Essential Gear For A Fly-In Fishing Trip

Robert WellerFishing

Well folks, the day has come and it is time to start going through  my gear to prepare for another fly-in- fishing trip to one of my  favorite lakes in the Canadian wilderness. It’s been almost 3  years since my last trip as I was filming football games the past  two seasons and didn’t want to miss a single opportunity to watch  my son play varsity football. Now that he has graduated, it’s time  to slip away with my father in law to enjoy another week of peace  and tranquility on a private lake in Canada going after big pike  and enjoying fresh walleye dinners. 

Storage dry bag.

Lightweight rain suit

Preparing for a fly-in-fishing trip is a bit different than you might  think. I started going on these trips with my father in law (Robert)  in September of 2011. I quickly learned that when you go on a  trip like this, weight and volume are two very important things to  be aware of as you pack. The outfitter we use, (Hawk Air) has a  100 pound per person weight limit and let me tell you, it doesn’t  take much time to exceed that when you’re going in for a week  with a party of two. Keep in mind that 100 pounds per person  includes all your fishing gear, clothes you pack, food you take in  with you as well as the basics like toilet paper or paper towel. Anything you think you need for a week is under scrutiny not only  by yourself but also your fishing partner. When I started going on  these trips, Robert had developed a pretty good system over his  years of going with his friend Kurt and Kurt’s family. However, I  think if you were to ask him today, Robert would agree that we  have made some really good improvements to gear selection that  has saved us weight, and volume allowing for the addition of other  gear previously not taken on any of his trips with Kurt. Many of  those changes were possible simply due to technology  advancements that have been made over the past few decades. Lighter weight, more efficient materials for keeping you warm  have allowed for lighter weight clothing as well as smaller, more compact sleeping bags. We even traded our traditional pillows for  compact inflatable ones. I think the biggest advancement that  was made though was the invention of the Sawyer’s line of water  filtration products. In order to drink the lake water you must first  boil it but then it has to cool before it can be consumed. Once it  has cooled enough to drink, it still tastes like lake water so  oftentimes some kind of dry drink mix such as koolaid or  lemonade is mixed to mask the lake water taste.

Likely, one of your most important items you pack in

In 2014, we took  a four man trip with my own father and Darrel, a friend of ours. Darrel introduced us to the Sawyer water filter and let me tell you  folks, it was an absolute game changer. Not only does the filter  make lake water taste as good if not better than bottled water, it  has eliminated the need to boil it first as well and eliminated our  desire to take a case of bottled water in with us to drink prior to  having enough lake water boiled and cooled for consumption. That one small item saved us between twenty-five and thirty  pounds. Weight that has been used for additional fishing gear, an  extra clothing item or two and eventually the addition of a small  electric Fry Daddy. Pan frying the fish was the go to method for  many years but the Fry Daddy allows us to deep fry fish faster  than constantly flipping them in a pan and splashing hot cooking  oil all over the place. 

You don’t need a ton of tackle to be successful at catching pike  and walleye, in Canada. A few red and white Daredevils, maybe a  five of diamond Daredevil, an assortment of jig heads for  minnows, crawlers or leeches and maybe a few crank baits and  you’ll catch fish.

An example of the Author’s essential fishing lures

Of course the more variety you have the better  your chances of out-fishing your partner are. There is always that  one lure that seems to be the one for the week. It might be in  your tackle box or it might be in your partners. Robert and I are  always joking about having a secret lure for each year we go up  and over the years, we have both had a turn at having that one  lure that just seemed to work better than anything else. Each  year, I go through my tackle box and weed out a few items to make room for new ones just to make sure I stay within my weight  limit. 

