Fishing Gear: What to Pack for your Next Outing on the Water

Make sure your next fishing trip is a success by prepping the proper gear.

The best fishing advice is often related to proper preparation, and this is certainly true when it comes to fishing gear. No matter where you fish or what you fish for, there’s almost certainly been a time or two when you looked around and suddenly realized you were missing a critical piece of gear.

The latest Boston Whaler boat models integrate many imperative items like livewells, tackle boxes and cutting boards, so they’re always close at hand no matter what. Even so, beyond obvious items like rods, reels, and lures, there will be a list of fishing gear you’ll want to check and double-check before each and every trip.

What to Bring for Inshore Fishing

Inshore fishing can encompass a number of tactics ranging from bottom fishing to light tackle casting. No matter what sort of angling you enjoy, however, you’ll certainly need to carry:

• A landing net: Even catch-and-release anglers should have one, so they can easily land and control a fish to get the hook out. The best landing nets have rubber-coated mesh, which is less harmful to the fish than nets with knotted nylon mesh (which can rub away their protective coating of slime).
• A bucket: Whether it’s a standard five-gallon bucket or a smaller sized model, a bucket comes in handy on almost every fishing trip. You can use it to sluice down the deck, haul bait, or flip it over and turn it into an extra seat.
• Snippers or scissors: Cutting fishing line, especially braid, requires sharp scissors or snippers.
• A multi-tool: You’ll want one that includes flat and Phillips screwdrivers, a knife, pliers, and more, so you can tackle odd jobs like fixing fishing reels on the spot.
• A ruler: This one’s especially important for anglers hoping to take home dinner, so they can be sure the catch is a legal one.
• Long-nose pliers: These make it much easier to unhook fish, and can also be helpful for many tasks like bending hooks back into shape or opening troublesome swivel clips.
• A pair of marine binoculars: These can help you see birds working over active fish, pick out other fishing boats, and spot fish-attracting flotsam from afar.

What to Bring for Offshore Fishing

All of the above inshore fishing items will prove useful offshore, too. But fishing in blue water for pelagic predators means hauling some additional specialized gear. So be sure you also have:

• Gaffs: Landing nets don’t cut it for big, powerful offshore fish so you’ll need to use a gaff to haul them over the gunwales. But when you’re fishing offshore you never know what you’ll encounter, and that could include fish so big they can rip a gaff out of someone’s hands. So, just one gaff is not sufficient — having a backup gaff aboard is always a smart move.
• A fish bag: If you’re fishing on a very large boat with exceptionally large fishboxes this may not be necessary, but if you make the catch of a lifetime, you’ll want to make sure you can chill it down for the long run home.
• Crimping gear: If you need to make up new rigs in a hurry, you’ll regret having left the crimper and crimps sitting at home on your workbench.

That’s quite a list. But if you make sure you have all these items aboard your chances of angling success just went up. And of course, don’t forget those rods, reels, and lures.