Fishing Logs

Have I posted anything about keeping a Fishing Log before?  I mean, not the fact that I do it, but why and how?

There are a number of reasons to keep a fishing log.
1.  Record-keeping.  A Fishing Log allows you systematically record various metrics of your fishing experiences in a standardized way.  Its funny how inaccurate your memory can be, and a fishing log is an external memory.  When I say I caught x-number of fish or the biggest fish was x-inches long...or whatever...I have the hard data to PROVE my claims.  I'm not just ball-parking or generalizing.  In the format I use, I'm able to store all my digital fishing pictures within the Fishing Log, within the date of entry when the pictures were taken.  Not only is this a good place to keep and organize my fishing pictures, it makes my Fishing Log very enjoyable to go back and look over time after time.

2.  Learning tool.  A Fishing Log allows you to accurately evaluate seasonal and yearly changes regarding your fishing experiences.  For example, after several consecutive years of record-keeping, a fellow angler was able to nail down exactly when to start fishing the shoreline of the local reservoir for White Bass.  He could show when the bite would start, and when the bite would tend to taper off.  There are year-to-year variations based on specific weather patterns, but the more years of data you have, the better you can track the trends.  This is tremendously useful in helping you decide "what to fish for, where, and when" throughout your future years of fishing.  You can choose what parameters YOU wish to track.  I like to track # days fished, total time fished, # of each species, largest of each species, what they were caught on.  You can also tie that in with weather patterns such as wind speed and direction, temperature, barometer.  Or you might wish to see if there are correlations between your fishing success and moon phase or time of day.

3.  There are a number of other reasons for keeping a Fishing Log, and I'm having a big brainfart just now, so....I'll just move on.

I used to keep a handwritten "diary" type fishing journal.  It was OK.  It was interesting to go back and "relive" my thoughts and experiences from each fishing trip.  Back in 2005, a member of our Central Iowa Anglers fishing club gave a presentation on electronic fishing logs.  He used Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, and that method had some major advantages over my handwritten diary.
The major advantages of the Excel Spreadsheet Fishing Log is that I can choose the parameters I wish to track when I develop my log.  I can add/delete parameters as I feel the need.  It standardizes and structures my fishing experiences by recording the same types of information for each trip.  I can use several pages within the spreadsheet to record different aspects that I couldn't do on one page.  It also allows me to tally up different items and calculate averages and note trends.  There is the graphing function...but I haven't really utilized that yet.  I also use a separate page to compare a variety of metrics from year-to-year, so I can see how the most recent year compares to past years.

I keep a separate LOG for each year.  I fish so much and insert so many pictures, by the end of the year my Log has become a rather sizeable file!  But I do copy the "summary" from all past years into the newest file so that I can compare all years at-a-glance.

And one of my favorite things about using an Excel Spreadsheet is the ability to "insert comment" into any cell of the spreadsheet.  In these "comments" I can write up a lengthy (if necessary) text description of my fishing trip.  Or, I can insert a fishing picture into that cell, and the picture will only show up when I drag my cursor over that cell.  How cool!!!

Below are a couple screen shots of parts of my Fishing Log from 2011, so you can see sort of how I set it up.  You should personalize yours so it suits your needs.  Click the pictures to make them bigger.

NOTE:  As of 1/5/2021, I will no longer be emailing examples of my spreadsheet.   If you have MicroSoft Excel, I think everyone can figure out how to set up their own fishing log.  I do appreciate all the past requests, which I have honored and shared with.  Its been over 9 years since I penned this post.  Good luck! :) 

The red triangles in cells denote a "comment".  Drag your cursor over that cell (in the actual excel spreadsheet, not in these images), and the text or picture shows up.

This is the 2nd page of my log.  It specifically tracks what species I caught, when, where, and how many.  That way I can keep a running tally all year long.

My 2011 Fishing Summary

I've tallying up various metrics from my 2011 Fishing Log.
My overall "gut feeling" on 2011 was that it was a fairly average year, nothing special.  But realizing the numbers and variety of fish caught this year (especially on fly-fishing gear)...it actually was a pretty darn good year!


Here's a few items I found interesting:
-I made 150 fishing trips (in 126 days).
-Fished at total of 270.65 hours
-I caught 2107 fish.
-I caught 19 Freshwater Species, and 17 of those species were caught on fly-fishing gear (the only species NOT caught on fly gear this year was Freshwater Drum and Yellow Bass)

-I added 6 new species to my "fly rod life-list", including Walleye, N. Pike, Y. Perch, Brown Trout, Brook Trout, and Redear Sunfish.  This definitely exceeded my expectations!


