Fly fishing journals

[Justice League]

I have used several journals over the years. They were very hard to use when out on the river. The first reason is I had no room in my vest for my box of 64. Also when you are holding the journal in the middle of the river it is very hard to color in the lines and elmo just does not look as good. Now I just keep my journal at home but sometimes I take it to the restuarant and color while I wait. ?




Jason

[Bluegill222]

Gnu Bee--

I've had the same happen here, in fact I'm loosing one of the best little streams in the area to silt from a housing project upstrem that must have been blindfolded when they placed their erosion barriers. I can understand why you tossed that journal in disgust, but it's a shame since that might have been one of the few connections left to the way your streams were and could serve as a powerful example current waters in peril. I plan to use my notes for just such a purpose when such a situation arises (sadly, around here it's when, not if).

Flybinder--
I started out that way myself, but very quickly realized that the parts I was going back to and reliving were the parts that were less log and more diary, so the records I keep have shifted in the direction of memories rather than details. But man, wouldn't it be great to have that resource at your fingertips for your favorite piece of water?!

Justice--
I only carry the box of eight out on the stream and who cares about staying in the lines!

[hutjensmpg]

I've been keeping a journal for 2 years on the suggestion of the local fly shop. I don't use it much to decide on what flies, etc, because I pretty much know that for the rivers I fish and drop in to local shops to buy some stuff when I travel. But I do like to go back and read it sometimes because I learn things that I haven't thought of before - usually like whatever picked up the odd fish on a tough day that then worked again. I also like to document the happenings of the day and who I fished with. Data type things I keep are outside temp, type of weather, water temp and level, and what and where I caught fish. I also keep a wildlife notes section for the birds and animals I saw. It gets me through the winter!

[Thunderthumbs]

I love to write, so keeping a journal of fishing and hunting trips is sort of a no-brainer for me. In fact I've written a book on some of my fishing adventures from some of my journals, I just haven't gotten it published yet...I must confess that I've been a bit lazy.

Most of my writing is the memorable stuff, not so much minute details. I find myself writing in the styles I prefer to read, so keeping heavy details isn't up my ally.

TT.

[Bluegill222]

Thunderthumbs--

Cool. Be sure to let me know when the book happens!

[cwtob]

I started keeping a journal a couple of years ago and wish I had started sooner. I've had a few cases where I remember doing well on a certain river from a year or two ago, but I definitely don't remember all the details. Keeping a journal has helped me with this. Through time, I anticipate the log helping me find trends in what influences catch rates.

My friends and I had wanted to design a fishing log back in college but it took awhile for the thought to come to fruition. I've used some of the fishing log sites online and while I think most of them are pretty good, they usually lacked one thing or another that I wanted. So I invested a bunch of the time the past year+ building up my online fishing log site at:

http://onlinefishinglog.com

One of things I really like about the site is the ability to do queries on your fishing logs or all public fishing logs. This is one area that I think computers have a big advantage over keeping a written log. I can perform queries to find things like "What color of stimulator works best on overcast days in October?"