Proper Clothing For Fishing

 Many people don't realise how demanding fishing can be on your body. I am not talking about the actual movement of casting your bait, or the fact that if you are fishing on truly remote waters, like I do, you usually have to walk for twenty, thirty minutes, or even an hour to get to your destination, but the fact that you don't have anything to defend you against the elements. Bad weather, or even too good weather can have detrimental effects, just think of catching a cold, or skin cancer, and you realise that this is no laughing matter. Proper clothing can help you a lot and prevent problems that might arise in the future.

 First of all, let's get the basics right. I always keep in mind to carry multiple layers of clothing with me, this way I can always dress for the specific weather, and I won't have problems even if it starts to rain suddenly or if the Sun starts shining down heavily. If it gets too warm I remove a few layers, and if it is too cold, I just put on a jumper or too, and I am  comfortable once again.

 As far as footwear goes, people don't give enough attention to their socks. These are vital pieces of clothing, a good piece of sock can keep your feet warm, and dry. I usually use running socks, as they are thicker on the heel and and sole areas of your feet, so they provide extra cushioning and protection. I always bring multiple pairs of socks with me on the trip. My rule of thumb is to bring twice as many pairs as the duration of the trip. It might seem too much, but I like to be on the safe side and count for all possibilities. And I wonder I can't pack lightly?!

Angling in the Yellowstone National Park.
Hiking to your fishing spot is a great experience.
Source: Wikipedia

 I use hiking boots. The most important thing is to wear ones that feel comfortable on your feet. Other important features are breathability, and proper ankle support. Breathability is important, because this ensures that your feet will remain dry, which is an important prerequisite if you want to have hygienic feet. Ankle support is a must for me, because I often have to walk for thirty to sixty minutes before I reach the river I intend to fish on, so I can't risk ankle injuries. I would not be able to walk back to safety.

 As far as pants go, the only guideline is to wear comfortable ones that fit you, and wear long pants. Short pants are not for hiking and fishing, you can suffer from bruises and you might collect a few ticks. Ticks dwell in the bushes and grass, and attach themselves to your legs and suck your blood as you cross through the grass. They are not able to attach themselves to your legs if you wear long sleeve pants, that is why these clothing items provide excellent defence against ticks.

 Wear multiple layers for your upper body. You should wear at least one T-shirt as your most basic layer, that is what you are going to be wearing if it gets very hot. Above that you can wear jumpers or more T-shirts, whatever you desire. I always take a waterproof poncho with myself. It serves as a rain jacket, but I can use the poncho as an additional tarp, or I can make shades out of it, that is why I prefer ponchos to simple rain jackets.

Which are the best tents for fishing?

 If you like camping and fishing, you will need to buy a tent that meets your needs sooner or later. These tents will have to be comfortable, after all you want to enjoy your time in your tent. These tents will also have to be big enough for you to sleep in it. The tent will also have to be waterproof as you want to stay dry on your fishing trip even if starts to rain.

 When it comes to choosing a tent, there is a golden rule: You need to know exactly what you are looking for. You need to make a decision on how big you need your tent to be, you need to know if you want a double or a single wall tent, you need to decide if you want your tent to have a vestibule. So many variables, so many choices to make.

My guidelines for tents

 First of all, you need to have a double wall tent. Double wall tents are the ones that have an inner wall, and a secondary waterproof fly outside that will cover the whole tent and prevent the water from pouring into the tent.

 Secondly I always look for tents that have an excellent ventilation. Ventilation is very important because it will prevent condensation. Condensation is the phenomena of humidity turning into water inside the tent due to the outside air cooling down the wall of the tent, and the humidity turning back into water. Ventilation allows the humidity in the air to exit the tent, and the tent to fill up with fresh air. If there is no humidity, there will be no condensation either.

 Good ventilation is achieved usually by putting windows on the wall of the tent. These windows can be made of mesh, or they can be a little hole on the wall that can be covered up with a little piece of nylon.
Some tents have a mesh window on the top of the dome of the tent, these tents also have great ventilation. Other tents have their inner wall made of mesh. These tents are my favourites. There is however a minor problem with these tents. The inner wall allows the heat inside the tent to leave, and so the tent can get a bit cold. These tents are not exactly three season tents due to this problem. You can work around this by taking warmer clothes with you on your trip.

