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Nick Bowles

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Packing for a Trip
September 28, 2012, 05:11:42 PM
There has been some great posts and comments over the last while about tackle and set ups and different gear. It has really made me think about what I have and how I do things. It has also got me excited for the next few months as I have been playing and sorting out tackle for the last week or two. I have been waiting for the weather to drop in Southern Oman to head down to our place on the islands to start the season. But finally the monsoon winds are dying down and it is time to start fishing! But I have also started packing so I thought that I would take a few pictures as I go along as to what I pack, take and use on a trip. This is my equipment and I obviously am biased towards my relationship with brands like Carpenter, Hots, Shout, Shimano etc. But I thought it might help a few people in the future. Also might also be an opportunity to get some good feedback and new ideas.

I've got a great few months ahead with trips to Hallaniyat Islands Southern Oman, Musandam Northern Oman, Socotra, Sudan, Tanzania, Andaman, Maldives, Seychelles, USA, South Africa etc, so packing and traveling is going to be very important to make the trips successful. I tend to travel very heavy and try to take as much as possible. I always believe in the saying one is none and two is one! So always try and back things up or have a game plan if something breaks or gets lost. Out in the middle of now where you not going to get any help.

For the packing now I'm going to be driving down in our truck to Southern Oman so I'm pretty much taking everything I want to test or play with so this is not a normal situation where air travel is involved.

Firstly the main thing I pack first are my reels. I always make sure the reels are serviced and spooled with leaders ready for action straight away. No point in wasting time when you get to your location in spooling reels, tying leaders etc. Prepare all this before hand.


For this trip I'm taking a lot of my reels and I'm taking my big reels bag. I'm taking Stella 20K (PE8) for heavy jigging, 2 x Stella 18K (PE8 and PE10) both to be rigged one with a stickbait and one with a popper, Stella 10K (PE6) for medium popping and stickbaits, Stella 8K (PE6) for jigging and back up for Stella 10K, Stella 5K (PE2) for light tackle spinning, Stradic 6K (PE3) as a medium spinning reel, Stradic 5K (PE2 as a back up for the light tackle.)

Then I also take a spare spool for each sized reel instead of taking spare lines on plastic spools. This helps with saving time and also you can change your lines and spools in a very quick time. I find taking loads on spare line on plastics spools ends up taking space and also a lot of the time spools break and are a mess. I also take spares for the reels from spare handles to washers to bearings. Also have reel oil so you can do some running repairs if required.




The reel bag I use is a WFO bag which was designed for 30-50W trolling reels but works amazingly for spinning reels. I fit all my reels comfortably in this bag. Each reel has its own compartment and sits snug in the bag and does not move so can travel in cars, boats, planes etc. The bag is big so I tend to only take this when I'm traveling in Oman. If I travel Internationally I tend to use a big roller bag and pack both reels and clothes into the bag.

I'll carry on the packing and update shortly.

Nick Bowles

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Re: Packing for a Trip
September 28, 2012, 05:45:00 PM
Second thing I normally pack are my rods. I feel like once I have the rods and reels packed then I'm half way to finishing packing. These are the bulk expensive items and need to be packed properly and to also make sure you can fit everything in to the bags, tubes etc.


For this trip I'm taking a lot of rod to test and also to try out along with my good old favourites. I've also got a few rods that clients wanted to borow or test. I'm taking a few Carpetners WV80XH, MH80H and EP85/36, Race Point 200 Custom, RP200 and RP250, Hots 77XXXH, 711MH, MC works SB556, SB 546JS, Shimano Aerocast 240XH, Saltywater Tackle OBX500, Assasin 11ft Shore Game, Should be enough to keep us happy! One of the most important parts of traveling with rods is to make sure they all have rod covers. I have broken many rods by not using rod covers and putting them into tubes and then pushing another rod through the guide and breaking etc.


Once I have all the rods together I'm going to take then I use rod straps to put all the rods together in a compact bunch so they don't move. I also use the rod straps on trips to take my rods to the boats in the morning, it makes it easy to carry and also safer for the rods as you don;t have them sticking out all over like a porcupine! Then they are also useful for holding rods in place on the boat under canopies, along railings etc.


With the rod straps they rods fit nicely into the rod tube. I mainly use a Sportstube as it is easy to put the rods in and also takes a lot of rods.


