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Posts: 434
Location: searchin for 50 | Do you guys keep a fishing Log ? I did when i first started muskie fishing. Now I don't . What are your thoughts? |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | no keepers. Every log, stick, rock and fish I catch goes right back into the water. m |
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Posts: 1636
| I have almost every muskie I have caught entered into my computer, but with minimal description. This year I'm going to keep a log and enter details in an organized format and hope to learn a ton from it. If anyone is interested in the format I'm using and a couple of websites to go to to get past weather information (if you come home from a trip and want to know the weather details on the days you fished) send me a PM and I will get it to you.
Edited by Reelwise 2/1/2007 1:08 PM
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Posts: 1316
Location: Madison, WI | mikie - 2/1/2007 1:05 PM
no keepers. Every log, stick, rock and fish I catch goes right back into the water. m
There's always one in a the bunch!! :P
Same as you, I use to keep a log, but don't anymore. It's a great way to see seasonal patterns... I probably should get back into it. |
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Posts: 434
Location: searchin for 50 | I figured iwould take a chance on that> Thats a good one Mikie. LOL Would be nice to have that info on past weather. Always forget what it was like when your done fishing. Format would be good too.
Edited by Raider150 2/1/2007 1:21 PM
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Posts: 8833
| I keep a pretty detailed log -- date, time, temp, water temp, wind speed and direction, where I caught the fish, how deep, on what, what color, water clarity, moon phase/rise/set, sunrise/set, major and minor periods, notes about retrieve speed, fronts moving in, etc.
I log follows, missed fish, figure 8 fish....
It will take me 20 years to have enough date to extrapolate any sort of patterns from it, so the log itself is pretty useless. What it does though is it forces me to be aware of all sorts of conditions that otherwise would be forgotten. I think that's a good thing, but I can't say I've caught a single fish that I could attribute to using the information in my fishing logs. |
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Posts: 1168
| Combination of handy notebook and computer documents that track each time out. More of a journal rather than a log. I've got times logged in my cell phone since I call my brother if he isn't with me. Info that I'll put down after the fact will be forecast and actual weather conditions, bait progressions and reason why I changed to different things (even if no fish are contacted), I'll do the same little description on why I went to the spots I did. Of course any fish contacts are added in there. I'll also include an estimate of how many others are targeting muskies on that water that day, if I know any of them, if I talked to any of them, etc. It's more of a stream of consciousness journal than it is a database. Reason for this is that I want to keep track of WHY I was hitting the spots I did, WHY I was using the baits I did, rather than just a record of what I was using when a fish hit. If anyone is with me I'll also include some highlights of our conversations regardless of topic but a definate is to give an overview of any BST's that were discussed.
These entries typically are a bit lengthy but can also be short. I have one from this last pattern that simply says: 28 June 2006 - WEED PATTERN!!!
Edited by ulbian 2/1/2007 1:40 PM
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Posts: 462
Location: Madison Wi. Chain | Being a member of muskies Inc. has its advantages. Lots of data in the lunge log that would be kept in a journal, but with a multitude of different anglers and years. I easily spend 1-2 hours just soaking in data on any body of water I am intending to fish, No log needed. BG |
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | WEED PATTERN......Very effective that day! Also another great thing to monitor/track is how much time Merckid talks about women and then compare that value to "actual face to face time" with a real live girl.
Edited by Pointerpride102 2/1/2007 2:32 PM
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Posts: 2024
| Fishing log = invaluable tool. I'll try to attach a screen shot of what mine looks like/includes. |
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | I used to, not anymore.
All I used it for anymore was a count of fish in the boat and the average size. Anytime I would have wanted to reference it, I was on the water and the computer was at home. Lots of stuff stored in the noggin however, hope that thing never crashes! |
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Location: The Yahara Chain | I used to keep everything on paper. In 2005 I started using a spreadsheet, I put 2006 on the same spreadsheet. It is very easy to do and everything is in one spot. I just note the time of catch and get all of the weather info from weather underground. I will use the same document for every year from now on. Just being able to look back at 2005's data helped me a lot this year. I can send you a copy if you are interested. |
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Posts: 16
| HEre is one I made up for trolling Lake St. Clair.
http://www.team-fishigan.com/FT/Muskie_v1.pdf |
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| The one thing that I have done that has actually helped me was to take a lake map and go through and note the month or seasonal period I have caught fish from spots on the lake. I just do it by month with May being designated by an M, June=JU, July=Jl and so on. Once I was done it really opened my eyes to the specific spots that are good each part of the year. Before that I didn't realize just how many fish were caught from certain spots specific times of the year. Guys with a lot of experience probably just have this in their head, but it really helps me narrow down seasonal movement/location. |
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| The only log that I have is a 1 by 6 that my dad made for me that has a 4 foot measure stick sunk down in it. It serves as a measure board on one side, and on the other I keep track of size, lake, lure, angler and date of any legal fish that were caught and measured.
Beav |
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Posts: 256
Location: Janesville | I use to also keep a musky log. The more I tought I knew what they were doing the more they act like women. You think you figured them out then they do something different and your back to starting over. right raider 150 |
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| A Fishing Log has been an invaluable tool for me. I use a pocket tape recorder to record all of my stats througout the day in the boat. When I have time (which usually doesn't happen until the off season) I play them back, put them in text format and look for patterns.
It has definately helped me dial in spots for specific conditions. I have found on large lakes like Vermillion. There are specific spots that are dominant with specific winds, specific sky conditions, and specific water temperatures. The spots that have all three going for them on any given day are my "A" spots. The time of day/angle of light penetration is another interesting component that appears to lead to spot specific activity at times as well.
All of the above, proved to be very helpful at the 2005 PMTT Championship. The "A" spots produced for the given conditions that weekend.
Josh Borovsky |
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| I do keep a log, but try to keep it simple, and record every catch right after it happens. I break the log down like this:
Size
Lake
Bait
Time of Day
Wind direction
Structure/Method of capture
Barometric Pressure
It only takes a minute or two to record and has been invaluable tool to me over the years, especially in tournaments where you often travel to the same places at the same times of the year. |
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Fishing Logs