My favourite tent is the Ledge Tarantula, which I have used on my fishing trips plenty of times, and I intend to use again on my backpacking/fishing trip in the United Kingdom.

The Ledge Tarantula is a two person tent, which I love because I have plenty of room for myself and my gear. I like to have a bit more room in my tent because I am a person who you would call big-boned. I need plenty of space to sleep comfortably. I expect to pack heavily for the summer, so I will need a big tent. My Ledge Tarantula will serve me well during my hikes in the UK.

The Ledge Tarantula has an outer rainfly, which is huge. The tent has two vestibules, I use one to get in and out of the tent, and take off my shoes in. I use the other vestibule to have some extra space for my fishing gear. I use the extra vestibule to to store my reels, fishing rod, my boxes full of flies.

I suspect that I will have to buy a two-handed rod for salmon fishing. If it is so, I might invest in another tent. I looked at the backpacking tents at Waterproof Tent Guide to find a bigger tent that might suit me better. The Slumberjack 2 Person tent is the only tent that is remotely as big as the Ledge Tarantula, but it is still smaller. I suspect that the way forward would be to buy a rod that can be pulled apart to three or four pieces. This would not only enable me to store it inside the tent, but it would make transportation easier as well. I intend to put the rod on my backpack, so the smaller the rod, the better.

I also looked at Outdoor Gear Lab, and I really liked the Hilleberg Anjan. It seems like a great double wall tent with a big vestibule, but I find the almost $600 price tag a bit too much for my budget. However if I find that the Ledge Tarantula is not going to meet all my needs, I am going to invest in the Hilleberg Anjan.

The Hilleberg Anjan. It looks huge, exactly what I am looking for.
Source: Outdoor Gear Lab

Conclusion

I already have a waterproof tent that is big, it has plenty of space for me to store my gear in. I am going to buy the Hilleberg Anjan only if I think that the Ledge Tarantula is not big enough for me. I am going to hold a few rehearsal fishing trips in my home country, so I can find out how the Ledge Tarantula does in a low risk environment.

 If I find that I need another tent, I am going to go for the Hilleberg Anjan. No matter how my experiments will go, I know that I will have the best fishing tent for myself by the time I start my trip in Scotland.

The six best nutritional items for backpacking

Having a proper diet on the road is one of the biggest challenges you will face as a backpacker. It is important to keep up your energy levels on a long hike, if your blood sugar drops below critical levels, it can even be fatal for you.

One problem many backpackers face is that they want to pack a lot of food instead of packing a lot of calories. The aim should be to eat as many calories as possible, and not to eat as much food as possible, but at the same time we want to keep the weight of our backpack low. So all in all the aim is to maximize the calorie/weight ratio of your food. 

However taking food that is rich in calories won't do you much good if you can't hit a minimal threshold of calories. A grown man needs to consume at least 3500 calories per day on the trail if he wants to avoid weight loss, however this can get as high as 6000 calories depending on where you are hiking. Even though being lean is very fashionable, I would advise you to not attempt loosing weight during backpacking. It is much safer to do it in a controlled environment where disaster is out of the question if something goes wrong.

A  collection of foods for hiking.
Source: Flickr

Gorp or trail mix with a bit of M and Ms and almond.
Source: Wikipedia

 The best combination of ultralight backpacking food is a combination of processed food and natural food. Processed food is rich in calories, but it offers very few minerals, vitamins or protein. You need to consume natural whole foods as well to keep up the nutritional state of your body. 

It is also very important to not carry anything that is not necessary. Don't throw items into your backpack just because "you might need it". The weight of those items will add up quicker than you would expect, resulting in a very heavy backpack that you will have a hard time carrying around. You might even end up burning more calories than you have packed with your food if you are not aware - the cardinal sin of any backpacker. Sit down instead and think through how many meals you will want to have, and exactly what you will need to eat in those meals. 

