Keeping a fishing journal

LilOrange

Thinking about keeping a fishing journal of our trips out in the Gulf. I’ve never kept a fishing journal before and have a lot of questions. I figured others on the Forum probably keep a fishing journal & thought I could pick your brains.
• In general, what do folks think about keeping a fishing journal?
• Is it helpful?
• What kind of information should you keep track of? — date/time, location, crew members, weather conditions, wind speed/direction, sea conditions, GPS coordinates, water depth, lure/bait used, fish catch details, general notes......what else?
• How much detail do you write down?
• Do you keep a handwritten notebook or write it up on the computer?
• What format & style do you use....just make up your own or use a format/template found on the internet?
• Are there pre-made templates or programs out there to use?

Please educate me on what folks have found that work best. Any & all comments & suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance for your input.

acarb

Molly gave me her Dora the Explorer note pad for the boat,just a real sweet "here daddy you can use it on the boat". I am like awwww, and i put it on the boat to make her happy.WELL... the next trip me and my buddy Earl are prospecting. We run over a little somthin and i hit mob.We lit the Kings and bobos up!I am not real good at editing my machine and wanted to take some notes. Dora was all that we had on the boat! Dora is now the official Lil Bit fishing journal. I keep the dates and times on it , with who caught what and what they caught it on etc.The guys give me a little s... about it but its cool.I believe it is helpful as my memery is getting shorter with age. I am thinkin about trying to find a Captain Caveman notebook for an upgrade!

85okhai

Been thinking about doing this myself. Will probably try and do it this year if i can remember. I think it is helpful especially if you have a bunch of spots, cus I know that I can barely remember which spots I fished.

Red Fish

If I bottom fished with any regularity I would dang sure keep a log.

If your half way decent with MS Excel you can make a quick spreadsheet and print out some pages and slap them in a 3 ring binder. I know a few guys who buy the write-in-the-rain books. They are more expensive but you can drop it in the GOM pick it up and write in it.

LilOrange

acarb wrote: »

Molly gave me her Dora the Explorer note pad for the boat,just a real sweet "here daddy you can use it on the boat". I am like awwww, and i put it on the boat to make her happy.WELL... the next trip me and my buddy Earl are prospecting. We run over a little somthin and i hit mob.We lit the Kings and bobos up!I am not real good at editing my machine and wanted to take some notes. Dora was all that we had on the boat! Dora is now the official Lil Bit fishing journal. I keep the dates and times on it , with who caught what and what they caught it on etc.The guys give me a little s... about it but its cool.I believe it is helpful as my memery is getting shorter with age. I am thinkin about trying to find a Captain Caveman notebook for an upgrade!

That's awesome about using her Dora the Explorer note pad.......whatever works though. My memory is like yours; that's one of the main reasons I'm going to try to keep a journal this year.

Red Fish wrote: »

If your half way decent with MS Excel you can make a quick spreadsheet and print out some pages and slap them in a 3 ring binder. I know a few guys who buy the write-in-the-rain books. They are more expensive but you can drop it in the GOM pick it up and write in it.

I've heard of folks using MS Excel & I'm pretty good at using it but I thought MS WORD might be easier to type it up journal style. So, that's what I've started using to just play around with. And, I've got the same thought of printing out the pages & putting them in a three-ring binder.......I've already started setting up my binder. I'm thinking about just keeping a notepad on the boat to jot down notes while we're fishing & then later at home transfer that info in more detail to my computer journal.

Thanks for the input, guys.

Panhandler80

I'm not quite as good about it as I'd like to be, but at least mark down date, distance, bearing, and fish caught. Also note down who was on board and when I fuel up.

In addition to this I keep a maintenance log. Probably should add this to the "What makes a good captain" thread.

Ships log... 42 pages of what you see below. Each line represents something significant. Most are a fishing trip and all are one sea day. There are 20 lines per page... yeah that means I've spent 2.3 years of my life on that **** boat! ;-) It's also cool to be able to go back and see that on Feb 8, 1998 we killed grouper and snapper and onboard was my grandfather who's no longer with us. He's one of several in the log book that are no longer with us and I swear to you that when I read through this log book, I can remember each trip like it was yesterday. Without it all those trips just kind of blend together.

Ships log...





Then there is the maintenance log...

Here I have documented the following...

