Check lists | fishonfly.com.au

{{+1}}Check lists{{-1}}

One of the most important things I learned in my competition fishing career was the importance of not forgetting to have items on hand that I needed in a competition session.

An early memory I have was a bank session on Little Pine Lake in Tasmania where my beat was on the opposite side of the lake and we had to walk from the drop off point to the beat, about one kilometer. Now that is not a long distance but keep in mind your in waders and wading boots and carrying your rods etc, fly vest, packed with flies and all the other bibs and bobs that you will need for that 3 hour session. With just 20 minutes to go before the session imagine my horror when I found that I had left my landing net in the bus at the car park a kilometer away. Netting fish is compulsory so I had to bust a gut to get back to the bus, get the net and return to the beat. What that meant was I was under pressure right from the start and I vowed never to let that happen again ... hence my check lists.

You would be surprised how often you see that sort of thing happening on the competition scene.

I now have check lists for all sorts of the basics that I may take as well as lists of the rods, reels, leaders, baits, tools etc that I think are appropraite for each type of session.

The way I use these lists is quite simple. For example if I am heading off at a competition to fish a river session in the morning and then a loch style session in the afternoon and I have to have all the gear for both sessions with me when on the bus I make sure that I have the "Trout river session" and "Trout loch style session" lists covered.

Similarly if I am heading off to fish the deep channel markers for pelagics and expect to be doing some trolling for Spanish Mackerel then I make sure I have the "Saltwater deep pelagics" and "Salt water trolling" lists covered.

Keep your lists up to date and use them every time your going fishing and you may be surprised how much better you will be set up.

On the personal welfare side I have two lists.

GRAB BAG

This is a bag that is always in my boat when fishing or my car at other times. If I am going out in a mates boat I also try to take it with me.

Depending on the time of the year, the weather, hours that your fishing etc this bag is your safety net just in case ... the longer the trip the more important this item is.This is also a bag that is worth keeping hand if your road traveling or want a bag of basics that you can easily grab if you have to leave home in an emergency. You'll be surprised how handy the contents may be if your stuck somewhere.

Change of cloths
Spare hat
Beenie
Head lamp (rechargeable Leadlenser in my case)
Wet weather gear
Personal EPIRB.
Leatherman tool
Spare reading glasses
Spare sun glasses
Emergency kit

ESKY

Your welfare is important so make sure your not going to become dehydrated or hungry. My "lunch box type" small esky has has an insulated inside area as well as a zippered pocket on the outside. For full day trips I like to take: