Fishing Diaries

[John Sheehan]

I'm hoping you guys are keeping diaries of your days on the water or ice .Here's one I started this year.

I hear guys are catching good Pickerel and Perch at the lakes up in Harriman NY and crappie,pickerel and perch in Greenwood Lake(a border lake between Northeast NJ and Southeast NY)I might fish the NY end of Greenwood next Thursday.
Here's a copy of the fishin' diary I been keeping .No real great catches but still some fish.I released them all except for a Trout for the pan and a few perch for a Hawk that visits me every day in my yard.

Keep in touch and send me some tips please!I don't catch like you guys seem too!

January
1)Monksville …afternoon …skunked ..10’
2) Shepherds… 9-2Pm skunked… 6-10’
3)Cupsaw…1-5 pm..1 perch @ 12’ ..Gehrig’s hole
4) Vernon Valley Lake….9-2 pm …5 bluegill …3 @Willow tree/neck….2 out from viaduct…8’…missed crappie…the upper column enigma..the bottom feeding mealworm conundrum
5)Jan.23.. I-5 pm ..Cupsaw four spots…spot 1…downed tree west side mid lake…...1perch, 1 bluegill…Jesse Jig w/waxworms
Spot 2, largest stream feed east side.. 1 perch…Green Chartruse Jesse Jig w/Mealworms
Spot 3…Gehrig’s hole…zip… Spot 4 …Doctors house down to big bush … 2perch,I hit the perch eye on heavier Orange Jig and Rod 1 bluegill,1 crappie..Jesse Jig w/Waxworm..Crappie higher in water column…the crappie conundrum is the fins are hitting the line as you’re dropping below to bottom.
Redundant Technique that works is drop to bottom …lift off and then if no fish bring to visibility and work just below. the higher water columns work in low light/ visibility bottom in high light /visibility ?
6)Jan. 24 th 1- 4:45 pm ..Skunked at North east end of Shepherds Lake. 8-10’ mealworms and Berkley Power Maggots
7) 1-25 09
Right of Doctors house spot 4… 30 yrd.s from shore 7&1/2" friend came up through the ice at around 3:30 on 1-25 09...Size 10 or 8 tipped with Mealworm took this agressor a fairly large size jig for a bluegill...six more were caught that evening using a much smaller size 16 jig/hook on the go to rod
8) Tue, Jan 27th… With Greg …..caught 15” Female Brown Trout Hildebrandt spoon tipped w/Mealworm 1 &1/2 pounds small Pickerel on Fathead/Tip up…Greg’s Male Brown Trout was 16 & 1/4 “ 10” girth
9) Friday,30th…3:00 -5:45 Cupsaw Lake…3 tip ups, two jigging rods…last 20 minutes… a small released crappie hooked in the back…small perch kept for pet hawk..both hit Hildebrandt w/head/tail of dead fat head tandem below a 1/32 oz. curtail jig …
10)Feb 1st Cupsaw outside big bush

Bluegill Taken on tandem Rig Hildebrandt
spoon tipped with Mealworm and Waxworm…

10” Crappie Taken on tandem Rig Hildebrandt
spoon tipped with Waxworm

White Perch- Orange Jig tipped with shiner piece deadsticked
kept for pet hawk

27Fish…1 trout,1 Pickerel,3 Crappie,6 Perch,15 Bluegill,1 White Perch

Rods: three piece w/Daiwa 500 T…4 lb. test 1 trout, 1 Bluegill, 2 Crappie,1Perch….. Hildebrandt spoon
Johnson Green Reel: 6 to 4 lb. test leader…1 White Perch, 1 Bluegill Orange Jig tipped with shiner piece or mealworm

Johnson Country Mile reel: 4 to 2 lb. leader …6 Perch,1 Crappie, 14 Bluegill ….small ice fly tipped with waxworm

Tip up Fathead…1Pickerel

[Ray Danders]

John,

Usually when I go fishing, I take my camera. When I get back, I usually post a picture or two and a report. For the most part I write them in word and save a copy before posting it on the web-site I most often visit. That way I share my report and keep a copy as a kind of diary.

For years I used to keep a 3x4 card to record all the information regarding fishing conditions but never used them for anything except to go through them once in a while as a way to remember. Today my camera keeps the best record.

My digital camera numbers each picture and also the date. On my computer I have a Delorem street atlas. Like a file I can save a copy. I have one for rivers, another map for lakes, one for mushrooms and one for hunting. Someday my son and grand kids will have them. You can find all the spots with a gps as wherever you place the cusor it shows you the gps coordinates.

[Bruce Condello]

I've kept meticulous records of every fish I've caught for the last 35 years. It's amazing how many times I've "misremembered" where or when I caught a particular fish.

I would have sworn that I caught 100 striped bass hybrids at Marian Reservoir 3 years ago in mid-April...

As it turns out, it was the end of March.....and it was FIVE years ago.

Go figure.

[Kiana Fitzpatrick]

Sounds like a good idea...one that I haven't tried...I'm liking the picture theory as well!! Thanks for sharing!

[shooter]

you know what lawyers say" if you do not write it down it did not happen" . one of the most important things a fisherman can do is write it down,it will increase the learning curve,and make you a much better fisherman.




gators can't read

[John Sheehan]

Ya know ..went out ice fishin'between 3-6:00pm...even brought a lantern for the first time...action was good and fast between 4-5:40...15 fish in that time period! Fished 60-75 yrds.,I guess, outside the main inlet...warm day but still at least 10" ice.. I forgot the camera tonight ..so I kept the fish ,did my photos before cleaning them for the Hawk and me and some cut bait to deadstick with if I go Thursday..trying to recall which baits and Jigs/ took which fish is gonna be vague when I do my diary but I released four..Two BG 1 perch,1 Crappie ...kept 11,used three poles...two new baits took fish(Butter worms and upper twister on Tandem rig)also Orange circle jig.. three baits ...mealworms,waxworms and first time using those fat butter worms..they work good, expensive though...guy at the bait store said they were imported from Africa...I said ,you're kidding ...he said No ...I still am not sure if this is a load of BS,gotta google Butter worms...First I ever heard of them.

[John Sheehan]

Looked up"Butterworms" and found places that import them from Chile...Thus their expense

[David Merical]

I've been keeping a Fishing Log of all my trips for the past 3+ years. Before that, I kept written diaries during certain years, but not others.

The Fishing Log I use now, I keep in MS Excel format. I keep track of date, body of water, how long I fished, who I fished with, how many of each species, and biggest of each species, what I caught them on, various weather and water conditions, special notes I want to remember. I also insert all my fishing pictures as "comments". Makes it very interesting to go back through and read it later, or share with others.

At the end of the year, I compile fish totals by species, total time fished, number of days fished, and other such statistics. Its interesting to see the differences from year to year.