-79+% of my fishing trips were Fly-Fishing trips.
-I fished 23 different waters this year (22 in Iowa).

-My top 3 months for catching fish (quantity-wise) were May, June & October  (in that order). I caught over 300 fish in each of those months.

-I caught over 100 each of 7 species. In order from most to least of those: Bluegills, Crappies, "Sunfish" (lumped Hybrid Sunfish and Green Sunfish together), Walleye, Largemouth Bass, and a tie between Rainbow Trout and White Bass (ARE YOU KIDDING????  This is IOWA!)

-This was my 2nd WORST year ever for White Bass. 2009 was my worst year for those.  I attribute this largely to the fact the local reservoir had excessively high waters again through much of the Summer, thus making fish unreachable from shore.  And the numbers of white bass in the river below the reservoir have been low following several years of major flooding.  I think most of the fish simply got swept downstream during the floods, and their numbers haven't had a chance to rebound yet.

-Each of the last 2 years I caught more crappies than bluegills, but that trend did not continue this year.

-I fished with at least 18 other anglers throughout the year.

I'd like to finish off with what I consider some of my most "memorable" catches for 2011:

41.5" Northern Pike

10" Yellow Perch on Fly Rod

Walleye on Fly Rod...not the biggest one, unfortunately the biggest one flipped off on the dock and back into the water!

27" Channel Catfish on Fly Rod

Jumbo Green Sunfish on Fly Rod

One of my first Brook Trout on Fly Rod

Nice Common Carp on Fly Rod

Another 27" Channel Catfish

Another nice Channel Catfish on Fly Rod

15" White Bass

Decent Smallmouth Bass

14" Crappie on Fly Rod

Another 27" Channel Catfish on Fly Rod

16 3/4" White Bass

Smallmouth Bass on Fly Rod

18" Wiper on Fly Rod

2nd ever Fly Rod Brown Trout

9" Hybrid Sunfish

Another Jumbo Green Sunfish... in spawning colors

GreenFish Photo Prompt 4

This is my photo submission for the GreenFish and Outdoor Blogger Network Photo Contest.

The subject of this "photo prompt" is to illustrate my view on sustainable fishing. I have 4 categories I'd like to address, each in a separate entry.


The fourth category illustrating sustainable fishing is GETTING KIDS INVOLVED WITH FISHING.

Kids are the future stewards of our natural resources.  If kids don't learn to appreciate and enjoy fishing (and the outdoors in general), they will have little desire to protect and care for these resources as adults.

We all need to get kids involved with the Outdoors as much as possible.

I have been involved with "Take A Kid Fishing", and have taken kids fishing that had not fished in several years, if ever.

I have been involved in "Learn-a-Palooza", where our Central Iowa Anglers fishing club has been invited to give "casting instruction" to kids.  This was alwasy the most popular display/activity at the event!

I've been involved with Kids Fishing Day at a local city pond.  Here, again, we set up casting stations, and this was very popular with the kids.

Along with Central Iowa Anglers, I have participated in an annual Big Brothers/Big Sisters fishing event, where our Members take "Big" and "Little" pairs out in our boats on a local lake and let them catch fish for an afternoon.  Most of these kids have never had an opportunity to go out fishing in a boat.  Everybody loves this event!
 
We've done a similar annual event with the "Lakewood Association", where we take residents of a development centered around a private lake out in our boats for a "fishing tournament".  The kids have a ball, and get more excited each year we do this!
 
Here's some pictures of some of the casting events:
 

 
Here's some pictures from the Big Brothers/Big Sisters events...these are the pairs I took out fishing.  We always caught fish!

Take kids fishing!!  :)

Greenfish Photo Prompt 3

This is my photo submission for the GreenFish and Outdoor Blogger Network Photo Contest
The subject of this "photo prompt" is to illustrate my view on sustainable fishing. I have 4 categories I'd like to address, each in a separate entry.

The third category illustrating sustainable fishing is Shoreline Cleanup.

Picking up trash is important in maintaining a beautiful and clean natural setting.  People won't want to spend time in the outdoors if all the public places are littered with trash!

