In The Zone

Keeping Track

Performance psychology research tells us writing information down makes it easier for us to remember it and retrieve it later. Recording enhances learning, as most of the classes you took in school demonstrated. Writing down important fishing data not only creates a permanent record, it also solidifies the lessons you have learned.

Principally, you need to get in the habit of record keeping because there is just too much fishing information out there to hold it all in your head! Especially when it comes to learning new information, your memory is an inconsistent recordkeeper. You will argue with me here, and tell me you can remember the exact number of strands on your jig skirt when you caught that 5 lb. smallmouth on Bull Shoals Reservoir in 1998. You'll also tell me the exact location of the rock your jig rolled over when that smallie bit! Okay, I'll give you that. At the same time, memory research clearly tells us that there are likely to be numerous details, some of which might be worth remembering, from that very same trip that are lost to your memory.

Tracking tools are designed to augment, not replace, the memory bank between your ears. It goes without saying, though I will say it anyway, that print/electronic records don't forget! Your notebook and your computer program, unlike your personal memory bank, are unlikely to spontaneously deteriorate!

Fishing Log

You will see elsewhere on this web site, (and in about half the fishing articles you read!) reference to the importance of keeping a fishing trip log. Nothing beats accumulating your own database or fund of knowledge about what works when, on what body of water, and under what seasonal and weather conditions. To make creating a fishing log easier, build an outline for yourself that you can fill out during or after each trip. You can make up your own mind here about what to record. Here's my list:
- Trip day and time
- Lake name
- Type and number of fish caught
- Weather conditions
- Water conditions
- Type of cover fished
- Type of structure fished
- Lures used
- Presentations used
- Specific spots/GPS coordinates
- Patterns observed
- Conclusions/lessons learned

You might put these headings on the inside cover of a notebook you Keep in your boat. Sitting around waiting your turn to come off the lake at the end of the day is a great time to pull out this notebook and fill in the pertinent data.

Tournament Record

If you fish tournaments, you might want to set up a special log for competitive events. Here you can include your own information, as well as the data you gather from others. While you don't want to be looking over your shoulder during a tournament, once the contest is finished, you do want to find out what the winners did, and approximately where they fished. Regardless of where you finished personally, you want to come away from each event with a basic understanding and record of what worked and what didn't.

Additionally, your tournament record will require lighting and important logistical information such as travel routes, accommodation information, and particular things to do or avoid at this tournament site. Just this past season, I saw this lesson brought home to the tune of about 1500 bucks!. For the second year in a row, we held a tournament on a lake that had an obscure yet solid boat ramp on the far end of the lake and an obvious yet treacherous ramp on the near side. The guys who had kept records about ramp quality in their fishing logs saved themselves the expensive trailer repairs that went to the one guy who didn't!

Your tournament log should also include places to keep track of phone numbers, addresses, and e-mail information. The latest generation of cell phones, PDAs, an old-fashioned "Little Black Books" can work here. Whatever system you choose, however, make sure it is accessible and easy to use.

It's also a good idea to have some type of portable recording device like a small notebook or a handheld dictating machine you can keep in your pocket, while you are on the water. While you will likely keep permanent records in a filing cabinet or in a computer program, you probably don't want to haul those things out in your boat!

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Jay T. McNamara Ph.D., L.P. is a psychologist, and also an avid bass and walleye angler. With more than 30 years of professional experience complemented by participation in competitive fishing at local and national levels, he is uniquely qualified illustrate how Performance Psychology principles apply to fishing. His writing has appeared in both recreational and competitive fishing journals.