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How big is your burden?

David Parker

David Parker

Senior Member
I am walking further and further in my efforts to locate fish. Not a bad thing, as I could always do with losing 10lbs or so. But I am curious - how much gear do you all take when you are seeking out barbel? I have tried to pare things down as much as I can and currently the pack I'm shouldering looks something like this:

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Do you carry less or more? And how much of your day is spent walking and spotting as opposed to remaining static?
 
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Hi David,

I can walk up to 2-3 miles in an afternoon/evening and night rotating between 10-12 swims. All I take with me is a rod, net, unhooking mat (strapped to back) which I use as a seat, small bucket of bait and a bum bag with all my bits and bobs in.

ian
 
Hi men ,

Me and Sue carry the same as above , sometimes bumping into Ian ;) . The only other thing thats extra to that is Sue is a complusive tea drinker , so a small haversack with small cooker , kettle etc . Sounds alot , but really is small . Over the years we have really got it sussed , with my only vice being that I carry to many leads sometimes . I must also say that gaiters make things easier , I know that sounds funny , but in the summer its saves you getting soaked with the dew , but makes walking easy through summer undergroth , we use them all year round .


Hatter
 
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Even less than me! I squeeze a kelly kettle into the haglofs ruckseat, but that's my only concession.

If I travelled to the river by car I reckon I could go a bit lighter. But I go by bike, so I need something sturdy seat/bag wise to beat the M4/M25....

Hatters on 40 pts Mark - the play offs beckon!
 
When fishing small waters then ditto above, but when on the lower Thames, with a huge amount of water to cover, 2or3 rods, all the necessary gear ie, bank sticks, feeders/leads/bait, comfy chair etc all amounts to a lot of gear, not any realistic way of cutting it back to far, snags abound, so spares have to be carried, and if you get on the fish, you really don,t want to miss out by being unprepared, lack of bait etc!!!!
Not had that problem this season, but you never know!
Peter
 
Mark you forgot to mention that massive ferocious Tyson who snarls at me :pwhen i'm by the banker swims;)

ian
 
About the same as you Dave, without the bait bucket and maybe a smaller rucksack. Instead of the bucket, i use a match anglers groundbait bowl which fits into my German Mountain rucksack and wash it out after use.
In my rucksack :-
Weighsling (in platic bag)
Scales (Reuben Heaton Lightweight)
Catapult
Bag of assorted leads,
Small Fox tackle box
2-3 tins of meat. Sometimes, a small bag of 10mm boilies.
Maggot box containing a few mixed sizes of pellet, bait needle, braid, superglue, scisors, forceps.
Unhooking mat.
Everything else such as camera, headtorch, phone goes in my pockets.

I am however, trying to cut down.

Regards,
Jeff
 
Julian - my 'lead bag' is the heaviest item in my ruckseat. Like you, I can't break the habit. One lead at a time maybe....
 
I've tried and tried to travel light but it just doesn't seem to happen!Trouble is,same as Peter on the Thames,most of my fishing is static(ish) on the lower Severn,so i'll usually have 2 rods,etc,as well as a seat,and a rucksack full of bits...i've tried to cut down the bits,but i find so much stuff "essential" i don't want to leave it behind!I've got a korum rucksack,into which i cram-tackle box,lead and feeder bag(always too many!)bait,usually 1/2 a kg of boilies,small bucket of groundbait,pot of glug maybe and a bit of pellet,pva mesh,small krusha,camera,thermometer,head torch,reuben dial scales,sling,mat strapped to the rucksack,maybe a book and my food and drink!Sounds heavy?It is,but if i decide to move about a bit,usually in flood, i pack up everything as soon as my baits out,so all i've got to do is reel in,stick the rod in the quiver and move on,it kind of works for me...i spend all day at work lugging lumps of wood about(tree surgeon)so the weight doesn't bother me too much.Horses for courses though,i took the same setup for my first trip to the Teme,i was totally knackered just getting down to the first swim!:D:D
 
Couldn't get near the river with the car this morning so just took the minimum.

Had a 2 rod quiver.
A Korum Tackle / Bait bag. (All my bits fit in here including a decent sized flask.)
Korum Lightweight Chair.
 
