The logbook
Every trip,
with the numbers.
3 entries so far. Kept the same way I keep the paper one in the glovebox: date, water, drive, flow, temp, fish, and the single fly that finally did the job.
| No. | Date | Water | Range | Drive mi | ft³/s | Temp | To hand | Fly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 041 | Sep 11 | Gros Ventre River | Gros Ventre Range, WY | 418 | 212 | 51°F | 14 | Grey Drake cripple, #20 |
| 040 | Aug 22 | Unnamed beaver chain | Wind River foothills, WY | 377 | — | 58°F | 31 | Elk Hair Caddis #14 |
| 039 | Jul 18 | Rock Creek | Sapphire Range, MT | 702 | 340 | 67°F | 9 | Chubby Chernobyl #10 |
Earlier logs are still being transcribed from paper. They were kept badly and I'm not proud of the record-keeping.
How to read a row
The flow number is the single most useful thing in the table. A river at 212 ft³/s and the same river at 900 are two different rivers with two different sets of fish in two different places, and the fly at the end of the row only makes sense in that context.
Drive miles are one-way from home. They're in there because the honest cost of a trip is the driving, and because a road that reads as “four hours” on a map is usually six once the pavement ends.
Fish counts are approximate and deliberately undramatic. I stop counting when it stops mattering, which on a good day is early.