I have participated in the River Run Garbage Grab along the Des Moines River in Polk County, Iowa.  Each year this event collects and disposes of a HUGE amount of garbage from along the shorelines of the river.

Central Iowa Anglers, which I am a member of, tries to do at least one shoreline cleanup at a local lake or river each year.  We have worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on their lakes, and have worked in conjuction with the Recycled Fish organization to do shoreline cleanups during some of their events.

The following picture is from one of the Clean-Ups we did for Recycled Fish.  In 4 hours, we picked up 2 pickup truckloads of garbage from the shorelines of a local lake!

Greenfish Photo Prompt 2

This is my photo submission for the GreenFish and Outdoor Blogger Network Photo Contest.
The subject of this "photo prompt" is to illustrate my view on sustainable fishing.  I have 4 categories I'd like to address, each in a separate entry.
The second category illustrating sustainable fishing is Habitat Improvement.

In central Iowa, many of the public lakes are man-made.  Many were made for flood-control or erosion control (trapping sediments), and not for fishing.  So, most of the lakes have very little in the way of natural cover or structure to attract fish, just flat featureless lake bottoms.

Most species of Iowa gamefish like to associate with some sort of structure.  Structure serves as a substrate for algae to grow, and aquatic nymphs, snails and young fish feed on this.  Those in turn serve as food for larger fish.  Larger fish also use structure not only as an ambush spot and "feeding station", but also for shelter.  So structure is very important to fish.  More structure = more food= more fish.  From a fishing standpoint, knowing the location of suitable structure is often the key to locating and catching fish.

I'm a Member of Central Iowa Anglers (CIA).  I spent 2 years serving as elected President of the organization, and am in my 2nd term serving on its Board of Directors.  One of the goals of CIA is to improve fish habitat in local waters.  We work in close association with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), City of West Des Moines, and others.

Over the past several years, we have added fish habitat structure to a number of lakes.  We've constructed and placed "PVC Trees", cedar trees, catfish nesting tubes, trash can reefs, and wood pallet "teepees".  In many cases, fish use of these structures begins within a single day!

Here's some pictures of CIA doing some of our Habitat Improvement projects:

GreenFish Photo Prompt 1

This is my photo submission for the GreenFish and Outdoor Blogger Network Photo Contest.

The subject of this "photo prompt" is to illustrate my view on sustainable fishing.  I actually have 4 separate categories for this, and I will share them all separately.  The other kicker is that each category is difficult to capture with just ONE photo, so I may post more than one per category.

The first category illustrating sustainable fishing is Catch & Release or CPR (Catch-Photo-Release).  This is supremely important!

I've been keeping electronic fishing logs of my fishing "outings" since about mid-2005.  Given the average yearly number of fish caught, I realize I could put a BIG hurt on a number of the smaller bodies of water I frequently fish.  These are public waters.  I can't control how many fish other anglers may or may not keep.  I choose to release over 99% of the fish I catch.  I'm not against folks keeping some fish occasionally.  I generally will keep fish once/year.

At the back of my mind is kids.  Kids need to catch fish when they go fishing.  If I release my fish, nearly all will survive to possibly be hooked by a kid, who will then fall in love with fishing.

Another reason it is important to release fish is...If I release a fish, there is a chance I will catch that fish again later when it has grown even larger. If I keep a fish, that fish will NOT grow larger, and I will NEVER catch that fish again.


Here is the largest fish I've caught so far on a fly rod...a 36.5", 25 lb Grass Carp (White Amur).  I was targeting grass carp when I caught it, and I was very excited to finally catch one.  I got some pictures of it, then released it.  Incidentally, it was also caught on a BARBLESS HOOK.  Given the length and nature of the battle, I'm still amazed I was able to land this fish.
Here are the pictures of the resuscitation and RELEASE.

What an awesome feeling!

Another Fishing-Related News Article

I'm mentioned in a fishing-related article on the Des Moines Register website:

Hoping to lure a new generation, Iowa restocks it fishing holes

Click the link above. The author, Perry Beeman, called me yesterday and interviewed me. He got the story online FAST! I’m also in the background of 3 of the pictures…I was fly-fishing on the dock that day. I blend in well...I’m wearing a dark blue hooded jacket, and I’m just to the left of the angler's head in picture number 1.

End of Open Water Season, 2011

I think its official.  A major warm spell  could turn this around, but at this time of year in central Iowa, you just aren't going to avoid the inevitable for long.

