What are the most essential items to include in your fishing box?
The answer to that question will depend on who you're talking to, where they fish and what they're fishing for of course. Everyone has their own idea of what 'essential' means - does it mean things that it's pretty damn annoying to discover you've forgotten? or is it items without which your day (or night) fishing is completely ruined? It's true to say that there's simply some items which would be deemed essential by one angler but thought to be entirely unnecessary by another. There are however, certain pieces of kit that you really shouldn't be leaving home without. If we could only pack 11 items in our fishing boxes this is what we'd take:
1. Spare line
Why? - because line can break at any time and you don't want your day cut short.
2. Spare reel
Why? - in case of malfunctions and because you are unlikely to be able to borrow one.
3. Hooks
Why? - they're an obvious inclusion!
4. Weights
Why? - it's always useful to have a variety of weights of different sizes.
5. Bait
Why? - again, an obvious inclusion, but make sure that you have enough in your fishing box to last the day!
6. Lures
Why? - like weights, it's great to have a selection of lures.
7. Pliers
Why? - to extract those hooks.
8. A knife or multi-tool
Why? - this could be considered an essential piece of kit for any outdoor pursuit.
9. Cloth / Tissues
Why? - for cleaning!
10. Sunglasses
Why? - so if you've got sun, you can see. There's of course all the usual benefits of protecting your eyes from UV rays, but also they'll help to reduce glare from the water and a pair of polarized sunglasses will let your gaze cut through the water's surface.
11. Camera
Why? - to record your catches otherwise nobody is going to believe you when you haul in that PB! - of course if you have a smart-phone, you could also use this to take some snaps! If you can think of a basic essential item that we haven't included and that you wouldn't be without, leave us a comment and we'll look to add it to our list!