Then I realized, I could do it for free on the Blogspot site (and ever since they let Uploading photos, … I can limit the space I use on my own little page)
I like to (need to) look back on “events”. I don’t need a catalogued dataBase, I remember the day, river (I only fish one ) etc. I just need help remembering say, the exact date (or year ), the name of someone, … details.
Funny, … I never need to look up WHICH fly I used or how I fished it.
I do keep a journal.
I keep track of the following;
Date.
Place fished, Name of Water and hole.
Time.
Weather,(Cloudy, sunny, rainy, etc.)
Air temp.
Water temp.
Humidity.
Wind, direction and speed.
Barometric pressure.
Water level.
Water Clarity.
"Hot fly(s)"and size.
Time fish started to hit.
Method fly was fished, swing,
dead drift etc.
Total fish caught and sizes.
Accompanied by, and fish they caught,
and flies they used.
I printed up a form and make copies
of it. Keep them in a 3 ring binder.
I can check out the weather stats
on the weather channel web page.
Just fill in the data!
To my suprise, sometimes the records
are very valuable. I can “tell” when
the fish may be active if i fish
under the same conditions I did on
a previous day. And then again…
Also lets me keep track of my fish
per year, and fish per hour.
I don’t keep weather 'n stuff. Most of the articles I did (do) for the Canada section come right out of the journal … so you can see the sort of info I jot down.
I like to be able to remember the date 'cause up here, (on my home waters), we go after sea run trout. The tides are probably the biggest factor on when the fish come in. (besides luck ).
John,
Very nice !! I like to jot down the info in the evening and put it up on the “blog” when I get the time.
I keep track of my days fishing a little bit differently. I use my Outlook calendar at work. I have one calendar for meetings & another for keeping track of my fishing experiences. I check my meeting calendar every day so it’s easy to update my fishing one. I update the day after I fish. I just go to the date I fished, open it up like I’m going to schedule a meeting and then enter my info. I put river / pond fished, where on the river I fished, how many fish I caught and what I caught them on. I have also started adding comments about hatches observed, who I fished with etc. At some point I will add air temp., water temp, weather conditions etc. I find it easy to use & review.
I’m a little wary of online journals. It’s difficult to tell who may have access to what you’ve written. I don?t think I would put location details online. I keep the odd details in an old book but most of the time I don’t write anything anywhere.
I have started using the creel at [url=http://flyangler.ca:b6d3a]http://flyangler.ca[/url:b6d3a]
It?s a basic creel that you can use to track outings. I’ve asked site admin and the information you put in is private. It only has pull down menus that are useful to fishers in Canada though. It has space for all the basic info and a little more.
If you know anything about spreadsheets you can do a nice easy to use fish journal with one. Also I used to carry a pen recorder, and kept exact records. I found the experience to actually detract from my fun so now I take an occaissional pic or two, but I work from memory, or experience whichever you like to call it. If you fish enough you get a feel for the conditions and how to approach things.
The journal worked, and if I was a guide or made my living in any way from fishing I might be a bit more serious about a journal as my system worked quite nicely. I just don’t want to be that structured in my recreation time.
I just don’t want to be that structured in my recreation time.
My feelings exactly, … I guess “Journal” isn’t the right word to describe it … I’m not structured, … the original in paper hard copy doesn’t even have lined pages
I look back on past season and I know there are day’s outings that aren’t even entered.
) etc. I just need help remembering say, the exact date (or year