The brain is an amazing tool. However, as we age it gets easier for some
important information to slip our mind. Writing information down makes it easier
for most of us to remember it and use it later especially as we age. Recording
enhances learning, as most of the classes you took in school may have
demonstrated depending on how good you were at paying attention instead of
daydreaming of fishing. Writing down important fishing data in a logbook creates
a permanent record for use in the future.
Principally, you need to get in the habit of record keeping because there is
just too much fishing information out there to hold it all inside your head!
Especially when it comes to learning new information, your memory is an
inconsistent record keeper. You may be able to tell me the exact location of the
rock your jig rolled over when that trophy Largemouth you got mounted 10 years
ago or the first tournament win so I'll let you have that. At the same time
however, research clearly tells us that there are likely to be numerous details,
some of which might be worth remembering, from that very same trip that you
forget.
Recording Devices
Tracking tools are designed to reinforce, not replace, the memory bank in your
head. Printed or electronic records don't forget! Your notebook and your
computer program, unlike your personal memory bank, are unlikely to deteriorate!
I recommend carrying some type of portable recording device like a small
notebook or a small tape recorder you can keep in your pocket, while you are on
the water. While you will likely keep permanent records in a filing cabinet or
in a computer program, I don't like taking these records out in your boat for
fear of them accidentally falling out of the boat.
Fishing Log
Accumulating your own database of knowledge about what works when, on what body
of water, and under what seasonal and weather conditions. To make creating a
fishing log easier, build an outline for yourself that you can fill out during
or after each trip. You can make up your own mind here about what to record but
I've decided to include what I have on my list to give you some ideas:
- Lake
- Date
- Weather conditions
- Water conditions
- Type of cover fished and depth range
- Type of structure fished and depth range
- Lures used
- Presentations used
- Specific spots/GPS coordinates
- Patterns observed
- Conclusion
Sitting around waiting your turn to come off the lake at the end of the day is a
great time to pull out this notebook and fill in the data.
Recording Tournaments
If you fish tournaments, you might want to set up a special log for tournament
events. Here you can include your own information, as well as the data you
gather from others. During the weigh-in its a good idea to talk to the other
competitors to find out what they did and what there take on the day was. You
will also want to find out what the winners patterns were and how they adjusted
during the day. Also, most anglers will spill out everything that they did after
they won an event so be sure to pay attention to this for future reference.
Regardless of where you finished personally, you want to come away from each
event with a basic understanding and record of what worked and what didn't! A
tape recorder can make this work a little bit easier and will allow you to play
back the tape so you can write down the information later.
No matter how much you decide to record in your logbook it will help reinforce
what your brain can remember. The more detailed your logbook the more it will
help you in the future.
David Bromenshenkel
classicbass.com Field Staff
