On my last boat trip I was on board first and below you will see All my kit and I have detailed how I am kitted out for any style of fishing from Wreck, Bassing, reef or banks fishing.
I sat back and watched the other 8 anglers arrive and load their kit onto the boat and I was amazed at the volumes of kit came aboard. Big boxes, rod holders with a stack of rods in there, floatation suits in bags, food hampers, bags of food, cool boxes, you think I’m joking Oh No !!
Apart from me two other anglers were traveling light and you could see they were geared for just that day and not every fishing trip they had planned for that year ! Not only had the deck space been greatly reduced due to all this kit you could see what was going to happen when we set out to sea and although the boat is reasonably dry when under way in a lumpy sea then a lot of spray will find it’s way into many of those boxes.
So with all that lot on board and 9 anglers we set off and the minute we left harbour we hit the chop and the first wave of spray crashed over the boat and there was a scurry to the back to get that kit as far forward. Problem was there was so many boxes and kit and there is only so much room up forward so some are going to get deluged and they did.
When we arrived at the fishing mark one guy opened his box up to see the top tray and kit all swimming in salt water and underneath wasn’t that much better, I watched as he took his lunch out too and that was now duck bread and soggy so he was going hungry all day too. His box wasn’t the only one and saw the same on a few others.
All that kit immersed into salt water before it even gets used and unless it’s all stainless then there is going to be a lot of work to dry and salvage many pounds worth of tackle. So it’s obvious these tackle boxes are only really for carrying kit and not keeping it dry in splash situations as these guys have found out.
So not only do we have all this gear on the boat there is also a number of pissed off anglers because their kit is all soggy ! when will they learn to get a bag that is waterproof and can carry just what you need for that day. Everyone knew they were signed up for wrecking and if weather turned bad then the banks would be the second option so kit up for drifting both.
Personally I could say to these guys you keep doing this and then come to me for replacement tackle but really I would prefer they re-think and travel light and save on damage limitation. So all this said how do I travel ?? well take a look at the image galleries and you will see how light you can go boat fishing and I have kit for anything from wrecking, bassing, turbot, plaice and even ling or conger hooks in my kit, so what more do you need.
You can see the style of bag and the amount of space it takes up and how portable it is, space is 45cm x 23cm x 30cm high were as the average small box is 45cm x 40cm x 40cm high and that is the smaller ones. Everything you see laid out is what any angler would need for a good days fishing, it also highlights the advantages of having ready to fish out of the bag tackle as all my lures, rigs, hooks are all ready to fish. Plus you can have a bag like that at your feet so tackle loss on wrecks can be resolved quickly.
I have three rods taped up with velcro and they will fish wrecks, reefs, banks and light for plaice, bream, bass large and small. There are three reels again setup for most styles of fishing with two sizes of braid and a spare just in case reel if both broke. The blue bag is a cold bag with ice packs for my food and bags in there for catches as I like to fillet the fish on the boats when I catch ! and I keep a cool box with large ice bottles in the car for the trip home.
So if I can travel light why can’t others ! just think of all that space saving on the boats and safe passage too getting around the boat as I have seen anglers stumble and fall over peoples kit and their own. Worth reviewing your kit don’t you think.
TAKE A LOOK AT MY NEW ANGLERS LUGGAGE ESPECIALLY
THE SPECIMEN BAG
