Thought I would share something my cousin and I put together to keep track of the fish in our lakes. The idea and the average weight/length chart was given to me by Walter @ Texoma Fisheries. The back (lake maps) are printed so that in a 3-ring binder you can look at the lakes while filling out the form. We printed on Rite in the Rain all-weather paper and use waterproof pens.
The format changed a little when I converted it from pdf to jpeg, but it still looks okay.
http://www.pbase.com/sturkierobbins/image/118335498http://www.pbase.com/sturkierobbins/image/118335666
Cool setup, Cathedral. That pretty well takes away any excuses for not tracking your fish population.
Did you guys create the template yourselves using a relative weight scale from somewhere? And I assume this is just for LMB, correct?
That is first class. I hope you don't mind that I lifted those images and saved them for my own future use.
Walter sent us some data via excel for the relative weight scale and we did the bar graph and all the other graphics in Adobe CS4. One thing I should point out is the graph is not completely lined up with length columns, but close enough for us. If anyone wants the pdf I can send it to them - from there you can remove the Sturkie Ranch language if desired.
When various family and friends fish, they take out a kit with them. The kit includes a 3-ring binder with clock glued on the front and a measuring tape in the front pocket. They also take a culling stinger or bucket with them - the easier it is for them, the more likely they are to record the fish they catch.
As you can see on the bottom of the front page, we are culling all 11-15 inch bass. We also take notes for crappie caught, but right now we only have crappie in one lake. Based on information we have tracked over time, we have determined there is a crappie problem so we cull all crappie. We also noted that the bass approaching 15 inches were too lean, thus the removal of this size.
Just missed your post Bodock - please feel free to use. They may come out just fine as jpeg's, but if you want the pdf please let me know.
I would also appreciate some feedback on the l/w graph at he top. Is it reasonably accurate for my location, SE OK just north of the Red River?
Nice job. Will you be taking weights and if so how recorded ? Another helpful bit of info is a one word description of condition ( good , avg. or bad for example)
Ewest, unfortunately my cousin favors a 'catching' log over a 'lake management' log. I use the lure section to record actual weight, girth, condition of fish, etc.
We had other versions, but people were weighing some fish and measuring others. Plus, as my wife said 'they all look good to me...' In the end it was hard to get comfortable with the subjective data. I usually have them send me pictures of a few of their catches and judge for myself.
That is a good idea that I also started this past year. Here is a chart you might enjoy.
Thanks for posting that Cathedralmtnbass, very professional looking!
When various family and friends fish, they take out a kit with them. The kit includes a 3-ring binder with clock glued on the front and a measuring tape in the front pocket. They also take a culling stinger or bucket with them - the easier it is for them, the more likely they are to record the fish they catch.
Also a great idea! You didn't mention it but I am assuming that the kit includes a scale as well. Great set up!
What type of scale are people using for weighing?
I went the cheap route and bought one similar to this:
cheep scale What I don't like about it is that you have to poke a hole in the fish to hang them.... I ended up getting a bag like they use in fish tournaments and use that along with the scale. I'm leaning toward getting one with a pan on it so you don't have to "hang" the fish. I don't know how effective that will be if they want to flop around.
my sales pitch
http://lakework.com/cart/index.php?p=product&id=112&parent=12much time was spent on this. We took serious time to findout whtat we thought was most user friednly. We bought in bulk and it saves quite a bit of $ if bought seperate. Keep it up all measurements you do will help reach your goals.
Thanks for the scale input. Greg, with your scale, how did you handle the fish flipping out problem? I agree with Esshup that poking a hole is not ideal. This will be my first Spring and the fish will not weigh that much (no 5 pounders yet!).
Coach a few will just flop. Not got a good way to combat that. I feel better about that than hanging scale with flopping close to gills. We shocked over 100 lakes this year and weigh a bunch of bass so % wise not that high although very frustrating with a flopping fish for sure. The accuracy is so important especially only smaller fish. This is why we use this type scale also and report in grams not having to worry about ounces then %ounces, etc. After one use you are over the change to gram deal.