Another good trick for keeping the amount of food you to take with yourself low is to consciously eat more the day before you go out backpacking. For example if you start your trip on Saturday, have an extra piece of pastry for breakfast, have extra potatoes for lunch, and have an extra slice of pizza for diner. Have a huge breakfast the morning you start your trip. You can stack up on energy this way without carrying food in your backpack. 

Without further ado, it is time to take a look at my five favorite backpacking foods:

Pastry 

As you have probably noticed from the earlier parts of my article, I am a big fan of pastry. It is not only rich in sugar and grains, it is also very easy to pack. You can easily find space for a muffin or two in your backpack.

The biggest plus to pastry however is that it is ready to be consumed at any time. It is a good way to start your day with an energy bomb. You can eat it right away when you get up in your tent, so that you immediately get the energy needed to pack your tent and hit the road.

Snickers bars, Mars bars, Bounty bars

 These pieces of chocolate are excellent sources of energy on the trail. They are very light and full of calories, which contribute to a high calories/weight ratio. 

 Chocolate bars are excellent substitutions for overpriced energy bars, that taste like cardboard at best, and have a lower energy/weight ratio. Not to mention that you can stack up on Snickers bars at every gas station whereas it is considerably harder to refill your inventory of fitness bars. 

Tortilla Wraps

Tortilla wraps are the best things since sliced bread. They can be filled with anything you want to fill them with, so you can basically create a calorie bomb for yourself. Don't limit your imagination when it comes to filling wraps. I have even read rumours of backpackers who fill them with  peanut butter, chocolate and meat. The sky is the limit.

Tuna

A pack of tuna is one of the best sources of protein that you can find in the wild. Protein won't give you much energy to burn in the wild, but it is essential for maintaining and rejuvenating your muscles. Other good sources of protein are lean meat like chicken breasts and spam. I like spam the least because it is usually sold in cans, which adds to the weight you carry. On the other hand if you must take a can with yourself, you can use it to boil water in a campfire.

Instant drink powders

Instant powders are a good way to replace electrolytes and minerals that leave your body. These come in a small, lightweight packs that even fit into your pocket. They are also a good way to give some flavor to natural waters that you find in nature, and most likely won't taste very well. 

Trail mix

Trail mix, or GORP (Good Ole Raisins and Peanuts) are a very popular backpacking food. They provide plenty of carbohydrates which means that GORP is rich in calories. You can add any type of seeds to GORP, so you can enhance the nutritional value of your mix. Popular choices include almonds, dried apricots, but my favorites are dries bananas, dried apples and chocolate covered raisins. One cup of GORP can contain up to 700 calories, so if you eat five cups of trail mix a day, your energy intake is covered.

However I advise to eat other things as well, it is important to have a balanced diet that contains a variety of foods. 

My camping gear for the trip

As I have shared in this post yesterday, I am planning on going on a fishing trip to the UK during the summer. I am planning on visiting the most famous fly-fishing waters in Scotland and Wales. Although it would be nice to stay in a pub or a country inn during my trip, but I am planning on backpacking. Sleeping in the nature is the true way of getting really close to the wildlife of a country. This would be the best way for me to really experience Scotland and Wales from first hand.

I have found in my backpacking trips in my home country that the key to a successful backpacking trip is good planning. With this in mind, I am going to use this post to share a few thoughts about what kind of gear I am planning on taking, and what requirements that gear needs to meet.

Backpacking in Scotland.
Source: Flickr

First of all: The weather

The weather of the UK is notoriously rainy. So my first thought is to take gear that is waterproof. This includes taking a waterproof hat, a raincoat and most importantly a waterproof tent, because that is going to my accommodation for the whole trip, I would prefer to stay dry.

I currently own a Ledge Tarantula waterproof tent. It is a great 3-season tent, with two doors, two vestibules, plenty of space. I don't intend to buy another tent for the trip, the Ledge Tarantula have worked for me perfectly so far. I am going in the summer, I am not going to encounter any snow, so I am not going to need a four season tent. I am going to apply a seam sealer to the tent before I leave, and I am going to apply a waterproofing spray as well. This is all just to be on the safe side, and not have any problems with a leaking tent when I am on the road in another country.