Oil and Filter Change, and when a quart or two or three or four were added
Gear oil change and strainer check
Engine Zincs
Bottom work and running gear zincs
Air filter
Battery maintenance and replacement
Racor
Small fuel filter
water filter
Coolant
Engine pumps (raw water and freshwater)
Heat exchangers (water, fuel and oil)
Stuffing boxes
water tank
Miscellaneous (macerator pump, livewell pumps, sump pump, bilge pumps, electronics change, cutlass bearings replaced two years ago, rebuild alternator, 1" out of wheel, new auto pilot pump, strainer on washdown pump, new VHF, new isinglass, windshield wiper motor, new carpet, etc)

LilOrange

That "Ship's Log" is pretty cool, PH. I like that a lot....I'll have to check into finding one of those. I like how it's set up. Don't know why I haven't thought of a maintenance log for the boat??? I do that for all of my other vehicles (cars/trucks/etc.)....great idea. Thanks for the input.

upinthewater

Obviously from the number of responses there are a great deal of different things to take into consideration. I do keep a log, in a drop it in the gulf books, and beyond the day and stops I made, the most important thing i write down is who was on the boat. I find remembering and/or naming a place comes with who was on the boat, helps when you are considering making your next stop of the day. You might think I remember I was with Jake in July on Juno's Boat and we had a big bite on the Triple J place, and now it is a year later in July and that will pass through your head I promise.

Panhandler80

Names also are good to have when somebody asks you to sign off on sea days for them.

Beck

I decided to start a journal after last season. I used to rely on memory, but my trips and years begin to blur. I find myself thinking, "was that last year or two years ago?" or "did I catch fish there in the fall or was it summer?"

I want to have better records of what spots are more productive under which circumstances.

I also want to have records of who fished with me and when. I picked up a Weems & Plath sportfishing log......

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1366547403.355319.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1366547445.903247.jpg

LilOrange

Beck wrote: »

I picked up a Weems & Plath sportfishing log......

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1366547403.355319.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1366547445.903247.jpg

Thanks for the suggestion, Beck. Where did you get it?

Panhandler80

Mine's a 1998 model...

Beck

LilOrange wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestion, Beck. Where did you get it?

http://www.amazon.com/Weems-Plath-The-Sportfishing-Log/dp/B000IMYYM0

Hutch316

Bought a 4x8 hardbound journal. When we arrive on a hole I put the name of the hole and date. When we get ready to leave the hole I right down exactly what was caught- size, amount. At the end of each year I transfer all the info into another book that has all the fishing holes listed (one for each page). When Im on the water I always reference the book's for previous success or the lack there of. Wouldnt hit the water without it these days and always fun to read back through and remanise about past trips.

LilOrange

That's a good idea, Hutch, about organizing the info by spot in another book. That'll give you a quick reference/history of each spot. Thanks for sharing your tip.

Old Dog

I have done this since '79 in notebooks, then before 2000 I started keeping fishing logs in Word document format. I try to include the 5 W's: who, what, where, when, why, and also the how in some cases. I always cut/paste the tides for the day of fishing, and the weather reports, and include them in the document.

When I can I include reduced-in-size fishing photos from originals that I have saved in my fishing folder on the computer and I use Photoshop Elements to try to improve the quality of the photos, and add text noting place and people.

If you are going to do a computer journal remember to regularly back-up your data and photos to another drive.
OD

smooth move

I've been using this one and like it. www.fishtaleslog.com

Panhandler80

Maintenance log reminded me on Wed that it was time for $400 worth of filters, oil and zincs.

Going to be a fun day today. Hoping to be finished by derby time and then she'll be sitting in the slip ready to slay some bottom critters next weather window. Yeee haw!

LilOrange

smooth move wrote: »

I've been using this one and like it. www.fishtaleslog.com

Thanks for the suggestion.......I kinda like it's set up.

Panhandler80 wrote: »

Maintenance log reminded me on Wed that it was time for $400 worth of filters, oil and zincs.

Going to be a fun day today. Hoping to be finished by derby time and then she'll be sitting in the slip ready to slay some bottom critters next weather window. Yeee haw!

Hence the reason to keep some kind of log/record......to jog the ole memory. Just yesterday I referenced the maintenance books for my vehicles & realized it was time to rotate tires on my truck & my wife's car.....so, got that done yesterday afternoon. Hope your maintenance work went ok without a hitch.

