record about the fish i catch?

Scorcher214 reply :

Bassnajr reply :

I only keep three..PBLM...PBSM....and when I catch the state record.

Bassnajr reply :

I only keep three..PBLM...PBSM....and when I catch the state record.

Bassnajr reply :

I only keep three..PBLM...PBSM....and when I catch the state record.

Goose52 reply :

The photo shows a section of my "2010 catch" worksheet in an Excel workbook. Not shown is a last column where I record weights (but only for LMB 14" or larger). As you can see, it usually takes multiple lines for a day's fishing.

For data collection, I keep a card in my pocket and just jot down the catch as they come in.

Goose52 reply :

For data collection, I keep a card in my pocket and just jot down the catch as they come in.

Goose52 reply :

For data collection, I keep a card in my pocket and just jot down the catch as they come in.

Fishing Rhino reply :

Check the green bar near the top of the page. It has five buttons. Click on tacklebox, then click on fishing log. Print it as many copies as you want.

Here's a shortcut.

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

Fishing Rhino reply :

Check the green bar near the top of the page. It has five buttons. Click on tacklebox, then click on fishing log. Print it as many copies as you want.

Here's a shortcut.

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

Fishing Rhino reply :

Check the green bar near the top of the page. It has five buttons. Click on tacklebox, then click on fishing log. Print it as many copies as you want.

Here's a shortcut.

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

Goose52 reply :

Quote
Check the green bar near the top of the page. It has five buttons. Click on tacklebox, then click on fishing log. Print it as many copies as you want.
Here's a shortcut.

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

That just about covers everything! Not sure how you would automate that to allow sorting though (Access data base?). In any event, that certainly gives you an idea of the potential data that you might want to record...and hopefully you'll have time to fish too...

Goose52 reply :

Quote
Check the green bar near the top of the page. It has five buttons. Click on tacklebox, then click on fishing log. Print it as many copies as you want.
Here's a shortcut.

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

Goose52 reply :

Quote
Check the green bar near the top of the page. It has five buttons. Click on tacklebox, then click on fishing log. Print it as many copies as you want.
Here's a shortcut.

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

Scorcher214 reply :

Wow, that form has quite a bit of recordable stuff! I forgot about excel though. I'm pretty good with that, and, i could avg calculations right in there automatically too.

Scorcher214 reply :

Wow, that form has quite a bit of recordable stuff! I forgot about excel though. I'm pretty good with that, and, i could avg calculations right in there automatically too.

Scorcher214 reply :

Wow, that form has quite a bit of recordable stuff! I forgot about excel though. I'm pretty good with that, and, i could avg calculations right in there automatically too.

bassfisherjk reply :

I keep a detailed log of every outing,have been doing this for years.Mine goes something like this

1-what lake we are at

2- time of day,start/end of trip

3- air temp./wind direction(if any)

4- water temp.

5- Whose boat we fish out of

6- who I am fishing with

7-what size bass is(inches,wt.)

8-where fish was caught on lake,includes structure etc.

9-what lure it was caught on

I have alot of fun keeping the log,which is the key.Make it as simple or complex as you wish.Good luck. Joe

bassfisherjk reply :

I keep a detailed log of every outing,have been doing this for years.Mine goes something like this

1-what lake we are at

2- time of day,start/end of trip

3- air temp./wind direction(if any)

4- water temp.

5- Whose boat we fish out of

6- who I am fishing with

7-what size bass is(inches,wt.)

8-where fish was caught on lake,includes structure etc.

9-what lure it was caught on

I have alot of fun keeping the log,which is the key.Make it as simple or complex as you wish.Good luck. Joe

bassfisherjk reply :

I keep a detailed log of every outing,have been doing this for years.Mine goes something like this

1-what lake we are at

2- time of day,start/end of trip

3- air temp./wind direction(if any)

4- water temp.

5- Whose boat we fish out of

6- who I am fishing with

7-what size bass is(inches,wt.)

