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Posts: 1000
| Those of you who keep records of your fishing - can you tell me more about how/what you track and how you use that information? Especially curious to hear from those of you who have been doing it for +5 years.
Thanks! |
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Posts: 134
| Have been tracking the last 15 years. Just use excel spreadsheets. make headings for as many categories as you want. can always add more. Don't have a good answer how to use said information yet. Only tracking our LOTW catches. |
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Posts: 2327
Location: Chisholm, MN | I use excel but it's only so I don't forget the who, what, when, where and how's. No moon data or real times have been collected. |
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Posts: 8782
| I have a journal that I fill out in the boat, which goes into excel after the trip.
Date
Time
Length
Girth
Weight
Bait Type
Bait Colors
Lake
Location
Structure
Bottom Composition
Weather Conditions
Wind Direction
Wind Speed
Water Temp
Air Temp
Depth
Casting/Trolling
Moon Phase
Major/Minor times
Moon Position (rise/set/over/under)
Notes
Putting it into excel enables you to sort by lake, figure out your average size on various lakes, see fish caught on sunny days vs cloudy days, in the rain, number of fish caught on different lures, etc. Fun to play around with it during the winter months.
As for an actual use? For now, I fish when I am able and hope for the best, so the log isn't all that helpful. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | holy moly EA... and that had helped you catch how many 50s?  fishing locally I don't keep track of much except hours fished, and sizes of fish caught. on trips to lotw or mn I have found it helpful to put together a short trip report as to patterns, things to remember for next year etc. If a guy is on the water for a week and doesn't learn some new stuff he isn't thinking much... I put an outlook reminder in my calendar for the week before ...just some things to remember... just recently an old tactic we did a lot years ago put a couple 48+ in the bag...... there is simply too much remember and at times we forget old patterns etc...it's good to look back thru my old trip reports to remind me of spots, patterns, baits etc...
Edited by BNelson 8/16/2018 2:37 PM
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Location: Eastern Ontario | I kept a log for many years with most of the above categories then about 10 years ago after discovering that that all of the fish came from wet places on days ending with "Y" I gave it up
My log is in my head at my age it may soon be gone, but then it won't matter. I fish as often as I can and i'm not going to stay home because the sky's in the wrong place or the wind is from the wrong direction. warm water will often make me choose another species.
Edited by horsehunter 8/16/2018 2:53 PM
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | other than detail mapping spots using electronics and some rigging/trolling depth data for salmon fishing i don't see it being relevant. sunrise/sunset, moonrise/moonset and weather are changes and i believe in changes. get too dialed in and you can miss the bite that happens when it's not supposed to happen.
i'm with horsehunter ... old enough to just enjoy it and keep the log in my head. |
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Posts: 343
| I keep a limited journal and have for close to 30 years. I use it primarily as a helpful reminder of what waters are usually good during certain times of year and as a general guide on lure size, and type to begin my hunt with, making changes as conditions dictate. |
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | Never had, never will.... Heck, I still use Land marks to find my spots from 20 years ago !
Like most others have basically said …… They just keep records for the Heck of it.... What a waste of time.
Networking with others is much more valuable and Up To Date..... Just Fish !
Thus the saith the Silver Fox  |
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Posts: 4269
Location: Ashland WI | I think to each his own.
I started keeping a journal a few years back. It got to the point where I dreaded logging my data. Felt like work, so I quit doing it.
I totally get if someone else enjoys it though. I just didn't.
Edited by 14ledo81 8/17/2018 12:42 PM
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | The next fish I log, will be the first. |
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Posts: 252
| I have been keeping a fishing log for about 10 years.
But, I also keep it for other species too, so, it helps me keep up with best times to catch big stripers in the Cumberland river in Tennessee, white bass in certain rivers, smallmouths, etc.
If I don't write stuff down, I forget it.
The musky log has definitely taken me back to certain spots, during specific times of the year, and put me onto fish. I figure that I need all the help I can get...
I caught two fish this morning on a part of the lake that I never fish, throwing crappie colored tuff shads. Lost some fish and caught two. I will definitely log that into my book and most likely try it again in the future.
Edited by KentuckyMuskie 8/18/2018 2:58 PM
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Posts: 399
Location: WI | I do. The Muskies Inc Lunge Log. There's over 300,000 muskie catches recorded there and every MI member has unlimited access to all of them. |
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Posts: 99
Location: Tulsa, OK | I logged my catches and follows for quite a while. Basically the spot, the weather, wind, what lure and if caught (on 8 or during the cast) and date and time. I basically had figured out that some spots had fish on them in the same 2 hour windows regardless of weather. Some spots had fish on them at pretty close times based on certain conditions (wind, time of day...sunny or cloudy). This helped me optimize my milk run, but did not guarantee success. In the end, this was a lot of work and I started to log less and less and finally stopped doing it. Now I can only musky fish 1 week out of the year due to where I live and that is a Canada trip to Eagle. If for some reason I move back up North in to musky territory, I would probably start up again. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | Pointerpride102 - 8/17/2018 3:03 PM
The next fish I log, will be the first.
never a need to log fish when others will do it for you, right? :0) |
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Posts: 580
| I used to log everything from every trip, but now just do it for LOTW trips. Take notes and keep fairly detailed stats during the week including water temps and weather conditions, etc. What spots did we hit and what happened when we hit 'em. Unless it was a really active day, it's not hard to do so and it takes only a few minutes at the end of the day. Then, at the end of the trip I put it all into a narrative format to go along with the statistics, and I share the report with a handful of trusted guys. (I don't know if they all actually take the time to read the whole thing...lol...doesn't bother me if they don't).
I can see how some guys would find all that to be extremely tedious, but I actually enjoy doing all of it. Part of the whole experience for me. I don't know the extent to which it makes me a better angler, although like Brad there have been a few times that re-reading old reports has reminded me of a few patterns we've had going in years past. But otherwise, I do enjoy re-reading my reports, often times in the middle-of-winter months, and re-living the trip a little bit.
Again, totally understand its not for everyone. Heck, some people keep personal journals, diaries, etc. Some don't. No right or wrong. |
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Posts: 416
Location: Madtown, WI | I go a bit overboard, not so much with the logging but more with what I do with the data. I don't track anything different than what's been mentioned, with it in a spreadsheet you can drum up any statistic you can dream of. How much better is spot X than spot Y, best weather conditions, big bait - big fish, how much Lake X sucks, does the moon matter, etc etc etc. |
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Journaling/keeping records