First clear pane
Small perch drift in from the dark, study the jig and keep circling without taking it.
Ice logbook
Episodes instead of spots on a map
The logbook is not a list of locations. It is a row of nights, holes and cameras — each one tagged by mood, light and fish behavior under the ice.
Every entry here comes with the same core notes: depth, bottom type, lure, light cone and how the fish actually behaved on screen.
Tag rail
Tag episodes by how the ice felt, not by GPS
Featured runs
Three episodes that explain the logbook idea
Each card is one night. Hole, time, depth, light and what the fish actually did in the frame.
Dome room crowd
A slow gathering of fish under the shelter, staying in view for nearly twenty minutes.
Edge flash
Lone fish cuts through the light once, then vanishes into the dark edge of the cone.
Night line
One episode as a short timeline
We keep one simple row: hole drilled, first visit, best moment, last frame.
- Time stamps lifted straight from the camera clock.
- Only three marks per night so it stays readable.
Depth lanes
Group episodes by how far the camera hangs
Instead of one big number, we drop nights into three lanes: very shallow, mid and deeper water.
Shallow shelf
Middle room
Deep window
Quick filters
Grab three nights with the same feeling
We use a small strip of filters to ask for “rush hour”, “solo scout” or “calm window” runs in seconds.
Episode anatomy
What one logbook entry is made of
Every episode is the same small bundle: one key frame, a card and a short note about sound and mood.
- A still from the camera that tells the whole story.
- Three lines of text: setup, behavior, takeaway.
Bottom textures
A belt of frames just for the floor
We keep a separate belt for the bottom itself: clean sand, soft mud and messy weed.
Rippled sand
Soft mud
Weed edge
Light cones
Two simple cones that cover most nights
In the logbook we only name two: narrow spot and soft dome. Each one makes a different kind of story.
Narrow spot
Tight beam, one clear circle, fish cutting in and out at the edge.
Soft dome
Wide, gentle glow, fish staying inside the frame for a long time.
Micro episodes
Tiny runs you can scan in a few seconds
Some nights are too small for full cards. We keep them as short “micro episodes”: one frame, one line, one takeaway.
Clear flash
One pass, no return, lure never touched.
Floor check
Fish studies the floor, not the lure.
Quiet loop
Slow circles, no hurry, no bite, lesson in patience.
Index wall
A whole season pinned where you can see it
At home we pin printed cards to a simple board. Weeks of ice turn into one big, readable surface.
- Episodes cluster by season, depth lane and light cone.
- Empty spaces show where new stories still fit in.
Stacks
Keep nights in small, themed piles
Not every group lives on the wall. Some nights stay in small stacks: “solo scout runs”, “weed edge checks”, “deep window tests”.
Entry check
Quick panel before an episode joins the logbook
Before an episode lands on the wall, it passes one quiet check: frame, notes and tag line agree with each other.
- Key frame shows both lure and how the fish behave.
- Tag line matches what the clip actually feels like.
Season ribbons
Early glass, deep midwinter and last thin songs
We group nights into three soft “ribbons”: first clear panes, dense midwinter ice and the last thin, ringing sheets.
Ice ribbons
- Glass line — first clear slabs, light flooding the cone.
- Deep hush — thick roofs, softer sound and light.
- Last song — thin plates that sing with every step.
Sound notes
A thin sound line for each recorded night
The logbook keeps a tiny track of what the hut sounded like: doors, soft steps, quiet talk and the moment the rod finally moved.
- Each spike on the line gets one word, not a full sentence.
- Later, sound marks help explain why fish sped up or slowed down.
Next pages
The logbook grows one quiet night at a time
There is no rush to fill every square on the wall. Each new card should come from a night where camera, light and story worked together.
