Trip Preparation

Its seems fishing trip preparation comes in two varieties. There are the guys who get up an hour early before a 12 hour drive and start throwing things in the back of the vehicle. Then there are the guys who start with a list and pack according to a plan. I suppose when you are driving right to the door of a cabin and not using air travel of any kind the former works just fine. I could argue this is a good way to forget things. I could also argue this will cause you to bring a bunch of extraneous things, but at the end of the day it works.

Now when you are driving/flying to a canoe trip or a float plane this is where it gets a bit tougher. If you are carrying hundreds of pounds of gear on your back you might questions this approach. You might also questions this approach when you are flying-in to a remote camp. All that extra stuff might cost you some extra bucks to get into camp.

I found as I got older, and have less tolerance for carrying bags that weight 100lbs, I needed a better plan.   Now planning has become a larger and larger part of my routine.  A few years ago I came across a really nice starting point for packing. It came in the form of a nice Excel spreadsheet.  Over the last few years I have improved and updated this document before every trip. Now I can’t imagine a trip without it.

A list like the one above allows you to make sure you pack what you need. It also allows you to plan for weight on float planes and commercial airlines. It also let’s you quickly adjust to fishing conditions. If I am fishing a lake with Lake Trout but not Walleyes I cut out the lures for Walleyes and replace with the appropriate Trout lures.

Planning is definitely something I do for every trip now. Maybe a list like this could help you too!

Brett