The amount of gear we carry.

[mikench]

On my piking day on Sunday which despite blanking I really enjoyed and learned a few things. I was also pleasantly surprised how easy my barrow was to push even through mud. It felt feather light and required no effort. My chair is my barrow with the wheel kit added so I placed my Pike tackle box, unhooking mat and large landing net head on the seat. Two rods and reels plus landing net handle were placed on top with a rod pod and my cool bag with bait and flask was positioned over the front wheel. It was so much lighter than normal. I kept thinking what have I left behind.

I discovered I don't like braid and it cannot be fed through a buffer bead without a baiting needle which I didn't have. I switched to a mono spool. The rod pod was singular unsuccessful in mud being too low and fiddly. Now admittedly I had forgotten my Pike wire cutters and large forceps( both heavy) which I didn't need as I blanked and because, imo, I was using a single circle hook on my trace. My normal carryall with a plethora of different baits, feeders , reels, water bottles, bank stands catapults etc weighs a ton and I didn't miss any of it. My rod bag containing 2 rods, brolly and every variety of bank stick always weighs a ton.

It was liberating just taking some deadbaits; no boilies, no corn, no meat, no pellets of every size, no wafters, floaters or sinkers, no floats or shot, no weights just 2 and a spare. When I packed up and walked the 1k around the lake it was effortless and really noticeable.

I have added a two pairs of bank sticks and a buzzer to my bag plus a baiting needle so am set for next time. If only I could maintain such discipline every other time . .

 

[theartist]

Why not go the whole hog Mike and try a roving piking set up sometimes? Then you can walk around with your gear trying different spots.

 

[mikench]

A good idea Rob. Just targeting one species with one bait and arguably just one rod means you need very little. I'm looking foward to going again. I know my considerable failings particularly my " take it just in case phobia " . I doubt I'll change whilst I still have to strength to carry or push it but picking up my barrow was a revelation.

 

[seth49]

Must admit I do the same, when I’m general coarse and carp fishing I do take a lot of extra things with me, but it all fits on my barrow and it’s easy enough to push to my peg, but I’ve done heavy physical work all my life, so it’s not a problem.

Must admit when I go trotting on the river, I’ve one of those rucksack stools, in it is tackle, bait, sandwiches, and flask, and I carry one rod, and landing net, so I have all I need, plus I can have a sit down when I want.

Same if I’m drop shotting, or if I have a go fly fishing after tea, so it’s horses for courses really, just take what I need on the day.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Mike, over the years I have tried, on many occasions, to reduce the amount of kit I carry and usually without success.

I think it only works really if one intends to fish a known swim, or to, for an individual species and with just one method.
The drawbacks to this approach being that if that target species are not playing ball then the day is almost always wasted.
Whereas with more kit different methods can be tried, and different species might well be attracted . . . this being especially true if it is a river venue with changing weather conditions.

 

[markcw]

I'm staying quiet on this one.?

 

[theartist]

I think it pays to go all in whichever way you prefer. Either take the kitchen sink and cover all bases or go light and cover the ground. To be betwixt and between would leave you wanting in both scenarios.

 

[S-Kippy]

I am firmly of the " I might need that" mindset. Even so I have increasingly reduced the amount of gear I take and it is usually determined by how far I have to schlep and what the terrain is like. Yesterday eg was over a tarmac path but its a good way from the cp to where I wanted to go and I just cannot carry the amount of gear I used to without a trolley or barrow being a lot older and less fit than when I was younger and not being an octopus blessed with 8 arms. I had a mountain of gear with me yesterday but having dried it off and put it away this morning I am at a loss to know what I could have left behind. I could have taken a flask insted of a little cooker and water I guess but bag,bait,chair,mat,holdall etc are all necessary and in the bag is a tackle box,reels and not much else and that is true of virtually everywhere I go and whatever I fish for.

Whenever I've tried to go really light I've ended up with a load of bits that fit in nothing so I've ended up with the usual bags and the rule of octopus applies again. I find it so much easier to sling chairs,bags etc on a barrer than to carry them and provided its good ground and the barrow is loaded correctly its a doddle to push.

 

[rayner]

I have to pat myself on the back, tackle wise I'm limiting what I take. I'll be sticking to one rod and reel, landing net and a small bag for bait tubs plus sundries.
Of course, it's only my plan and anything can happen when I finally take the plunge.
Theoretically, I'm expecting to be on the bank by early summer, like all things likely for alterations.

 

[mikench]

I hope your plans come to fruition Gary and that the fishing is marvellous and worth the wait.

 

[rayner]

Thanks, Mike. There can only be two outcomes, either my plans will either work or they won't. One thing is for sure I need to fish sometime soon.
I'm fortunate that I'm too dense to be affected by the lockdown. ?

