Fishing Articles
Salmon & Steelhead Backup Gear
Knowing what to backup will keep you in the fish
and weight off your back
Timothy Kusherets
Three-fourths of the way to the water and you think about the last fishing
trip. You got a great phone call on your cell and you found out that
you just got a promotion, but you had to leave the water to get to the
office to seal the deal. You were so happy about the good news that
you decide to share the good fortune by sharing the last of your Slinkies
and you give them to the other anglers. Now that everything is going
great, you’re heading back to the river to hookup with some steelhead
and salmon when it suddenly hits you. You forgot to make extra slinkies
and you’re just about to the water, and the river is ripe with
boulders. Sure, you’ve got plenty of pencil lead, but that’s
for gravel to large rocks, not boulders that will snag them for sure.
Slinking down in the seat you put the pedal to the metal and race to
the launch hoping that you remembered the backup to your setups. Opening
your trunk you begin to go through all the gear and your heart soars
as you see the backup slinkies you forgot about, because you packed
them over six months ago, and this type of emergency is the reason why.
If you’re going to fish for the big boys you have to have the
backups to ensure that whatever happens between you and the fish is
the only reason you either get the catch or lose it, not because you
forgot something along the way. Ensuring the backup means that half
the success of the day has already been assured. Knowing what to backup
will keep you in the fish and weight off your back no matter what happens.
There have been times where I eventually forgot, lost, or gave away
gear that literally meant the difference between getting fish and not
getting anything at all. It was the birth of all those mistakes that
got me to thinking about backups and convinced me that something should
be done about it. The problem with backing up your gear is really about
what you have to backup that will stay with your vehicle from that gear
essential to pack in a vest, and it all comes down to weight, tools,
and how far to the water you’re going.
When we talk about backup gear the first thing to consider is the weight.
How heavy is the gear going to weigh, and how critical is it to a disaster
that could come up? If the gear is heavy you have to decide how important
it is for you to take to the water. Most of the time that I backup stuff
that weighs a lot, I simply leave it with the car, or take it out on
the boat with me. If you’re going to be wading, walking, or hiking,
you’re better off leaving it with the vehicle. The trip to the
car trunk is a whole lot shorter than driving all the way home due to
forgetting your waders. Sounds funny doesn’t it? Losing your waders
is something that can really happen, so says the voice of experience.
Take the time to consider lead weight, waders, fishing line, and extra
reels before heading out and you’ll be better off. The next thing
to consider is tools.
Every Angler should have backup tools that are taken to the water. Reels
can break down, Rods can break, Nets can develop holes and when any
of them happen, you’ll know that the tools you’ve taken
along are worth their weight in gold. Backup tools can be stored out
of the way, and for the most part, can be stored in the back of a fishing
vest. The back pockets of most vests are huge, mostly to accommodate
caught fish, however, tools fit nicely in the bottom of it. The lighter
side of any disasters that could happen is that you’ll probably
have to stop and fix whatever the problem is along side of the bank
anyway, so getting the gear out is nothing. Even boaters normally will
have to beach just to fix most problems since the primary need of field
repair is stability. If the boat is waffling back and forth you can’t
fix the problem, especially if it involves a rod or reel. The most common
backup tools to take are Pliers, Screwdrivers (standard and phillips),
Matches, Baggies, Glue, and flashlights. These tools will keep you fishing
when other anglers are forced to head home. After all is said and done,
the final component is about the distance you intend to go.
Disasters on the water can come in all forms and one of them can be
the actual distance between where you want to fish from where you park
the truck. There are some trails that take me down the side of rivers
for seven miles or more. It really depends on what kind of fishing I’m
doing, or whether or not I’m on recon, to check out a new system.
The matter of backup gear is about how good the fishing is versus how
heavy the gear will actually weigh me down. I’m not talking about
your standard fishing gear needed to get fish on the hook, I’m
simply talking about things that make a fisherman feel confident that
if something goes wrong that he or she is ready for it. The value of
the gear should always be based on how good the fishing is, and if you
don’t know then the gear should mean almost nothing to you. However,
if the honey-hole you’re trying to get to is sick with fish then
you’ll want to take as much backup as you can handle. When I know
the fishing has the potential of being really good, I tolerate the extra
burden and load up on “all” the gear that could keep me
from fishing; like losing a reel, breaking the tip of a rod, losing
all the line on the spool, and losing so much of my terminal gear that
I’m forced to dip into the extra weights and swivels. Remember,
the only time to pack it all on is when the fishing has the “Potential”
of getting you a large amount of fish. It’s up to each angler
to figure out what that actually means, but it all comes down to taking
that extra gear into the field with us. While it is true that boaters
have the luxury of taking lots of gear all the time, many of the same
problems and considerations remain the same.
For the first half of the day I kept losing fish. Who would have
thought that fishing for trout that I would be hooking into monsters
like this one. With all my backup gear in the back of my vest, I got
out some heavier fishing line and landed this lunker after a half-hour
long battle. On this day, if I hadn't taken the backup with me I might
not have gotten any fish at all.
Backup gear can keep you hitting into fish the entire
day, sunup to sundown. Years ago, before I started applying the backup
system, there were times that I actually had to leave water that were
so full of fish that if you took them out the level of the river or
lake would fall, and I’m not joking around. It’s happened
to me before, and eventually, it could happen again. Hopefully, I’ll
head my own advice and keep all the extra gear I’ll ever need
within arms reach rather than two-hundred miles. Every angler worth
his salt knows all the pains described here, and they have learned
to take the time to consider the pros and cons of taking that extra
gear. To the novice angler I say “take the time to learn from
others mistakes, so you don’t have to feel the pangs of leaving
awesome fishing holes early”. Just remember that it comes down
to three simple things: Weight, Tools, and Distance from your vehicle
to the fishing hole and half the success of the day is assured. I
guarantee it.
© Timothy Kusherets, 2006/09 |