Although if I buy a two-handed rod for salmon fishing, I might have to invest in a bigger tent that is long enough for me to put in the long rod. If that happens, I am going to choose one of these backpacking tents.

The backpack

When it comes to the perfect backpack, I am looking for a combination of the following things. I want it to be big, waterproof, I want it to have an inner frame, and I want it to have pads all over the back and hip belt of the backpack.

I don't think I have to explain why I want it to be big. More space, more stuff to put in it, easy game.

Obviously I want it to be waterproof, just like I want my tent to be waterproof. I don't want to have all my gear soaking wet by the time I finish a long day's hike.

An inner frame is a most, because it adds a lot to your comfort levels. If you take out a few things of the backpack, it won't loose its shape this way. The frame will also help you to maintain a healthy posture - straight back - while carrying the heavy backpack around.

The pads on the back and the hip is an absolute must, and I am not going to take a backpack that doesn't have these qualities. Backpacks without pads can just kill your back and hip. You will get all kinds of pains because the heavy backpack will put too much pressure on your hip and back.

I personally like backpacks that have an external pocket where I can put a bottle of drink.

And obviously I will need a lot of space in my backpack to put my fishing gear in it. All the reels, flies, hooks will need space to put them into. I am going to put my rods on the side of the backpack.

There is a good article that explains all of these qualities, you can read it here.

Wouldn't you want to backpack here?
I sure would!
Source: FlickrThe boot

Boots

As far as boots go, I have only a few guidelines. I need it to be as light as possible. I want it to be comfortable, and I want it to be waterproof. As you you have probably guessed, I want all of my gear to be waterproof. Light weight is a must, you have no idea how exhausted your legs can get if you carry a heavy hiking boot for an entire day. I don't have to explain why I want the boots to be comfortable I guess. Comfortable boots mean happy feet. Happy feet mean a happy backpacker.

Conclusion

All in all, I have to make a bit more planning before going on my backpacking trip. I need to decide exactly what type of clothes I am going to take, how much food I am going to take, and exactly what kind of foods I am going to take. I have written a post about what the best backpacking foods are. I think those are going to be the foods that I am going to eat during the day on the road, but I am going to visit a few pubs for lunch.

My plans for a summer camping/fishing trip in the UK

It is already March, and with the awakening of nature, I am starting to feel the buzz as well. Every day I get up with the sun shining, and there is nothing I would like to do more than spend the whole day in the wild. I don't want to go to the office, and sit in my cubicle, the weather is just too good for that.

The recent good weather have given me the inspiration to start rehearsing my summer fishing and backpacking trip, which I am going to hold in the UK. I haven't decided where to go yet, but I think I am going to go check out the waters of either Wales or Scotland. After all those countries have a great reputation when it comes to fly-fishing, and no angler can go to the grave without visiting those waters.

 This post is going to be a collection of a few waters I have looked at as possible destinations to go to. I have only researched these waters on the web, so if you have any information on them, or you know any good fishing spots in the UK, please let me know in the comments!

Scotland

Scotland has quite strict rules from what I have read. First of all, the whole fishing equipment has to be sterilised before you cast on a Scottish water if you have fished on the continent. The Scottish authorities try to prevent the spread of Gyrodactus Salaries on Scottish waters this way.

A nice collection of Salmon flies from Scotland.
Source: Visit Scotland

The fish you can find in Scotland include salmon, trout, sea trout. Sea trout season comes between Spring and Summer, when the sea trouts return to their river of birth after feeding in the sea. Sea Trouts are one of the best sports fish in the world. They swim back from the sea during the nights, and they are very suspicious. If they sense anything unnatural they swim away. It is rumored that there is nothing like approaching the river during the night and casting your fly on the water to catch a muscly sea trout.

The UK has four famous Salmon rivers, that are called the "big four". These rivers are the Tweed, Tay, Spey and Dee. I have been planning on visiting the river Tweed.

A video about the river Tweed.

