Try this simple step for improvement: Start keeping a log

I’ve found that in my fishing life, as in my athletic career, focusing on fundamentals is usually the key to consistent improved performance. One of the basics that many anglers overlook is simply keeping a good log.

Yes, it’s boring and a bother to document each trip, but it may be the very key you need to improve your catches. Relying on your memory after many seasons and trips just doesn’t work for most of us; important details can be impossible to recall when you need them.

Keeping a simple diary of what happened – noting, for example, which lures worked, area, technique, time of day, weather, wind direction, overall conditions, etc. – helps me. Putting down seemingly unimportant factors like whether there were clouds, color of water, moon phase or the best time of day for the bite can trigger a realization later that something you didn’t think correlated with a good bite becomes a new insight.

Doing the same thing over and over again with the same results is the definition of insanity. Sometime the only way to kill that cycle is to get serious and look at what you’ve been doing and what kind of results you’re producing. Good logs can be a gold mine. If you’re looking for improvement, it can be the best way to honestly evaluate your results. The numbers don’t lie, but the good news is that there is usually some indication or trend hidden in your notes that can help you to break out.

As I look back at some of my logs from one or two years ago it’s evident there’s a lot I’ve forgotten. For instance, I had a hot lure two years ago that I somehow got away from as I tried new stuff. On the other hand, I decided to reevaluate my results last season and some important numbers popped out at me that I didn’t like. This information was critical in pointing me in another direction in my lure selection. Just like that, my results changed.

I was told many years ago that professionals don’t improvise, and I’ve thought about that statement a lot. I think that pros do improvise – but my takeaway is that it’s a planned deviation from the norm. Logging your information is the first step to being able to pivot quickly and effectively when you have to employ something that’s a leap in another direction.

I believe that the more information you note about your trip the better the chance that you’ll capture something that can help make a breakthrough in your fishing. Professionals never quit learning, applying, evaluating, observing, calculating, studying and planning. This all takes work, which alone sets anyone doing this apart.

Good anglers have a plan to improve and work that plan. If you haven’t started a log, I encourage you to start now. It’s what pros do! Never give up!

This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 1:28 PM with the headline "Try this simple step for improvement: Start keeping a log."