KVD split ring pliers

Sunscreen

 

Friend of mine got cancer real bad

 

He was my best fishing buddy

 

Scared me straight

An important one,  take double the water you think you'll need especially in summer.  If you have motor troubles, in 90* heat it doesn't take long to dehydrate. 

1 minute ago, geo g said:

An important one,  take double the water you think you'll need especially in summer.  If you have motor troubles, in 90* heat it doesn't take long to dehydrate. 

x2

 

It's extra important for us self-propelled folk. I was about 2 miles from the ramp earlier this summer on a 95 degree day before realizing I was almost out. I was fine but had anything gone wrong it could have been bad. 

High quality rain gear. I spent years fishing cheap rain wear and suffered for it.  It doesn't have to rain to have value and make a day out on the water more comfortable. On the flip side, sun wear is just as important, gloves, buff and so on. 

Good quality fishing equipment in general. I started out using the combos that I bought in stores and have found that for a little more money you can have a much better setup and not be pinned down to a general use rod/reel that only works ok for multiple things. Quality hooks, line, swivels, etc... I'm not saying spend a lot of money just pay attention and buy quality proven products. 

Music Roll 

10 technique specific combos. 1 especially being my frog rod..I've always despised throwing topwater, but i bought a 7'3 heavy and a 8.1:1 reel and boy do I enjoy tossing Kermit around now. 

Telescopic lure retriever.  This thing has saved me a bunch of baits in the two years I have had it.

Japanese hooks! I was a firm believer in Eagle Claw and Mustad hooks prior to the 90's.

Always had my pocket hook hone with me and sharpen every hook with a battery operated hook hone before putting them in my tackle boxes. 

When I first used a Gamakatsu "Rubber worm" hook it was from a fishing partner because I didn't have a size 1 worm hook with me. The 25 pack of Gamakatsu rubber worm hooks price tag was shocking and I said I will never waste money on hooks this expensive!

Ate a lot of crow that day and was amazed how sharpe and strong those light wire rubber worm hooks were. Today all my hooks are either Gamakatsu or Owner hooks and don't even know where my battery operated hook hone is?

Game changer for sure.

Tom

Those little line snips with the pull cord. I have 4 pairs. One being clipped to my side every tournament for quick hook and bait changes.

 

Expensive but...a bigger boat. Allows me to have all my gear stored right by my side and still have all kinds of room to fish. (More room for the lady to lay out) If she's happy, I'm happy. Also let's me get to another spot in a moment's notice.

A buff and sun protective shirts. Always thought they'd been unbearably hot to wear, but it's actually the opposite. 

Baitcaster

Braid

Fish grip

 

A good gps free camera to make fishing videos.

polarized bi-focal sunglasses

Another lure! Haha. Then end up fishing it, getting bit with it and then wonder how I went that long with out it! Prime example: Whopper Plopper. I was a little late to the party, but the very first day I fished it, lights out!

 

Really though the list can seem like it can be endless. Oval rings and replacement hooks for all my hard baits, Good pliers, UPF Sun Gaiter and long sleeves, Headlamp, braid on spinning reels, top shelf polarized sun glasses, Gucci hooks, Good landing net, etc...

This dumb little thing;

 

As I moved away from all-finesse and started using heavier lines I started having issues pulling out or breaking off snags.  With floro lines I was finding that if I used a stick to wrap the line before pulling it would damage the line so that even if I got my lure back, I had to cut off dozens of feet of line.  I started using a rag wrapped around my hand, which worked ok but was a huge pain if I was in an awkward spot on the bank.  I saw this thing on some JDM tackle site and thought that for $15 it was worth a try.  It works great with every line I have tried it on and so far I am in love with it.  I keep it clipped to my tackle sling and use it all the time.  

That thing is pretty cool.

5 minutes ago, J Francho said:

That thing is pretty cool.

 

Yea, it makes me wonder what other cool little gadgets exist in the JDM market that we never hear about.  

17 minutes ago, Bunnielab said:

This dumb little thing;

 

As I moved away from all-finesse and started using heavier lines I started having issues pulling out or breaking off snags.  With floro lines I was finding that if I used a stick to wrap the line before pulling it would damage the line so that even if I got my lure back, I had to cut off dozens of feet of line.  I started using a rag wrapped around my hand, which worked ok but was a huge pain if I was in an awkward spot on the bank.  I saw this thing on some JDM tackle site and thought that for $15 it was worth a try.  It works great with every line I have tried it on and so far I am in love with it.  I keep it clipped to my tackle sling and use it all the time.  

 

I'm sold.. I need one now.

The list is long

Buff 

Braid

O ring splitter

Sunshirts

Rod rated for 3 Oz

Ect

I got rid of something and my fishing got better..... wife.   This is only a joke folks but ironically its true for me lol

On 8/14/2017 at 1:23 PM, deep said:

Scale.

 

Actually I was doing great before I had one. Now all my 5 lb-ers weigh 3 lb or less.

I was a better fishermen when I used my big eye scale

On 8/15/2017 at 5:35 AM, Catt said:

Music Roll 

A dry bag for this

Polarized Goggles, a Boat, Fishfinder