I kept a diary for 30 years during my match fishing days. Winning results and peg number, winning methods and river conditions. I found it a very useful aide memoire. It was pre computer days and all hand written in a hard backed A4 notebook. I don't do it now having learnt all I want to know. Pete.
Record keeping
- Thread starter rich66
- Start date
Really if you are going to be serious about your fishing, Competition wise you really need to keep records and the more detail you go into the better.
I used to do this to silly pedantic levels, it really is surprising how much you forget. It's a l so surprising how the notes stop you remaking mistakes, mine was all in books I had books per venue, because if you can't read them back they are pointless, nowadays with the benifits of technology it would be exceptionally easy to create a log and search within it.
I don't do this much now, I'm not fishing for anything else now other than pure pleasure.
I used to do this to silly pedantic levels, it really is surprising how much you forget. It's a l so surprising how the notes stop you remaking mistakes, mine was all in books I had books per venue, because if you can't read them back they are pointless, nowadays with the benifits of technology it would be exceptionally easy to create a log and search within it.
I don't do this much now, I'm not fishing for anything else now other than pure pleasure.
The Runner
Well-known member
Frustrating place , Broadwater, wasn't it (and I assume still is). When we had matches on it could just as easily be won with a pound as with 30+. Always said that if I was a speci hunter I would never have fished anywhere else though.
Still fishes well for pike which I assume must feed on the signal crays as not sure there's much else in there small enough for them to eat these days. After the washing plant closed and the water went clear and weedy the bream got huge but the roach and silver bream just about disappeared
I kept very detailed journals in my youth, I enjoyed recording my fishing trips in nice hardback books with little maps and diagrams included. They have long since been lost and I regret this now.
Nowadays I take pictures with my mobile and occasionally do a little write-up of my angling trips, I save these as pdf files and have put a few on here as blog posts. I save these mainly for my own little archive for the kids, I also do this for cycling trips we go on, recording their little milestones etc.
I only fish for pure pleasure, I never weigh fish caught, and lack the time to record things in great detail, but I would love to have continued in my hardback books and built up a nice archive. This would in a large part be due to my stationery addiction!
If you have the time, it would be rewarding and interesting to record your fishing adventures.
Nowadays I take pictures with my mobile and occasionally do a little write-up of my angling trips, I save these as pdf files and have put a few on here as blog posts. I save these mainly for my own little archive for the kids, I also do this for cycling trips we go on, recording their little milestones etc.
I only fish for pure pleasure, I never weigh fish caught, and lack the time to record things in great detail, but I would love to have continued in my hardback books and built up a nice archive. This would in a large part be due to my stationery addiction!
If you have the time, it would be rewarding and interesting to record your fishing adventures.
It can be a pain but I have kept records for many years. Paper to start but I went all "digital" a few years ago...so basically I type it rather than scribble it now.
Usually quite basic notes.. Location, catch approx time fished plus anything else specific that I may want to detail. I also note whether I took a photo ...always helpful if you have a stack of photos and cant remember which fish was from where.
I dont know if its helped me catch more fish but it has helped me remember some details such as locations which I have not visited for a long time & may have forgotten where exactly it was & so on.
Usually quite basic notes.. Location, catch approx time fished plus anything else specific that I may want to detail. I also note whether I took a photo ...always helpful if you have a stack of photos and cant remember which fish was from where.
I dont know if its helped me catch more fish but it has helped me remember some details such as locations which I have not visited for a long time & may have forgotten where exactly it was & so on.
Daniel,I think it all depends what sort of person you are,at present I have a pretty good memory,but during my match fishing days it would have been better undoubtedly,I can remember sessions in my youth,let alone then,shottings,swims,depths,even floats,match angling above a certain level needs an active mind,which probably equates to a good memory too....
steve2
Well-known member
If you keep notes of every match and every trip surely that can lead you up the garden path. No two days will ever be the same in fishing what worked yesterday may not even work today. Even the same swims can change day by day, year on year.
I also know that when I have returned to waters my memory of what they were is better than what they have now become.
I also know that when I have returned to waters my memory of what they were is better than what they have now become.
Oh this is very true, fortunately I have a good memory. However it would surprise you how it helps. Its little things. Like @steve2 says correctly below no two days are the same and fish also change the rules on us like women mate
That said I think it helped me pick up a few more brown envelopes than I would of otherwise had back in my match fishing days.
Keith M
Well-known member
I went through a stage when my mate and I kept detailed logs of all our Carp, Barbel and Tench trips with maps of all the waters and swims we fished with depths marked out, detailed bait info and boilee recipes together with our catch results.
We were both meteorologists in the RN at the time so we also used to record the wind speed & direction, the air and water temperatures and temperature trends, plus air pressure info and visibility info plus any precipitation etc. each time we went.
I no longer keep any logs but still find reading my old logs on a cold winters eve quite interesting and you could start to notice certain weather patterns that meant more chance of us having a good night or days fishing.
Keith
We were both meteorologists in the RN at the time so we also used to record the wind speed & direction, the air and water temperatures and temperature trends, plus air pressure info and visibility info plus any precipitation etc. each time we went.