First tube ready to go! I use a combination lock from Sportstube that is TWA approved so airports can open and check without cutting off locks and not able to close the tube again.


I also use a Carmate if I don;t have to many rods, but I find it a bit frustrating putting rods into this tube. For this trip I have a few to many rods so will use both tubes.

Ok now onto lures, jigs, terminal tackle etc. This is where the fun and games start!
Last Edit: September 28, 2012, 05:48:04 PM by Nick Bowles

Mark Harris

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Re: Packing for a Trip
September 28, 2012, 06:35:17 PM
Some nice insights there Nick and I am sure there are more to come :).

One tip - you will a lot more rods in a Carmate (or any for that matter) tube, if you wrap as a nicely organised set in bubble wrap and get rid of the bulky rod socks.  I bubble wrap the set of rods and then strap them.  I can get 8 casting rods in a Carmate by doing that. Keeping the rod socks on takes up loads of extra room and you cannot use the space efficiently.
Last Edit: September 28, 2012, 06:48:04 PM by Mark Harris

Nick Bowles

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Re: Packing for a Trip
September 28, 2012, 07:05:40 PM
Hi Mark, Thought it would be an idea to pack and try get it on camera so can see what I do and maybe get some suggestions or help a few others. It is also making me pack everything out as I do get lazy sometimes and not check everything 100%. It is a lot more gear and heavier than normal as I'm driving down but thought it is a start and before my next International trip will do another with less gear.

Great idea about the bubble wrap. I'll give it a go and see how it works out. Only trick is not to loose the bubble wrap! I prefer the Sportstube as it is easier to get the rods in and out as you load from the top, but the Carmate is a great tube if you can fit the rods easiely. But hope the bubble wrap will make it easier.

Hope your prep for SO is going well and you ready. Looks like the weather is coming down nicely from Sunday for a few days, so will be nice and calm, hopefully some big fish around and hungry!

Cheers,
Nick

Nick Bowles

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Re: Packing for a Trip
September 28, 2012, 07:19:38 PM
One of the hardest things to do is choose lures, colours, sizes etc. Now I personally think all the weird and wonderful colours, shapes etc are mainly to catch fisherman but to be honest I love lures and have way to many but they make me happy!!! So when I comes to lures and jigs I tend to take to many but over the years I have reduced the number down as normally you wont loose to many, but then again in Southern Oman we have had 10 lures lost in a day! But on average I work on taking 8 stickbaits and 6 poppers for the heavy gear. For Jigs I aim to take about 10 jigs normally.

For this trip I have taken quite a large range to try out to see what the fish are feeding on and also colours.


Stickbaits, I'm using a lot of Carpenter, Siren, ASWB and OA (Heru) Stickbaits. These are going to be my main lures due to this is what we have in the shop, but also because I now that they all work in our conditions. I tend to mainly use 150gr+ stickbaits for casting distance but also for a large profile in the water. Most of the time for GTs I recon the bigger the better. Also for Southern Oman we are catching the fish in shallow watyer but the fish have come from deeper water and there are a lot of red/orange coloured reef fish like emperors, snapper etc so I tend to use pink, red, orange and silver.


Poppers are the main lure for Southern Oman at the start to middle of the season. The fish are spread out more and not spawning but rather feeding in a wider area and also we need to find them so i find poppers work well. I'm starting to like darker poppers as they give a better profile from under and most of the GT come directly off the bottom ala Great White style. I find for poppers we used to fish as big as possible but I think the best size popper is about 150gr as they are easy to cast, still give a big bloop but easier to fish for long periods.


I would normally only take the Shout Water Case which I use for taking all my lures on the boat everyday and the lure wrap which has all my spare lures. But for this trip I'm taking a Pelican type case with all spare lures, tackle, etc. A lot of the time I will end up taking extra tackle in case clients loose tackle or don;t have the right tackle so I have plenty spare. The lure wrap I normally use is the Black Magic Marline Lure bag which is light weight and fits plenty lures.


Jigs are obviously an issue and take up a heap of weight. I normally take about 10 jigs on a trip. For this trip for the AJs we tend to use long jigs from Shout, Hots, Smith etc and mainly in the Pink, Organe, Red etc as again the AJs are feeding on red fish like sea bream. The shorter broader jigs we normally use as a search jig when we trying to find anything!