We are usually in very limited cell coverage if not complete dead  zones so the addition of a satellite communicator has been nice  and it even allows us to obtain weather reports in real time now  rather than having the weather saved with screen shots on our  iPhones or printed out a few days before we leave. Let’s face it,  the weather forecast for more than a few days out is usually  wrong so up-to-date information is very nice to have. Plus it is  nice to be able to get a message to the air base to find out if they  will be on time to pick us up or if they are

A multi-tool, sharp knife and satellite communication device might act as a life-saver

delayed due to  inclement weather on their end. We have only flown in late once  but we’ve been late or stayed an extra night a couple of times and  there is nothing worse than sitting around all day waiting for a  plane that never comes, all the while wondering if you should  break the rods back out and try for one more big one. 

A good fillet knife and a means to sharpen it are a must as well as  a fillet glove or some other cut resistant glove to keep you from  slicing your other hand while holding the fish. Obviously a first aid  kit is an essential and always packed item but I prefer not to have  to use it. Other than a few band-aids needed here and there over  the years, we have been pretty fortunate. A good knife can be a  very useful tool and something I use frequently for a variety of  tasks including but not limited to aiding in processing fire wood,  cutting rope, fishing line or even a package of fry mix in the  kitchen. Other than when I am sleeping, I’m never without it on  my belt. The second most used item sitting on my belt right next  to my knife is a Leatherman multi-tool. In my opinion no one  should ever be in the woods or wilderness without both of these  as well as a means to start a fire. 

Essential electronic devices

Another item that advancements in technology has prompted us  to take with us is a small portable fish finder. Robert would  certainly agree that it is a far more advanced tool than a piece of rope with knots tied in it every foot to check the depth of the water  and at times, it has really come through for us when we were  struggling to locate fish. I have a small stand alone GPS mounted  right next to my fish finder display that I mainly use to monitor our  speed. Trolling too fast or too slow can mean the difference  between catching fish and not catching fish. My target speed for  walleye is usually between 1-1.5 MPH. Monitoring water depth  and speed along with the addition of trolling rods with reels that  have line counters on them have all been improvements made to  our gear and fishing tactics that have increased our ability to find  and catch fish. A few other must haves for a trip like this include a  rain suit (we use Frog Toggs), a dry bag and bigger net than you  think you need. (ask me how I know that one) 

As for the kitchen, that is Robert’s domain and he has come up  with some very good ideas and made several improvements over  the years that not only cut weight, and volume but also save time  in camp when it comes to preparing meals. Breakfast has  evolved over the years and no longer do we really need to cook  anything thanks to Robert pre-cooking breakfast burrito mixes at  home and then vacuum sealing daily portions and freezing them. The few eggs we do take in to use for frying fish, Robert will pre scrambled and mixed with milk and stored in a small plastic  sealable jug that we pour directly out of. That eliminated the need  to carry eggs in a cooler and we no longer have to worry about  them getting broken. Two benefits to pre-cooking an item like  bacon are it reduces weight as well as keeps you from having to  deal with disposing of bacon grease in a manner that won’t bring  the bears in looking for an easy meal. Robert has really  streamlined the cooking aspect making it not only easier but it  takes less time to cook breakfast and eat it, which in turn gets us  on the water sooner in the morning, giving us even more time to  fish. 

You will see other folks bring full length rod cases with one piece  fishing rods but I would recommend taking break down rods so you can keep the rod case collapsed down as small as possible. Remember, you’re watching volume, not just weight. If you go  with a party of two like we do, it can mean you will be flying in a  smaller plane like a Cessna and there isn’t a lot of room in the tail  for larger items so going as compact as possible is a good plan. 

Small rod-n-(take-down) reel.

After suffering an eye injury on a four man trip we took in 2014, I  like to make sure my eyes are protected at all times on the lake  so I wear polarized sunglasses all day and in low light, I will wear  a pair of driving glasses that have more of a yellow tint. It’s  important to remember to be as safe as possible when you are in  isolation, because help is a long way away and they can’t fly in  the dark. If you get hurt, you could be waiting hours or days for  help if the weather isn’t conducive for flying. So take your time,  think about every move you make and every thing you do before  you do it. If you’re headed on your first fly-in-trip or have many  under your belt, allow me to say; be safe, have fun, good luck and as  always, God Bless.

Robert Weller
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