Though last year waz of the "good" days only, ie the days that I caught.
This year I plan to record the whole year to begin to establish patterns for locations, conditions, bait, lures, and "ideal conditions" for our vaunted prey. In this way I hope to maximize my time spent, although there are several new (new to me, anyhow) places that I plan to "document" in an effort to enlarge me catalog and widen me range.
Suppose that I'm kinda "mental" when it comes to the numbers side of the sport. I've put together a sheet that includes, EVERYTHING!!!
Location, date, time, tide, slack, barometer, sunrise, moonrise, water and air temps, surf, weather, forage, bait used in order of usage, lures used in order, skunk, BITE and its duration, catch, length & weight, tackle and terminal tackle used, who went with or solo, and then there's a few lines left at the bottom for journal type comments regarding the outing. I punched three holes in the margin and store it in a plastic coated loose leaf binder for quick and easy entry and retrieval of data. The hardest part will be to remain steadfast in the task of documenting each and every outing, good or bad! I usually make it to about the end of June/July then I just record the keepers and schoolies on a dry erase TOTALS BOARD in the "Situation Room" of HQ
. I will do both this year.
I also make maps...............you know, "stand here ~~ cast here" type stuff to aide my fading memory as the years progress, thanks be to God! The maps serve as mostly a mnemonic device, but are very handy when combined with the datum from the logs in an attempt to record the cyclical patterns that our beloved stripeys repeat with amazing regularity. They also serve to maximize my efforts as windows of feeshing opportunity present themselves. In this way I can be at the "right place" at the "right time" more often and for more accurate/focused periods of time.