Ice-up.

On the way to work this morning, every pond I passed appeared to be 100% ice-covered, and our temperatures in the 10-day forecast appear to be those that will build MORE ice, rather than melt it away.  So...I believe I will call this the END of my open-water fishing for the year, and will now wait for the ice to get thick enough to safely stand on (3"-4"+), so the ice-fishing season can begin.

I will have more to say about my 2011 fishing season in a future blog entry.

For now...I will tie up some fly-fishing patterns that I feel will be useful in my pursuit of next year's fish.

Below are some examples of what I've been tying over the past week or two.

Flashback Scud/Sowbug:

Deer Hair Popper...I tied this for Smallmouth Bass, but it could see some use for other species as well:

Below is a size 14 Shad Fry I created to imitate that phase of a shad's life when nearly every other fish finds it to be an EASY meal.  Not much as nutrition, but they can't swim very fast at this size, so even fish like Common Carp will hound these pods of tiny fish.  The color of this artificial is nearly identical to the shad fry I've seen.  I always thought to myself, "If only I had something that was tiny enough and looked like these shad fry!"  Now I do:

This next pattern is my first attempt in YEARS at tying a Muddler Minnow.  It isn't perfect...the proportions aren't the best, the head could be a bit larger...but I think it'll catch some fish:

Rick Zieger recently sent me, at my request, some of his Goldie Jr wet flies.  There have been some notable instances this year when a super-flashy patterns caught fish while more subdued offerings were being ignored.
I tried to tie some of them myself.  I tied one with gold Flashabou, one with gold Krystal Flash, and one with some pearl Flashabou that was mixed with the gold Flashabou hank I have.  They turned out well, I thought, and I look forward to trying them out in the coming year:

I've always liked the look of the Thunder Creek Minnows.  Here's one I tied with Craft Fur, and coated the head with Clear Cure Goo (a UV-cured epoxy alternative), then added eyes with fingernail polish.

Below is a trio of rather generic Beadhead Nymphs I tied up:

Below is a Morrish Anato-May Peacock I varied slightly by adding a flashback, and used brown goose biots for the tail instead of 3 feather fibers.  Its a great-looking pattern:

Below is a group of my "Somethings" and variants I've tied up, which trout especially have fallen for:

And lastly (for now), here are some "Booby" style patterns in an Electric Chicken color scheme.  My thought was that these might do well on White Bass in the Spring.  White Bass seem to really like this color combination.  With a sinking line or sink-tip fly line and a short leader, I should be able to fish these close to the bottom in the river next Spring, without getting snagged up too much (since the foam "eyes" will keep the pattern from sinking to the bottom).



Ada Hayden Lake, Ames, Iowa- Trout Stocking Day Nov. 2011

I've gotten horribly lazy about taking fishing pictures lately.  Case in point....
I fly-fished the Trout Stocking Day at Ada Hayden Lake, just north of Ames, Iowa, on Friday, Nov. 18, 2011.
I landed 26 Rainbow Trout, and didn't bother taking a single picture!  There were a couple really nice-sized fish, a few "colorful" ones, and one especially that REALLY had a lot of red in its lateral stripe and on its gill cover.  But no pictures!  I should slap me.

I also got a firsthand report from a guy that said he caught a Rainbow Trout from the lake in September...this is exciting news, as it means at least SOME trout survived the entire summer in the lake!

Anyway...it was a VERY windy day, which especially made fly-casting extremely difficult, although I noticed even spin-fishermen were having issues with the wind.

Ben arrived about an hour after the stocking trucks left. We started off tossing nymphs under indicators to some visible fish.  It was somewhat productive, but not the most exciting way to fish.  We spotted a good number of fish along the face of the boat ramp...the wind seemed to be blowing them into the shoreline there.  Ben tried it first, and caught a few fish before I planted myself next to him.  We had a spin-fisherman near the base of the dock to contend with, as he was casting across that same area.  Since Ben and I were casting INTO the wind, we couldn't cast out very far...typically 15', and about 8' left of where we were aiming.

