Journal for 2009? (Edit: or 2012?)

[Fishidiot]

It's that time of year to decide whether we want to maintain a fishing journal for the new year. I'm undecided. Back in the 1980s I was a meticulous fly fishing journal keeper. Every trip I took was logged with info about the trip, fish caught, air/water conditions, flies used, etc. Half way thru the 1989 season I quit. Keeping the journal simply became work and I lost interest in it. It also occured to me that I no longer wanted to keep track of the fish I'd caught. In 2006, I kept a journal again for the first time in years and it was great fun and I seem to recall posting about it on this, or some other, website. Looking back at previous trips and the photos from them is enjoyable and, for folks with an aptitude for statistics, makes for interesting comparisons between years. Maybe 2009 will be another "journal year."

 

[dave1432]

I've been keeping one for a couple years. It can't hurt, and it's always fun to read through it and remember the good days. It can be very useful to know exactly when a certain insect comes off the first time of the year and when the fishing is best, what flies work when, and so on.

 

[JackM]

Decided to keep one in 2008. First entry was 1/6, last entry was 4/26. Lost interest after that. Just now read it over and learned absolutely nothing useful other than how poor of an angler I was between 1/6 and 4/26.

 

[JakesLeakyWaders]

I kept a journal 08', missed a few entries, misplaced journal, and had to keep some mental notes till I found it missed a few entries.
Journal is in the last 25 pages of a leatherbound pocket fly fishing guide book that was a gift several years ago. I would like to buy a dedicated journal and copy my logs on to it, but I haven't found a journal for fly fishing like this one has columns for air temp, water temp, species, fly selection, weather, date, times fished, special notes, equipment, etc. Makes it really hard to leave any details out. My journal has some sporadic entries back to 05' or so.

 

[Mark_Griffin]

[color=000000]Yeah, 2009 will be my 30th consecutive year for a daily trout fishing journal that started in '80. In '78 and '79 I just kept a list of how many trout I caught from what waters. I now have 2,223 days of trout fishin' logged by hand in schoolboy note books, old school style. I have a lotta fun with 'em.

Here's some stats from that period-[/color]
[color=CC0000]http://www.wtv-zone.com/markg/sum/80-07.html[/color]

[color=000000]I haven't updated for 2008 yet 'cuz my 12 month season starts on 3/1 and ends after February.[/color]

 

[Acristickid]

I too have kept a journal. Started out very meticulously in the beginning of the year but enteries and interest waned as a few months passed.

Actually; I used the stream reports on here as journal but I got away from that after awhile as well.

Someday I will wish I wrote down all of my excursions- oh well I guess.

 

[dryflyguy]

I kept a fishing log my first 3- 4 years of flyfishing - in th early '80's - then lost interest in it and quit

 

[shipnfish2006]

I've kept a journal every year since 1997. It's pretty cool to look back and remember the special days on the water. Plus to find out that 2008 was my worst year for trout since 1997... Thank you CPA exam...

The only thing I've really learned is exact dates of heavy hatches on certain bodies of water. It helps me plan trips in the spring a little better. Other than that it is purely for personal enjoyment.

 

[jaybo41]

There is definately benefit beyond personal enjoyment to keeping a journal. Hatches, specific spots on the streams, out of the way streams that you "stumble upon" etc. I tried a couple of times to keep one and it always starts off good, then drops off. I'm sure that well kept journals with years of writing are gems, I just can't seem too keep up with them though.

 

[Mike]

I've been keeping a journal for the past few years because I switch targeted species so often. If I strictly fished for trout I probably wouldn't bother unless I wanted to note hatch dates for a particular stream. But even that varies with annual weather patterns. I find that for large stream and river fishing, particularly for smallmouth bass in late spring through early fall, recording info on flow is particularly beneficial because differences in flow can make all of the difference in catch rates and length distribution of the catch.

 

[Chaz]

I've kept records in the past, but it wasn't as detailed as I'd like, but this year I lplan to keep a detailed journal. I'll et you know how it goes.

 

[afishinado]

Mike wrote: "I find that for large stream and river fishing, particularly for smallmouth bass in late spring through early fall, recording info on flow is particularly beneficial because differences in flow can make all of the difference in catch rates and length distribution of the catch."


Mike, can you share some of your observations on how SM bass fishing is effected by flow, weather, or other factors?


Rather than move this thread off on a tangent, I've copied and posted it under "Warm Water FF".

 

[JustFish]

I like to keep journals. I think it is fun and useful. I have already referenced to journals from previous years. I record stream flows, water and air temp. Overcast or sunny, bugs coming off, and fish caught and what fly I was using.

 

[dryflyguy]

A few years, one of my buddies started taking a digital recorder with him to record the days fishing results.
I think that would be fine OK the short term, but I'm sure it would be better to have things written down for the long run

 

[flyfishermanj]

I have hard time keeping up with the hand written journal, though I do try every year. I found the site a few years ago My Daily Fishing Log. Since I'm usually on the computer daily, I fill this out and later transfer the info over to my journal at a later date.

JH

 

[wgmiller]

I like that site, thanks for sharing! I've already entered my two trips from this year and this will become my log. I'll just jot notes down streamside and enter the info when I get home.

 

[jayL]

I'm not much of the type to keep up with something like this. I'd love to do it, but I don't see how I'd stay dedicated. I have enough trouble keeping detailed notes at work, which really pisses my boss off, so there's probably no way I'd let that kind of nonsense creep into my fishing life. Bad vibes around note keeping for me. Perhaps it's burnout from a college career that's all to fresh in my mind.

 

[PaulG]

Flyfisherman

I've been using My daily fishing log, for a few years, easy to use and works fine for me!

PaulG

 

[Crotalus]

Thanks for the great link flyfishermanj, it is just what i have been looking for.

I have tried keeping a blog in the past but with no forms it was just free flowing and I quickly lost interest.

This year i picked up a fly fishing specific journal at Gander Mtn. I hope to do a better job with it, but i think i would prefer a web based version better.

 

[Fishidiot]

Decided to refresh this thread after nearly a year. As it turns out, I did keep a journal through this fishing season and enjoyed doing it. I probably won't keep a journal again for at least a couple years. This was a journal dedicated only to fly fishing so I did not record spin fishing although this year I pretty much fished exclusively with fly gear anyway so wound up reporting almost all of my fishing. The journal was hardcopy scrapbook type ring binder with printed photos pasted in. It was a good year in the sense that I had many more opportunities to fish than in most recent years (and I took those opportunities! ). However, many of my trips didn't involve catching a lot of fish. This was esp true for saltwater. I fished in the Keys, Maine, and New Jersey (posted reports on many of them here on PAFF) but my success was very poor. Probably the most enjoyable fishing trips for me in 2009 were the PAFF JAMs at Coburn and Erie. Unforgetable.
For those of you who kept a journal this year - how'd it turn out for you? If you decide to keep a fishing journal in 2010, here's wishing you lots of fun with it.