I have started using the Shout jig Sleeves as they are great and you can fit enough jigs into one or two for a whole trip. I used to take a proper jig bag but I ended up taking about 10kg of jigs all the time! I normally use the sleeves and then put them at the bottom of my deck bag which is the Shout Jigger Bag and it fits nicely and also holds the bag in place on the boat and does not slide around to much.


Pelican case taking all the spare gear and jigs.


Mark Harris

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Re: Packing for a Trip
September 28, 2012, 07:26:33 PM
Hi Mark, Thought it would be an idea to pack and try get it on camera so can see what I do and maybe get some suggestions or help a few others. It is also making me pack everything out as I do get lazy sometimes and not check everything 100%. It is a lot more gear and heavier than normal as I'm driving down but thought it is a start and before my next International trip will do another with less gear.

Great idea about the bubble wrap. I'll give it a go and see how it works out. Only trick is not to loose the bubble wrap! I prefer the Sportstube as it is easier to get the rods in and out as you load from the top, but the Carmate is a great tube if you can fit the rods easiely. But hope the bubble wrap will make it easier.

Hope your prep for SO is going well and you ready. Looks like the weather is coming down nicely from Sunday for a few days, so will be nice and calm, hopefully some big fish around and hungry!

Cheers,
Nick

Give the bubble wrap idea a go and let me know how it works for you :) . Somewhere I have some photos I took of the process of interlocking the guides on the rods to get a tightly bunched efficient pack.  If I find, I will post them.

Many thanks for the best wishes..... I truly appreciate that. All prep done and off to the airport tomorrow morning.  ;) . I hope your group also has a fine time.  News from yesterday indicates massive top-water action around the islands.

Trevor Skinner

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Re: Packing for a Trip
September 28, 2012, 08:23:21 PM
Nick,

I notice you haven't got an abalone Hammerhead popper.

Regards,


Trevor

Nick Bowles

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Re: Packing for a Trip
September 28, 2012, 08:42:23 PM
Hi Mark, Will give it a try with the bubble wrap, we have a huge roll in the shop so can try a few different ways. Thinking as you said if you can interlink the end rod sections and then bubble wrap so they don't move then maybe can fit in a heap of rods. K guides are normally the guides that cause a few problems. Also maybe put the rod butt section in your check in luggage? Good to hear you already for the trip, it'll be a good one. The local commercial guys are catching up to a ton a day of blacktip, yellowdot trevally along with emperor AJs etc. The guys have said they have also seen some big GTs. The locals are chumming the shallow pinnacles with sardines bringing in the fish, quite an amazing sight and really good fun fishing mainly light tackle! Can't wait to get down there! You guys will have a blast! Also appreciate the wishes!

Hi Trevor! I can't give away all the secrets!! You must be careful when I see that Abalone Hammerhead on your rod we might just ease in to one of the 2-3m spots??

Cheers,
Nick

Nick Bowles

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Re: Packing for a Trip
September 28, 2012, 09:06:38 PM
Ok now getting onto the terminal tackle and all the small toyz that make my life a lot easier.


Hooks especially trebles are always a problem and I have tried every which way and never had a good solution. But I did like Dmitriis solution and treble box which i think I'll try when I can find the box. But I tend to hang onto hooks especially Decoys, GT Recorders etc for quite a while as they are hard to get. But I usually always take back up Owner ST76 mainly but some St66 for the lighter gear.


I use a basic small square plastic container to throw all my hooks in there that I'm going to use for the day. I put the plastic container in the boat box for the day. Then I have a toiletry bag that I store all the hooks in the packs or loose hooks as the sides are cushioned. Also the toiletry bag has 2 zips on either side that you can put in packs of split rings, jigging hooks etc.


I use a few different leaders depending on what we fishing for but I tend to take all of the leaders in my box. I use Momoi Hi Catch 300lbs for the heavy popping, Fisherman 220lbs for most popping and jigging if we are not in very shallow water, Double X 120lbs soft fluro for jigging, Double X 80lbs for medium tackle popping, small sticks etc and Fisherman 50lbs and Seaguar 30lbs Fluro for light tackle. All of these can fit in my mesh bag except for the Hi Catch so it is stored easily.


