04-29-2012, 08:28 PM
[cool][#0000ff]While I am definitely one who has come to appreciate the "esoterics" of angling more than the science, I still maintain fishing logs. In addition to helping formulate plans for upcoming trips these logs also provide hours of wistful reminiscences on those cold winter nights when that's the closest I get to doing anything related to fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I may take it even further than you ladies. I have 3 separate logs...trips, waters and species. The first one is all the stuff you mentioned...plus notes and observations outside of the standard headings. The second is all the waters I fish during the year, with dates, weather, temps and species caught for each water. The third is obvious...a list of the species and the waters, dates and other pertinent info for each trip that produced the fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A bit of extra work after each trip, but over the years it allows a lot of interactive codgertation and remindercatin'. Can't tell ya how many times I have gone back and read about how I was catching fish on a certain lure...or technique...and then smack myself upside the haid when I realized I wasn't doing that no more nohow. Duh.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I am all about learning new things and improving my technique and results. But it never hurts to go back and remind yourself that some things are proven effective and you shouldn't abandon them for something with more sparkle and hype. Or, as I have heard it said "Dance with the girl ya brung to the dance."[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I do not take it to the extreme. I do not carry a notebook and take notes on the water. I have a pretty good memory for details and I do try to get the specifics down as quickly as possible after the trip is over. And the longer you wait to make the notes the easier it is to fudge a little and to "enhance" your log entries. Then, five years from now, when you read about that banner day on Pineview, who knows and who cares that it was only a semi-banner day? I won't tell if you won't.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I may take it even further than you ladies. I have 3 separate logs...trips, waters and species. The first one is all the stuff you mentioned...plus notes and observations outside of the standard headings. The second is all the waters I fish during the year, with dates, weather, temps and species caught for each water. The third is obvious...a list of the species and the waters, dates and other pertinent info for each trip that produced the fish.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]A bit of extra work after each trip, but over the years it allows a lot of interactive codgertation and remindercatin'. Can't tell ya how many times I have gone back and read about how I was catching fish on a certain lure...or technique...and then smack myself upside the haid when I realized I wasn't doing that no more nohow. Duh.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I am all about learning new things and improving my technique and results. But it never hurts to go back and remind yourself that some things are proven effective and you shouldn't abandon them for something with more sparkle and hype. Or, as I have heard it said "Dance with the girl ya brung to the dance."[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I do not take it to the extreme. I do not carry a notebook and take notes on the water. I have a pretty good memory for details and I do try to get the specifics down as quickly as possible after the trip is over. And the longer you wait to make the notes the easier it is to fudge a little and to "enhance" your log entries. Then, five years from now, when you read about that banner day on Pineview, who knows and who cares that it was only a semi-banner day? I won't tell if you won't.[/#0000ff]
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