I no longer keep any logs but still find reading my old logs on a cold winters eve quite interesting and you could start to notice certain weather patterns that meant more chance of us having a good night or days fishing.
Keith
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Just because fishing changes day to day doesn't mean that having total amnesia - start every day afresh - would lead to better results. People, I'm pretty sure, settle into keeping whatever records they find useful or pleasurable to do, and it's pointless to imply they're wrong. I also don't get the false distinction between using your memory and having something written down - they are two sides of the same coin, and one reason why writing, as a system, proved such a valuable invention is that it serves as an external memory that holds more, and more reliably, than a person's head.
Another memory point: there's a difference between memory and recall. A flick through any of the notes I've made in a notebook or whatever reminds of things which I knew, but had forgotten I knew!
Another memory point: there's a difference between memory and recall. A flick through any of the notes I've made in a notebook or whatever reminds of things which I knew, but had forgotten I knew!
seth49
Well-known member
I buy a Calendar each year for my room, one with space to write in by each day, just the location, how many fish, any notable ones etc.
Do keep a running total of carp for each month as well, does give an idea of what to expect each month, depending on the weather.
Do keep a running total of carp for each month as well, does give an idea of what to expect each month, depending on the weather.
steve2
Well-known member
Unless you are fishing the same water, the same swim on the same day every day starts afresh.
Do people take all their notes with them or just refer to them when get back home and say that what I should have done or do they plan the day around their notes?
For me, there's no one method of using any notes or other records they are just part of the mulch that goes into your thinking, but a part I like.
I fish all kinds of waters and different swims on them, and naturally, it's about deciding how to fish on the day. But sometimes the water or swim or starting approach is chosen because I remember being there in similar circumstances or at a similar time of the year, and one reason I remember it clearly may well be because writing up a few notes after a previous visit inscribes them in the memory, whether I look at the record or not. So even a fresh start has its history and its roots in some other session.
As I said, people can use notes and records in all kinds of ways, and there's no mechanical formula.
I fish all kinds of waters and different swims on them, and naturally, it's about deciding how to fish on the day. But sometimes the water or swim or starting approach is chosen because I remember being there in similar circumstances or at a similar time of the year, and one reason I remember it clearly may well be because writing up a few notes after a previous visit inscribes them in the memory, whether I look at the record or not. So even a fresh start has its history and its roots in some other session.
As I said, people can use notes and records in all kinds of ways, and there's no mechanical formula.
No you are taking it too literally, if I may say so.
I cannot say nobody takes notes to the bankside, but I can say I think if they did they would be making a mistake.
I guess different people use the notes they make in different ways. There is no right or wrong formula for sucess. However It's important you fish the present day, read the signs use your watercraft to make the conclusions you need to maximise your day. If you're notes point to a particular outcome you experienced in the past, this could be key. If you can switch to that slightly larger roach 30 minutes earlier than you would of without you're ghost self from the past telling you, that's a significant advantage in a fish race that is a match.
Thats a nice idea for a very quick and simple way to jot down a few details with minimum effort.
no-one in particular
Well-known member
If you put it on excel you can use the data to determine what to expect based on the weather, baits, temps, venue, what ever criteria you want really, quick easy and doesnt require pouring over notes. It just sorts it very quickly. Say you just want to look at carp on venue A and bait B on a sunny day temp 65f-70f then it will sort that information very quickly, I have mine come up in graphs. I have done a bit more than that, a but it can be as simple as you want it and whatever criteria you want to enter. All I did was enter the data after I had been fishing, which took 5mins. Original I kept notes for a couple of years then someone gave me a computer and I entered everything from the notes with some adjustments but never looked back; a lot of you could probably do the same. I would have liked to have kept a personal diary aas well but for gleaning valuable information in a twinkling, excel is a boon. You have to learn how to use little formulas but I did it anyone can! The home computer age, take advantage of it. If only I had this when I was 20 and the imagination.
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flightliner
Well-known member
I have records of days fishing that go back some forty year now.Nothing to complex in detail , just a date, venue, the fish type and weight , sometimes the times caught but often not , maybe the odd indecipherable note that's for me only but generally a hotch potch of info with no real order to it but it's ok for me.
It's always in my ruckie along with a pen to make an entry when required , sometimes often sometimes not so but blanks are entered just the same .
I reckon I have some five books now both stored and in use and once in a while I enjoy looking back by reading thro them.
It's really interesting to see how my own fishing has changed over the years and tbh I'm glad I took what little effort was involved to log all those times I fished as the recall of some really enjoyable days by the waterside that were forgotten is really remarkable!
It's always in my ruckie along with a pen to make an entry when required , sometimes often sometimes not so but blanks are entered just the same .
I reckon I have some five books now both stored and in use and once in a while I enjoy looking back by reading thro them.
It's really interesting to see how my own fishing has changed over the years and tbh I'm glad I took what little effort was involved to log all those times I fished as the recall of some really enjoyable days by the waterside that were forgotten is really remarkable!