By the way, I stopped by West Marine while I was down on the coast last weekend and looked at a couple of different versions of the Weems & Plath log books that you & Beck had suggested. Just have to make up my mind after all the great suggestions from this thread.

Panhandler80

Well, as always... it went smooth, uh.... for the most part. The zinc in the heat exchanger wouldn't come out. So, I got to take the cap off it. Low and behold, the tubes were all pretty well gunked up. Rammed most of them, got all the zinc pieces parts out, buttoned her back up and then ran the engine for a while on the old water filter to catch the crud from the tubes in the heat exchanger. Of course that gasket would not re-seat and the new ones are a RIP off. So, loosened, giggled a little and re-tightened the cap on the heat exchanger and as of now it's no longer leaking. We'll see.

Bigger problem is that I somehow managed to knock the dipstick while changing filters and it now leaks at the block. I've tapped the block, and now need to have a machinist make me a new dipstick collar with some threads on the end. I think I know just the guy... hopefully he can crank something out for me this week in short order.

Always something. Going to go after some jacks and red groupers if we get her all put back together (likely) and the weather lays down (of course unlikely to coincide with a Saturday).

LilOrange

Panhandler80 wrote: »

Well, as always... it went smooth, uh.... for the most part. The zinc in the heat exchanger wouldn't come out. So, I got to take the cap off it. Low and behold, the tubes were all pretty well gunked up. Rammed most of them, got all the zinc pieces parts out, buttoned her back up and then ran the engine for a while on the old water filter to catch the crud from the tubes in the heat exchanger. Of course that gasket would not re-seat and the new ones are a RIP off. So, loosened, giggled a little and re-tightened the cap on the heat exchanger and as of now it's no longer leaking. We'll see.

Bigger problem is that I somehow managed to knock the dipstick while changing filters and it now leaks at the block. I've tapped the block, and now need to have a machinist make me a new dipstick collar with some threads on the end. I think I know just the guy... hopefully he can crank something out for me this week in short order.

Always something. Going to go after some jacks and red groupers if we get her all put back together (likely) and the weather lays down (of course unlikely to coincide with a Saturday).

Sounds like you have my kind of luck......nothing ever goes easy & those little, simple "15-minute" projects turn in to all day, knock-down, drag-out ordeals! Hopefully the worst is behind you on that work project. Good luck on that nice Saturday weather lining up.....hasn't happen much so far this spring. It's got to get better before long.

LilOrange

smooth move wrote: »

I've been using this one and like it. www.fishtaleslog.com

Hey Smooth....I looked up this suggestion and am interested in it. I tried to find images online of what the inside pages looked like, but no luck. If you get a chance would you mind posting a photo or two of what the inside pages look like....I'm curious about their format & setup. Thanks in advance.

salty_dawg

LilOrange wrote: »

Hey Smooth....I looked up this suggestion and am interested in it. I tried to find images online of what the inside pages looked like, but no luck. If you get a chance would you mind posting a photo or two of what the inside pages look like....I'm curious about their format & setup. Thanks in advance.

There is also a iPhone app called Fish Tales which looks pretty good. Can't find the same for droid so i can't speak to how effective it is. If my company would ever switch to Apple devices, I'd give it a shot.

LilOrange

salty_dawg wrote: »

There is also a iPhone app called Fish Tales which looks pretty good. Can't find the same for droid so i can't speak to how effective it is. If my company would ever switch to Apple devices, I'd give it a shot.

I saw that the other day while doing some internet searches. Just don't think I'd use that format very much. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

blewitupsir

Thought I would share what I use. I go thru several of these a year. They are affordable, and have spots for all the data you would like to log. Best of all the pages are water resistant.

Panhandler80

Delete

LilOrange

blewitupsir wrote: »

Thought I would share what I use. I go thru several of these a year. They are affordable, and have spots for all the data you would like to log. Best of all the pages are water resistant.

Thanks for sharing. I'll take a look at their website.

Panhandler80 wrote: »

I posted my ships and maintenance log... Fishing log is like this... A little crude, but I works

That's about what mine looks like right now..........if I think to write anything down, that is. LOL!!! Hence, the reason I want to get better organized.

Panhandler80

Yeah, here I am planning a trip in a hotel room last summer....



The most important thing really is to note general distance and bearing so you know how a particular AREA fished on a given date. That's pretty simple and at the very least something everybody should do.

crcattypc

Stop giving away #'s blair!!