I love fishing. And hunting. And camping in general.
I hate packing and unpacking the truck after every trip, I hate losing things or not knowing where things are, and I hate burning precious morning fishing time fiddling around with my gear.
If you’re reading this, I suspect that you share some of these sentiments, and also only have a finite amount of recreation time that you’d like to make the most of. Naturally, I don’t have all the answers. I don’t even think there are answers to a lot of the inefficiencies that we face.
However, below are some of my best practices to reduce the some of the many sources of friction that you can run into while trying to get out on the water.
Ed. Note: while we have no official relationship with any of the companies mentioned in this article, we’ve included affiliate links to some of the products below. If you choose to purchase through our affiliate links, we will earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
Pre-Assemble Your Fly Rod
A.K. Best said that he can tell a good fly fisherman from a distance, because they arrive to the water and study it for a beat with nothing tied to their tippet. This is, of course, great advice, and when I fish new water I incorporate the rod setup into the morning ritual while studying the water.
Of course, sometimes you need to barrel down to your homewater and do as much fishing as you can in a short amount of time, and for this, the market provides several solutions.
If you are not on a budget, the best option is a rod vault mounted to the exterior of your vehicle. Considerations when choosing a specific model? I’d opt for all-metal construction, and of course, be sure that it locks since you’re advertising that you have expensive fly rods and reels with you. Good options are currently made by Thule, Yakima, and River Quiver.
For the budget-minded consumer, which is where I find myself, I like a system that suspends to rods close to the ceiling of your vehicle. Obviously, this only works if you have an SUV-type vehicle. I think that Smith Creek was the originator of this design, although as with anything else, Amazon is aflood with knock-offs that come in around 10% of the MSRP of the Smith Creek. It’s hard to advocate buying knock-offs of anything, but, times is tough… The Smith Creek unit does come with suction cups to affix to your rear quarter windows, which I think is a better mounting solution than any of the Chinese stuff.
Whichever option you choose, assembling your rod(s) at home when you have time will buy you a few extra minutes on the water.
Storage
One of the best ways to save time with any sort of outdoor activity is to have self-contained kits that don’t change, and are always ready to go. I have dedicated bins for my general camping supplies that fits my tent, sleeping bag, ground pad, JetBoil and other contingency equipment, and for my “camp cook” setup that contains all the cooking supplies to make a base camp trip really excel. For these, I use the Plano Sportsman’s Trunks and have found them to exceed expectations in the durability department after 5+ years of use.
When I’m packing up for a trip, especially in the autumn months where I’m out a lot, all I need to do is grab whichever bin I need and toss it in the truck.
You can set up your waders, boots, net, reels, and other incidentals in a separate box (something with ventilation like the Sidio Crate or even a plain milk crate might be better-suited for this), and they’re ready to go at a moment’s notice.
Everything that is not in a bin is hanging on a hook (or nail…) that has been labeled with an actual label maker. This makes it easy to see if something is missing, or misplaced, at a moment’s notice, and also makes putting things back afterward a thoughtless endeavor.
If you can keep your grab’n’go stuff (propane tanks, fly rods, gas can, cooler, etc.) right by the door that’s all the better, although not always an achievable reality for some.
Thoughts on Food
The most irritating part of packing for a multi-day trip is the need to go to the grocery store. I prefer to eat (relatively) healthy and fresh, and I have found no other way around this than making the requisite trip to the grocery store beforehand. That said, here are some of my scattered thoughts if you are less-motivated to eat clean… which admittedly is a hard thing to do out in the field sometimes.
Buy in bulk, and keep non-perishable snacks in the truck. Preferably in some sort of container, like the ones mentioned above. That’s It bars are my absolute go-to snack; they’re made with only fruit and taste incredible, and my dog agrees as well. The cheapest place to get them in bulk is Costco.
I now bring the Coleman stove out even on day trips so I can make a burger, brats and onions, or whatever on a break. It’s almost no extra hassle for the much higher quality of food. Chop up the onions ahead of time.
Final Thoughts on Efficiency
One of the things that’s important to me in life is to reduce the friction involved in anything that I need to do on a regular basis; this includes writing, hunting, fishing, working on the cars, whatever. Sometimes it’s difficult to overcome that initial inertia required to get something (whatever that is) going, and so I try to set up systems and organizational methods that reduce the time and effort needed to get started on something.
It might be the sad truth that most things that adult humans in today’s society are obligations, and provide us with no fulfillment or value. The chores that are spawned before or after a trip fall into that category for me, and I’ve set up some of the systems above to help grease the skids and allow me to spend more time doing what I actually like in life.
If the actual examples I’ve put forth don’t apply directly to you, hopefully the mindset that I’ve laid out will help you develop your own systems to keep you organized, well-prepared, and on the water more regularly.
Ed. Note: we’re interested to hear if you, the reader, have any suggestions to make your trip packing more efficient. Drop us a line if you do, and we may incorporate them into the article.
