Besides the obvious stuff you need just to be on the river, there are some things that just make the day more pleasant, or your fishing experience more successful.

1. If you're a drift fisherman, you owe the guy who invented Pip's leader dispensers a beer the next time you see him. He's saved you five or ten minutes a day rigging up, and that extra time in the water can easily make the difference between fish and no fish.

2. Whenever I buy a new bait box, the first thing I do is drill a small hole in the lid and a small hole in the back of the box about an inch from the top. Then I run a piece of rubber tubing through both holes, tying knots in the tubing outside of both holes. Now when I take a bait out of the box, it automatically closes and stays closed. It really sucks to bend over when fishing and dump $10 worth of eggs or a dozen shrimp right out into the water because the crappy snaps on the bait boxes didn't get properly closed last time you used it.

3. Gazeteer. Many good spots have been located by "cruising" the second half of a slow fishing day. The Gazeteers have most logging roads, and even some trails. There's also not a lot of things more satisfying in steelhead fishing than finding your "own" honey hole without anyone else's help.

4. My number one most important item to bring fishing with me: A Good Sense of Humor. If you let the crap get to you, then why bother? This isn't your job, it's your release. If you're more bummed after a day of fishing than after a day of work, you should have just worked OT instead of fishing.

Fish on...

Todd
Wild Steelhead Coalition