In 2023, Anthony Naples wrote a provocative article inviting anglers to keep a fishing journal. In that article he mentions various things to include, such as date, time of day, weather conditions, water conditions (temp, general description of turbidity and flow, perhaps find a USGS gauge for reference…), noticeable bug activity, observable fish behavior (feeding behavior and holding locations, etc.), successful/unsuccessful fly patterns and successful/unsuccessful techniques and rigging.
I have always been a journaler. When I was new in fly fishing, I kept a journal in paper form. I’d not only include the various categories that Anthony suggested, but I also would draw pictures or maps of the fishing locations I haunted. I chronicled catching rainbows on the Deschutes, grayling on the Big Hole, and wily trout on spring creeks in Idaho. Reading those entries takes me back and I can see the places and the fish in my mind. I still have those journals in my book collection and cherish each one.
Over the last few decades I’ve been using an online fishing journal called http://www.mydailyfishinglog.com. It’s free and pretty comprehensive. It allows a lot of information to be recorded, allows images and maps to be attached and it’s searchable. It’s pretty good. But it would occasionally go offline and I became concerned that it would one day become non-functioning and all my data would be lost. So, I transferred all of my data over to a spreadsheet and linked all of the data to the various video logs (vlogs) that I had recorded over the years.
I started videoing my outing in 2012 as part of my journaling and publishing them on my personal blog, Teton Tenkara. Over the years I tried various different formats and approaches to my vlogs, but in the end I landed on keeping it simple and documenting the data in a way that I could remember what the outing and conditions were like. These vlogs help me note changing conditions and fish behavior from year to year. My vlogs are not intended to be tenkara tutorials or monetized entertainment (I don’t promote them or even ask for subscribers), they are just journal entries shared with whoever wants to watch.
Here’s Vlog #001. It’s pretty sloppy, and the fishing handling is terrible:
My first vlogs were pretty basic and crude by modern YouTube standards, and for the most part they still are. But they work for me and my goal of documenting my fishing. I haven’t videoed all my outings over the years, but I have quite a few. That said, I just recorded my 500th vlog. It’s nothing very fancy, recording an hour of fishing on a local stream and some of the frustrations and successes I experienced.
Here’s vlog #500:
I enjoy going back over these vlogs and remembering each particular outing. But I suppose that’s what journals are for, for the journaler to remember, reminisce and relive the moment. Long after I’m gone, my journal vlogs will be in the public domain documenting the fun times I had pursuing the hobby and the fish I loved.
So, along with Anthony, I too would encourage you in keeping a fishing journal in whatever format works best for you, be it video, log book, or even simpler. I think it will take your tenkara to a new level and bring you a lot of joy in seeing the places you’ve been, the progress you’ve made, and the fish you’ve caught over the years.
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Although I don’t keep a journal per se, I started my YT channel so I could look back and enjoy my wilderness trips since I know the time is coming where I will no longer be able to participate first hand. I thought it would be more enjoyable than iPhone videos/pics. Thanks for all you’ve done for the sport Tom.
Congrats on #500 vlogs Tom. No matter what the motivation, that level of consistency is inspiring!
Thanks Tom. Amazing, the detail you capture, elegantly, in the hand-drawn maps! Beautiful.
I’ve also always kept a trout fishing journal. I like pen, paper and coffee shops, so after fishing I often head to the latter to write up my notes (in the back of the notebook I keep running summaries with simple tables and lists of streams fished, number of each species landed, and largest fish). Curious, the photo above in your post of the journal with a template, are those still available?
One thing I also record is type and number of piscivores seen – kingfishers, herons, bald eagles, mink, what have you. I don’t yet have enough data to drawn any conclusions, but I’m betting there’s a positive correlation between the number of other ‘fisher folk’ I see at stream and the number of trout I catch.
Thanks, Bill. The journal you see in my article is no longer in print. It was published by Rio. It was called the Angler’s Waterproof Log & Journal.