 

[terry m]

Personally I don’t buy the ’just in case mantra’. My yardstick is that if I have not used it in the previous 6 months, then I am very unlikely to use it. If I find I need something that I do not have with me then I do without. It almost never happens! And I remember next time.

There are things like an umbrella that I may take but leave in the car, again I rarely go back for it.

Although I have a decent barrow I have not used it for a couple of years. It is easier and quicker just to carry it!

 

[xenon]

I do the old mountaineering trick-compile a list of everything you might want-take half of it. I have a horror of carting around dead weight you never use.

 

[keora]

If I take lots of pike fishing gear with me, it's too heavy to fish more than a couple of swims in a day. I've found I get more takes if I fish plenty of swims, perhaps seven or eight if the conditions are right.

So I take the minimum of equipment - one rod, one rod rest, and a lightweight chair I bought from a camping shop and which is half the weight of those sold in angling shops. I don't have an umbrella. I put a few floats, baits and weights in a small bag, plus sandwiches. The heaviest item is a Korum Snapper landing net which weighs just over 2lbs without a handle.

Korum Snapper Latex Folding Spoon Pike Net

Key Features This is a heavy duty 1m net Features latex mesh Special rubber outer perimeter Designed to reduce the potential for hooks getting caught Sized to accommodate the majority of large predators The net also folds for easy transport Dimensions: 100 x 74

www.anglingdirect.co.uk

 

[no-one in particular]

I got over the might need syndrome when one day I realized I never needed them, that spare for everything just never got used so I lightened up accordingly and have never looked back. I only got caught out once in about 15 years when a reel handle broke. I just got fed up with lugging all the extra gear around when I found it was pointless. I don't think it has limited my fishing strategy's really, I can improvise with very little tackle in my tackle box and have something for most situations and species. About 10 floats some split shot a few weights and bits and bobs, 14-10 sized hooks covers most of it. This is just my general fishing and short-ish spells mind; specializing and long spells on a commercial say I would take more but still keep it to a minimum. I keep baits down as well, usually three, bread and sweetcorn and one other change/experiment bait maybe. bread and sweetcorn are my groundbait as well and sometimes a tin of hemp.
I don't catch a lot of fish mind, but I think that is more to do with being lazy, locations and just not trying hard enough, I don't think having tons of tackle and spare rods reels etc. would make much difference. Maybe now and then but can I square that with all that lugging around. I would rather not, I have got used to enjoying not having to.
But I wouldn't want everyone to fish like me, I enjoy talking to or watching other angler's and all the different ways they fish.

 

[Pete Shears]

One of the problems we all face is that fishing tackle is made to catch anglers and we are made to feel 2nd rate if we do not have the latest this & that.

 

[bullet]

Light as possible for me, all the rivers I fish are roving venues, you're never going to spend more than an hour at once in a single swim, and productive spots are a fair way apart.
All comes down to personal preference.
Imo, the simplest form of fishing is the fly, aside from essentials, like clippers, a small box of patterns and a spool of tippet is all I need for a few hours out, but a friend of mine isn't happy if he doesn't look and sound like a walking hardware store......

 

[Keith M]

I used to carry everything but the kitchen sink, and often staggered half a mile to my swims and usually had to have a rest once I got there before I set up; but ever since I had a stroke about 17 years ago I have travelled fairly light and I haven’t looked back.

• There's a lot less to carry
• There’s less things for me to forget
• I never carry more than two or three rods which covers all the methods I’m likely to use at a particular venue on the day.
• I have 5 different tacklebags plus a match sit-on box and a fishing waistcoat with loads of pockets; each containing everything I’m likely to need for different species and different venue types.
• I have around 9 or 10 rod sleeves all with different rods in them either ready to go or with just a rod and a reel inside ready for me to setup on the day.
• I have 4 different sized rod Quivers (for 1 rod, 2 rods and 3 rods) plus a large 6ft 6in Carp rod hold-all.
• Plus I have a host of different rods to choose from if I need to change the rods I’m taking with me.

So now when I go fishng nine times out of ten I just need to select the right tacklebag, rod quiver and rod sleeves and put some bait, flask and food in the chosen tacklebag and away I go.

Of course by doing this I do need to have some duplicate things like catapults, scales, shot & leger weights etc. but it does mean that I’m not longer having to carry everything but the kitchen sink.

Keith

 

[seth49]

I’m on my favourite Stillwater tomorrow, fishing for silvers and carp, I’ll take a couple of photos of all the stuff I normally take on a day like this, the maximum distance I have to push my barrow is about 100 yards, so it’s not too bad I can do that in one go usually, as it’s all level.

 

[no-one in particular]

My lightest spot is a bench on a jetty wall, no need to take a chair, as long as no one is sitting on it. I spread myself out on the middle of it so no one decides to share it, social distancing has its uses.