We caught more fish here.  I took off the indicator and tried a Woolly Bugger and another bizarre pattern I've tried when trout get picky.  I have decided it is time to call this pattern something...give it a name.  And so, being outrageously creative, I've bestowed the name "FishnDave's Something".  I assume it is the flash from the mylar tubing in this pattern that the trout find so alluring.  I get a lot more follows and hits from trout when I use this than anything else I've tried.  Not to say I haven't caught more trout on other patterns...but when they don't show much interest in other stuff, this one hasn't yet failed to get their attention.  Its ugly, but here it is:

Here then is the recipe for FishnDave's SOMETHING, such that it is:
-Nymph or Streamer Hook of your choice (I've used #10 and #8 sizes effectively)
-Tail of marabou or rabbit fur (your choice of color, so far a darker color such as brown, black or olive has worked well for me)
-body of mylar tubing (again, your choice of color...gold has been my top producer, silver has caught trout as well)
-a few turns of black ostrich herl at the head (or peacock herl, hackle, or even yarn).
Trout teeth wreak havoc on flies...much more so than bluegills or crappies do. So, you can give the mylar tubing a coating of epoxy, epoxy alternative (I like Clear Cure Goo products), or Sally Hansens' Hard as Nails to increase the mylar body's durability.

Tough to Create Fly-Fishing Converts

I've taken the exerpt below from a post I made on our local fishing club's website.  Its a multi-species fishing club in Central Iowa.  There are a fair number of anglers in the club who have admitted to OWNING fly-fishing gear already...but they don't use it.

Its frustrating. What are you gonna do? Have you ever tried OVER AND OVER to convince other anglers of something that catches fish really well, but they just won't listen? They just keep doing what they've always done, with the same results? Kind of like Doug Stange of In-Fisherman experience with touting large swimbaits for big walleyes and muskies...


I wasn't ALWAYS a fly-fisherman. I'm still fairly new to it. I'm trying to completely get away from using live bait...but otherwise I will do whatever is most effective at catching lots of fish and have the most fun doing it. Believe me...if fly-fishing wasn't so effective and fun, I wouldn't be doing it.

You'll never convince everybody, but I figured after 5 years, > 7,300 fish caught, and 23 different species on fly gear, more of our local fishing club's progressive anglers would start to take note and at least give it a serious try. At least to be prepared to have it as an additional fish-catching tool and technique to add to your arsenal. Its like sporting the attitude that "Spinnerbaits, plastic worms, plastic frogs, and crankbaits catch lots of bass, but I'm never going to learn to use THOSE." Or that "Vertical jigging is a great way to catch walleyes on the Mississippi River, but I'm just going to troll." Really?

Kudos to those who HAVE tried it. And for those few sitting on the fence who still need a little nudge...just ask the questions and you'll get the answers.

Weekend of Fly Tying, 11/2011

I didn't get out fishing this weekend, so instead of a REPORT, I will post some fly-fishing fly patterns I tied up over the weekend.

 Above is a #10 or #12 Black & Olive Woolly Bugger, with a glass bead head.  This thing definitely catches trout, and I imagine bluegills will find it worth a bite as well.

 Above is a couple of Mylar/Epoxy Minnows.  I tied these larger than usual...on #4 streamer hooks.  The top one has a body of medium-sized silver mylar tubing, while the bottom one has a body of medium-sized pearl mylar tubing (over a base of chartreuse yarn).  Both are then coated with Clear Cure Goo epoxy-alternative.

 The above nymph looks like a real fish-getter!  It is Ian James' "The Muncher" nymph.


Below is a series of shad/minnow imitator streamers I plan to use on the local river during the colder months.  Last Friday I caught a small walleye and a crappie there on Clousers, but lost a handful of the Clousers to the underwater rocks/snags.

Lefty's Deceiver

Gray-over-White Clouser Deep Minnow

Clouser with a wool overwing.

Just something easy I threw together that looked like it'll catch fish in the river...

Above is a streamer with a calftail belly and a white fox fur overwing.

 Above is a Furled Tail Mohair Leech tied on a 1/80th oz microjig.  Bluegills especially, and maybe trout, should go NUTS over this!

 Above is a pair of Chironomid patterns using olive (above) and red Larva Lace.  I tied these on a #10 Scud hook.  I tried them once last year, and had a nice carp take a red one, then it broke my line.

I don't really know what to call the pattern above...its a marabou tail, gold mylar tubing body, and dark ostrich herl head.  It isn't the prettiest thing, but I've done really well with it on trout on several occasions when they seemed otherwise very finicky.  This was the only thing that REALLY get their attention and drew strikes.