Just a friendly reminder as the 2006 open water season gears up (yes, I know some of you really dedicated guys are on the river open water all year…, but for those of us who at least like the air temp above 32 degrees..) that if you haven’t started already, now is the perfect time to start a proper fishing log.
Of course I am partial to Fishermans Log, but any form of log will do, it will improve your fishing, even just a pen and paper!
See you on the river,
Jon
A log will help most people improve their fishing. However, it is a tedious process when you catch large numbers of fish.
I logged fish for one year in detail. It was interesting, but took some of the enjoyment out of fishing. Since I don’t tournament fish it turned out to be more of a distraction. However, I didn’t throw away my records from that year. 
Edit: I would also add that a person should try paper and pen for the first year. You shouldn’t have a computer in your boat so you can always enter the data eventually.
osprey, great points.
It does take quantity to get good results, and quantity takes time, and who likes to take time writing!
The one thing I have noticed about paper and pen, is that I have found that in a lot of cases, it actually discourages anglers from continuing, because they don’t see anything tangible from what they are writing. Frankly, doing data analysis against a stack of paper is pretty much impossible.
With the really good computerized logs, there is at least some level of instant gratification, seeing your statistics numbers as soon as you enter, having a lot stuff auto calculated for you like moon phases and weights, etc. (and with quantity, the gratification while not instant is a lot more intense when the patterns start showing up). Also, the good logs do make data entry as easy as possible with drop down fields and the like.
I also like to always make this point: The fact that entering a log (no matter what kind) takes time, is actually a good thing. It forces your brain to think about what you did on that fishing trip on a different, almost subconcious level, making you learn things that weren’t apparent when you were in the act of fishing.
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