A few years back, I got the idea to keep track of all of my fishing trips I took during the year.   I had been doing this with my hunting trips for several years, and thought it would be rather simple to do for fishing as well.  

     I keep all of this information on my computer, which makes it very easy to keep track of lots of different types of information.   I use Microsoft Excel, but you can use any type of spreadsheet software.   I start off by putting a title at the top of the page that tells what year the fishing log is for.   Then, I will put several different headings along the top of the page that indicate the different types of information that I like to keep track of.   In my fishing logs, these headings include the date, fisherman on the trip, body of water fished, weather conditions, water temperature, water clarity, number of fish landed, lures that caught fish (type of lure, size, and color) and number of fish caught on each, type of cover on which the fish were caught, and approximate weight of all the fish caught and the largest fish caught.   Finally, I will tally up the total number of fish and weight at the bottom of the page using a formula that automatically updates the total number every time I make an entry.   Just use the help feature in the program to help you learn how to total up the numbers.

     You could include any type of information that you feel would be helpful.   I find that keeping a fishing log has helped my fishing over the last few years.   Before I go to a particular body of water, I can go and look at my log from last year and see what types of baits produced the best during that particular time of year and what type of cover and the depth of water in which the fish were holding.   This may save me time once I get to the water, as I already have an idea as to what the fish may be doing.   Keeping this log also gives me another way to brag to my friend about all the bass I caught!!!

     Give it a try as it will help your fishing and it is fun to be able to look back on a season and evaluate how you did and think about all the good memories you had on the water.