8-where fish was caught on lake,includes structure etc.

9-what lure it was caught on

I have alot of fun keeping the log,which is the key.Make it as simple or complex as you wish.Good luck. Joe

Gangley reply :

Mine has Date, Time, Weight of Catch, Lure and Color, Line Type/Weight/Color, and Location.

Gangley reply :

Mine has Date, Time, Weight of Catch, Lure and Color, Line Type/Weight/Color, and Location.

Gangley reply :

Mine has Date, Time, Weight of Catch, Lure and Color, Line Type/Weight/Color, and Location.

Carrington reply :

make sure that you record the conditions and water temp at the time that you caught the fish

Carrington reply :

make sure that you record the conditions and water temp at the time that you caught the fish

Carrington reply :

make sure that you record the conditions and water temp at the time that you caught the fish

bayouXpress reply :

i started 6 years ago recording, but only in the last 2 did I get in all the information that I wanted to record. I just recently finished building an online program for it. I like keeping it in a database so I can search and sort and print custom reports.

I need to one day rewrite for multiple users and maybe get it out to the public

bayouXpress reply :

I need to one day rewrite for multiple users and maybe get it out to the public

bayouXpress reply :

I need to one day rewrite for multiple users and maybe get it out to the public

basslover12345 reply :

Here is an example of my Log:

Fishing Log:

12/4/2010: Got one bite on a Black and blue Rage tail space monkey rigged on a drop shot rig with a 1/8 ounce drop shot weight and 17 pound monofilament with a 1/0 hook, The bait was soaked in Carolina Lunker sauce Threadfin shad Gel, The bass hit lightly in a few feet of water close to the bank, the water was pretty stained and there were baitfish flipping around by where I got bit. The air temp was 36 degrees with overcast blue skies.

Retrieve: I was casting out into deeper water and bringing the lure in towards the bank when I got a strike. The fish interrupted the retrieval of the lure and all of the sudden there was weight on the end of my line, I was retrieving the lure slowly

Name of body of water: Olney Mill pond

Time of day: Afternoon

Cover being fished: None, but around dead grass

Food Source: small Minnows/baitfish

Season: Winter/late fall

basslover12345 reply :

Here is an example of my Log:

Fishing Log:

Name of body of water: Olney Mill pond

Time of day: Afternoon

Cover being fished: None, but around dead grass

Food Source: small Minnows/baitfish

Season: Winter/late fall

basslover12345 reply :

Here is an example of my Log:

Fishing Log:

Name of body of water: Olney Mill pond

Time of day: Afternoon

Cover being fished: None, but around dead grass

Food Source: small Minnows/baitfish

Season: Winter/late fall

Grey Wolf reply :

When do you do your detailed fishing records , after each fish or at the end of your trip ?

Grey Wolf reply :

When do you do your detailed fishing records , after each fish or at the end of your trip ?

Grey Wolf reply :

When do you do your detailed fishing records , after each fish or at the end of your trip ?

basslover12345 reply :

I do mine at the end of each trip by memory

basslover12345 reply :

I do mine at the end of each trip by memory

basslover12345 reply :

I do mine at the end of each trip by memory

Goose52 reply :

Quote
When do you do your detailed fishing records , after each fish or at the end of your trip ?

When fishing from the bank, I keep a card in my pocket and just jot down info as I go along. In my canoe, I can take a maximum of 6 rods so I prepare a card in advance that has sections for each rod I plan to take.

The card in the photo below corresponds to the catch log extract I posted earlier. As I started fishing, you can see that I had to make some quick adjustments - especially for the rod that I was using for cranks (lower right corner). You can see that I caught 8 fish on a Wiggle Wart and two fish on a Norman Deep Little N. Overall, the card shows that I caught 10 fish on cranks, 3 fish on a 7.5" Yum ribbontail worm, and 5 fish on a Zoom Fat Albert 5" grub. It was the first time I fished that lake in the canoe so I recorded the maximum depth that I observed (11 feet - the smallest/shallowest of the 11 lakes that I fish). Water temp (center top of the card) was the beginning and ending temp. I only weigh LMB that are 14" or over so you only see a few weights on the card.