Split rings and swivels are always a headache and easy to loose, I use a Versus Split Ring box and works amazinlly well. I also use a small pill box to keep small split rings and swivles so they are easy to get to but also if I'm fishing light tackle I just need to take this small box instead of a Versus box. But I also carry spare split rings and swivels just in case a client or myself looses a heap. Again I keep this in my mesh bag.


Ok this is my favorite bag in the World. It is a mesh bag from Sansui and stores all my bits and pieces. These include in the picture: Leader, Split ring box, small split ring box, 2 x knives, PE Line pullers (best thing ever!), Bouz lighter 9second best thing ever!), Abel lube kit, knife sharpner, sun block, head lamp, 2 x gloves, Accurate all use pliers, PE scissors, pin for fishing belt, small split ring pliers, small screw driver with inter changable heads, Fisherman side cutters with crimp pliers, PR bobbin, Duo split ring pliers, reel strap, MC Works rod belt (can be used to seperate rods, strap a sore wrist and tie rods together), Leatherman and packet with reel oil, super glue and drag washers. All of that in one small washable bag!!


This is the Shout Jigger Bag that I use on the box. It is dry and stores most on my gear for the day.


I normally put my leaders in the bottom so i can get to them easily instead of the mesh bag


I also put the mesh bag with all my tools along with my plastic box of hooks.


I also put in a heap of lures or jigs II'm going to use for the day with my fishing belt plus there is a side pocket on the box which I use for keeping my jigging hooks and assist cord. If I need more spare then I take out the gloves and fishing belts and put these attached to the outside shoulder strap and then I can put a heap more lures or jigs and don;t have to take the Water Case of lures if we are short for space.

Last Edit: September 28, 2012, 09:09:30 PM by Nick Bowles

Nick Bowles

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Re: Packing for a Trip
September 28, 2012, 09:59:28 PM
One of the most important parts of packing is taking the cameras to get the pictures of the holiday or trip! I have tried a heap of different cameras and set ups but I have found that this suits me best. I would prefer to take a pelican case and keep all the gear inside but this is not possible and I would rather take more tackle.


I use a normal camera backpack that I bought with the camera, it is not water proof but does have a splash cover that you can pull over the whole backpack. If I have enough space then I take the backpack and usually have my Canon 50D, 10-20mm lens, 70-300mm lens, Go Pro, Olympus Waterproof Camera and then spare batteries and cards for all of the cameras. You will be surprised how often you run out of batteries or you don;t have charging facilities. I also have a small tripod if I'm fishing on my own to take pictures especially shore fishing, pus also 2 walkie talkies that I keep in my camera bag so to have comms over short distances.

I also have a waterproof compression bag that i use if I'm on the boat and there is not much space, then I'll use this bag with the 50D wrapped in a towel and leave the backpack behind, but you have to be careful not to bump the camera and also putting wet hands inside the bag as there is no ventilation and humidity can form inside the bag.

Well I think thats about it for today, tomorrow I'm going to finish off my clothes, first aid, etc, so if I have the time before we leave I'll post the last bit. Hope this has been a bit helpful.

Cheers,
Nick


Alex Jordan

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Re: Packing for a Trip
September 29, 2012, 01:20:38 AM
Nice break down Nick!

Just taken a kilo of jigs out of my luggage as I am overweight ...!

Nick Bowles

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Re: Packing for a Trip
September 29, 2012, 02:29:11 AM
Hi Alex, I have plenty jigs, just added a few more in case. Otherwise I have given a heap of stock to Damon who will be keeping poppers, stickbaits, jigs, hooks, swivels etc down on the island if you need anything half way through the trip and I don't have any left.

Cheers,
Nick

Martin Gundersen

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Re: Packing for a Trip
September 29, 2012, 04:45:07 AM
Great info  :)
Tight lines
Martin

Gary Krol

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Re: Packing for a Trip
September 29, 2012, 08:56:48 AM
Great info  :)

for sure, almost as fun to read as a fishing report, thanks for taking the time!

Nick Bowles

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Re: Packing for a Trip
September 29, 2012, 12:10:21 PM
Thanks Martin and Gary, thought it would be good fun to pack everything out. It actually did me a load of good as I saw I had a heap of stuff that was not needed for the trip down South. Just got a few things to sort out today like the first aid kit and clothes so will try post a bit later once done.

Cheers,
Nick