Hmmm... depends for me. Static fishing and I'll take a chair, carryall, korum quiver, unhooking mat, bait bucket. That's only usually on the Lower Severn/WAvon though or when Piking. Always a Kelly Kettle when I'm static for hot drinks.

Roaming and I take one rod, rest, mat, landing net, small rucksack with lots of bits in. Always a thermos of tea.
 
Interesting thread. I've been experimenting with different set-ups this year.

I now have a Chub bits belt round my waist, with all my rig bits, leads, scissors, needles etc. Plus some bait in one pocket. Everything I need to make up a rig and bait it.

Then I also carry a small holdall with food, flask, camera, scales and the bulk of the bait (if applicable). Because I fish the Severn with steep banks and awkward swims, I dump my holdall at the top of the bank and leave it there, so I'm as light as possible clambering down into position. All the bits I need at the waterside are in the belt! If I catch a good fish, I can always grab my holdall from the top.

I do carry a chair (Fox Adjusta chair, perfect for steep banks) but my unhooking mat slides nicely into the seat back. The chair has a strap, so I carry it over one shoulder and the holdall over the other. Then my rod and bankstick in one hand, landing net in the other.

I only carry a bucket if I'm using a lot of groundbait - for roving in winter or when the river's up and coloured I just keep some paste or meat in my belt topped up from the holdall.

I find the biggest problem with staying light is in the summer evenings. When you arrive can still be very warm, T-shirt and shorts weather — but by 1am its getting pretty darned cold! so you need to cart some warm clothing around all evening.
 
I usually carry my korum ruck bag which contains a chub smart box for all the little bits and pieces, and a large chub accessory box for all my leads and feeders. All my bait will fit into the main compartment, and then my unhooking mat on top of that lot. In the smallest outside pocket are all the containers/jars with glugged pellets/boilies. Then the medium size pocket contains scales, thermometer, forceps, catapults and rod rests. The largest pocket on the other side contains my flask, water and food. My korum barbel spoon fits over my ruck bag (I now clip it on, as it has fallen off before while walking) All i have to carry in my hand is my korum quiver with 1 rod, landing net handle and 2 bank sticks. I some times take a lightweight chair which fits onto the ruck bag, but thats only for longer sessions. I usually sit on my unhooking mat.
 
Trefor West's book,a lifetimes addiction arrived this morning,reading the first quarter of it's changed my opinions on what i really need and how i fish i think,do i really need all that bait and gear....?Much of what i've read so far is about sight fishing on smaller rivers,a slight departure from the thread i know,but has anyone read the book and taken the light baiting and very mobile tactics to a larger,deeper river like the lower severn,thames etc,and if so how did you get on?:)
 
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Having recently realised my trusty Scierra fly fishing game bag (perfect size I think) was dying, I bought a small (sic) Nash carp holdall as the measurements implied it was only a tad larger than the previous 'hold-most'. I was really shocked to notice how bloomin' heavy the bag is with nothing in it! Excluding leads, it's almost as heavy as old bag with all of my tackle, tools, lights, scales etc. in it.

There's enormous mileage in just carrying the minimum of kit, but if you too are a member of the kitchen sink brigade I heartily recommend you empty your bag and check that the luggage isn't part of the problem. All those pockets, zips, stiffening boards and heavyweight nylon create quite a liability.

I'm off to Lidl for some carrier bags......
 
Julian Griffiths said:
Andy.

That last paragraph made me smile mate. Those summer evenings straight after work are usually too warm to think about clothing later on in the evening, however I do think about the evening, and yes I do wear all my clothing to the swim which usually is around 0.5 a mile, but then fight as hard as I can to wrestle the mountain of clothing off again, and collapse in a big heap downing around a litre of juice to replenish my water loss in transit. Thankfully no one is usually there as early as I am, so therefor no one sees me....Thankgod!:eek:
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LOL! Glad it's not just me :D
 
I seem to be walking farther and farther,and really enjoying the mobile approach . Possibly a product of reading Mr Miles's books recently . I have been taking a big bucket mainly for sitting on and pockets full of paiste and those little Mustad tackle boxes,net,mat and rod.Bliss
 
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