Why I Keep a Fishing Journal

My name is Eric Lawrenz and I’ve fished since I was a boy in rural Saskatchewan. In

the early days I fished for Pike with a Garcia-Mitchell 300 spinning reel and Len

Thompson Red & White spoons along Eagle Creek.

Fly Fishing a Saskatchewan Creek - Eric Lawrenz

After I left the farm to pursue my education and career, my tackle box gradually filled

with shiny Rapala crank baits (mostly designed to catch fishermen I think) and other

popular spin fishing lures. Over the next 25 years I only fished sporadically; but along

the way an interest in fly fishing got planted in my mind and the idea began to

germinate.

In 1998, I was no longer able to resist the urge and I bought a cheap fly fishing setup

from a local shop, along with a handful of random flies; neither the store owner nor I

had any idea what fly patterns might work.

Belly Boating In Northern Saskatchewan - Eric Lawrenz

I clearly remember my first foray into fly fishing. It was June, and my best friend and I

decided to try our luck at Camp 10, a small stocked trout lake located north of Prince

Albert National Park. We struggled through the floating reeds to the edge of the lake

and awkwardly casted our black and red wooly worms onto the water. After a few

cycles of casting and retrieving the fly I got hung up in the weeds and gave it a pull to

get free; to my astonishment, it pulled back! In typical beginner fashion I jerked the rod

tip into the air and broke off the fish.

I ended up catching a couple of Rainbow Trout that day but more importantly, I was

captured by fly fishing. The feel of a feisty fish on a fly line is addictive and since that

day I have rarely touched my spinning gear.

Fly Fishing The Gem Lakes - Eric Lawrenz

In the autumn of 1998 I joined the Kilpatrick Fly Fishing Club (KFF) in Saskatoon and

I’ve been a member ever since. Through the Club I learned how to properly cast a fly

rod and how to tie flies, as well as the skills and tactics needed to catch fish using a

variety of fly fishing techniques. But most significantly, I’ve made a number of life-long

friends amongst the Club’s membership.

Even though I was busy with my career in the early 2000’s there was a strong ethic of

volunteerism in the Club and I decided that I should try to give something back as well.

My contributions were often small in nature, such as assisting with fly tying classes or

fly casting lessons, but it allowed me to become better acquainted with many Club

members and to pay forward the same reception I enjoyed when I was a beginner.

During that time I took on the role of Club Secretary for a few years and I am now still

involved with the Club’s Executive as a Director.

Photo of a Club Meeting - Eric Lawrenz

In 2016, Colin Regier, who was president of the Club at the time, asked me to look at

what could be done to encourage more members to use the fishing journals that we

provided to them when they joined. These journals are a pocket-sized, coil-bound

notebook designed to help them keep a diary of their fishing activities. Over time, a

well maintained journal can become a valuable resource for the angler.

We decided to initiate a program where Club members would submit their journals to

me at the end of the open-water season and I would record the combined results

(anonymously) in a database. Using this information, statistics could be developed that

would show how well different water bodies fished, what species and sizes of fish were

being caught, what flies were most effective, and what time of year anglers had the

best success on each water body.

The first year we had five participants, so the next year we decided to offer a prize as

an incentive to encourage more members to submit their journal. Each person who

participated was entered into a draw for one of Bill Chunik’s marvellous handmade

wooden fishing nets (Bill is a long-time KFF Club member). The incentive was helpful

as we got eight participants that year and thirteen in 2019 when an incentive was

offered again.

Gem Lakes - Eric Lawrenz

The resulting information isn’t statistically accurate because the sample size is so

small; plus our members fish all over the province so some water bodies might only

show up once in the database in a given year. However, the information is fun to look

at and, if nothing else, it probably encourages members to fish some water bodies they

haven’t tried before.

In my opinion, the biggest benefit that accrued from this exercise is that it may have

spurred a few more members to keep a fishing journal for their own purposes. So why

is this important?

I’ve kept a journal of my fishing activities since 1998 and it now extends to multiple

volumes. Whenever I return to a water body that I haven’t fished for a while, I refer

back to my old notebooks to see what combination of fly lines and flies were

successful last time I was there. This can vary from spring to fall; hence the value of

keeping as much detail as possible. I also keep a record of the best producing places

on each water body. It’s all information that gives me a good starting point as I head

onto the water at the beginning of a new day.

Fly Fishing a Saskatchewan Stream - Eric Lawrenz

In 2022, I lead a committee to revamp the format of the fishing journals, and these

were printed this spring. The journals are printed on water resistant paper which

protects your valuable data in case it gets dunked while you’re wading your favourite

creek.

Each entry in the journal consists of two pages, the first one is a form that facilitates

the entry of information such as date, location, weather, type and size of fish caught,

and the flies used. The second sheet is an open page onto which the angler can

record all other information they feel is important. This might be detailed comments

about the techniques they used that day, a sketch of the lake showing where they had

success, or maybe a heartfelt haiku about the beautiful day they just experienced.

The Latest Version of the Fly Fishing Journal - Levi Kalinsky

The Saskatchewan Fly Fishing Federation (SFFF) journals are available to members of

the three fly-fishing clubs in the province but any notebook can do the job. See the

images of the current SFFF fishing journal for ideas to develop your own notebook.

Better yet, join your closest fly fishing Club and get a nifty, pre-printed copy; and meet

some new friends at the same time.