recording data

[Tim Ramey]

My name is Tim Ramey and this would be my first post. I have been a member of this form for some time now and have to say that there has been a lot of good information that I have been reading.
I am a fly tier and have the honor to be shown the art of tying flies from Larry Hofferberth. Who is a engineer with a passion for fly fishing and tying flies.
Larry told me at the beginning that there are two kinds of flies, one’s that catch fisherman and ones that catch fish. I find myself wanting to learn everything from Larry but I think outside the box so there has been a time or two he has closed the lid on me and pointed me back in the right direction.
This brings me to the question that I would like to ask everyone. We like to record data on the flies we tie, when they are fished. Everything from the fish they catch to the conditions of the weather, water, air, time and day,etc..
Do any of you record this information and if so what are you using.

I have found a web page that has a program that will allow you to record this information.
It is Fish Swami  ( http://onlinefishinglog.com/index.html ) If anyone else gathers and keeps this kind of information, I would like to know what you all use.

[Lance Egan]

Razorback,

Thanks for the link.

I use my brain, which is rarely accurate, not reliable, and often misplaced...

I'll bet you learn a lot from your data.  For me, I've fished and lived in the same relative area long enough that luckily I've encountered the same hatches, conditions, and successful flies enough times that they are etched into my misplaced brain.  The data you are recording would be very useful to an angler that doesn't get on the water enough to retain the useful info gathered on each trip.

On a side note, I think one of the common characteristics of Team USA consistent finishers is time spent on the water.  An angler that fishes once every month or less will often re-learn the same lessons of the previous trip.  An angler that fishes every week or better yet many times per week will retain all that was learned, and will continue to learn on each trip.  Instead of figuring out the "best" flies for the day, that time is better spent perfecting presentation, figuring out new techniques etc...

Sorry, I kind of got off on a tangent...........

[Tim Ramey]

Thanks for the responce Lance, and I agree with you on what we do ourselves we can remember.

What we are looking for is a program that not only records our data but the data of field testers. When we design a fly we test it on three rivers ourselves. If it catches fish on all three then we send it to the field. We want them to be able to record there data for that fly for the purpose of keeping track of its progress, all in one place. Tying is a perfection, ( art of catching fish). With the data we can see that a fly catches fish on one river but not another, why??? This is the art of tying and having the data to know tells us to make it better. Good angler + bad fly = ??     But keep that pattern for that river.

Does anyone use a program???