It's not a very sophisticated (or tidy) data collection system...but it works for me... :

FWIW

Goose52 reply :

Quote
When do you do your detailed fishing records , after each fish or at the end of your trip ?

It's not a very sophisticated (or tidy) data collection system...but it works for me... :

FWIW

Goose52 reply :

Quote
When do you do your detailed fishing records , after each fish or at the end of your trip ?

It's not a very sophisticated (or tidy) data collection system...but it works for me... :

FWIW

bassfisherjk reply :

I forgot to say that I record each trip in the evening from memory.Still write everything in a note book,one of these days I might put it all on the computer.

bassfisherjk reply :

I forgot to say that I record each trip in the evening from memory.Still write everything in a note book,one of these days I might put it all on the computer.

bassfisherjk reply :

I forgot to say that I record each trip in the evening from memory.Still write everything in a note book,one of these days I might put it all on the computer.

A-Jay reply :

If you are utilizing GPS, don't forget to log way points ~ were applicable.

And if you're a believer, like me, moon phases get logged as well.

A-Jay

A-Jay reply :

If you are utilizing GPS, don't forget to log way points ~ were applicable.

And if you're a believer, like me, moon phases get logged as well.

A-Jay

A-Jay reply :

If you are utilizing GPS, don't forget to log way points ~ were applicable.

And if you're a believer, like me, moon phases get logged as well.

A-Jay

Lund Explorer reply :

In the old days, I used to keep fairly detailed records of my efforts, and then tried to tie in each days report into sections based on specific lakes, and by the seasons.

Most of it was to keep track of tournament results, so I never counted dinks, just keepers and big bass. I also didn't bother too much with many of the weather factors. I would breakdown the records by the three seasons (none for winter), and then breakdown each season a little further. Spring for instance was for water temps, and pre-spawn, spawn, and post-spawn.

Quite honestly, I could never see the use of a detailed weather record when my fishing days were dictated by weekends when I didn't have to work, and tournament directors who had the final say in what lake/river we were fishing.

I've sort of let my fishing logs fall by the wayside the last couple of years once the desire to fish tournaments left me. Thanks to Goose though, I'm going to take up the effort again. It should be interesting to see if I can hit a few goals once I've figured out what they should be.

Lund Explorer reply :

In the old days, I used to keep fairly detailed records of my efforts, and then tried to tie in each days report into sections based on specific lakes, and by the seasons.

Lund Explorer reply :

In the old days, I used to keep fairly detailed records of my efforts, and then tried to tie in each days report into sections based on specific lakes, and by the seasons.

Fishing Rhino reply :

Though I posted the link to the log on this site, I don't keep any written records. Too much like work.

I was a commercial lobsterman, and I have a stack of notebooks about three feet high, in which I recorded the loran bearings of every trawl I set from the 70s to 1997.

I recorded the date set, the date hauled, the number of pots in the trawl, and how many keepers I got out of each trawl.

The prime purpose for the loran C unit was two fold. When you are fishing up to 70 ten pot trawls, and you lose both ends, it makes it much simpler to locate, and grapple it up.

The second, and equally important to locating all the gear was that I had a record of the better fishing bottom at various stages of the season.

When prospecting yielded poor results, I could avoid repeating my mistakes and setting there in the future. Hot spots were easy to return to in future seasons.

I clearly know that keeping accurate records will, in the long run, yield better catches, regardless of the type of fishing involved.

I'm just not that detailed when it comes to recreational fishing. It's what I like about fishing. We each go about it in a way that gives us the most pleasure.

Some guys want a trophy even if it means getting skunked several times in the attempt. For others, it's all about numbers. Some fish for bass, others for trout, walley, or whatever.