The Tweed flows eastward form its headwaters in Tweeds Muir, and flows into the North Sea at Berwick Upon Tweed. The Tweed is widely considered to be the richest salmon river in Europe. You can also catch sea trout and trout in the river. Unfortunately fishing is forbidden on Sunday, which is a shame. You can only fish between 9 am and 5 pm on the rest of the days of the week, which is also a bump. I love fishing when the sun comes up, it seems I won't be able to do that on the river Tweed. Even with this in mind I would be a fool to leave out the best salmon river of Europe.

Salmon fishing on the river tweed.
Source: Visit Scotland

Wales

I am planning on visiting the river Dee in Wales. The Dee is famous for its grayling population. You can also catch salmon, sea trout, brown trout. I want to go after the 16th of June, because that is when the grayling season starts.

Another famous Welsh river I intend to visit is the River Severn. It is one of the most popular waters for novice fly-fishers as one of the bank of the river is blank and without any bushes or trees for the whole river, so anglers have plenty of space to angle.
The River Severn has all kinds of different parts. There are quick parts, slow parts, shallow parts and deep parts. I am juiced about this river because it will allow me to practice my angling technique while visiting multiple types of waters.

Grayling from the River Severn.

If you have any information on these waters, or any other in the UK, plase share it with me in the comments :)

The magic of the red tag

Red Tag - One of my favorite flies.
Source: Wikipedia

There is a certain type of excitement about going on a fishing trip. You approach the river, you witness how things look, you watch the trees, and most importantly you look at the water. You are searching for fish in the river. You want to spot the fish, you want to see where they are, and most importantly where they feed.

If there are many fish close to the surface, you are going to go for a different kind of fly than if you don't see any fish close to the surface. If you see the fish swimming and feeding at the surface you are going to go for a dry fly. If you don't see any fish close to the surface, you are going to use a nymph.

This post is going to be about one of my favorite dry fly out there. This fly if the red tag.

According to this fly-fishing website, the red tag is a classical fly that was originally created for fishing for grayling. The fly goes back to the middle of the 19th century, when fly-fishermen used it to fish for grayling. Since then many different interpretations of this fly have surfaced, nowadays fishermen use it to fish for trout, salmon, or even salt water fish.

An instructional video to tying a dry-fly version of the red tag.

The red tag is a basically a certain-looking type of fly instead of a specific fly. The most noticeable aspect of the fly - and where the name comes from - is the red tail at the end of the fly. The red tag imitates any kind of small bug or insect that had fallen onto the surface of the water.

A beautiful grayling caught with  red tag.
Source: Global Fly Fisher

The classical red tag is a small, lightweight fly that I mostly use in slow waters. My type of red tag is lightweight. I can't use it in a very strong current, but I can fish with it perfectly in slow, quiet waters where trouts dwell.

Although this is not the only way the red tag can be used. I have seen other fishermen use it on lakes, fishing for perch from a boat. This requires a very tiny version of the red tag. I have also seen it used as a nymph, with a golden head put on the front of the fly. I have heard rumors about - although I have never seen this version - a type of red tag that  is used for sea fishing. It is a considerably larger, heavier type, but it attracts bigger fish as well. These examples highlight the versatility of the red tag.

A guide to tying a golden head version of the red tag.

What kind of materials do you need to tie a red tag?

First of all, you need a hook. The type of red tag you want to tie will determine the size of the hook you need, but you can use one anywhere between a size 2 and a size 18.

The red tail can be created from wool, which is the most common material for this fly as it is easy and cheap to get. However you can use a plastic tail or a shiny piece of paper as well.

The body is created from peacock feathers. You will need anywhere between 2-8 pieces of feathers to tie the red tag.

The head is created from a brown hen. The hen is tied on the end of the fly, this creates the part that will hold the air in and keep the fly on the surface of the water.

As I have said, you can interpret the red tag in your own way. You can use any kind of material to spice it up and come up with a new design. Use golden heads, use shiny pieces of paper, or eyes.

The red tag is one of my favorite flies. I love its visibility, I love that I can see it on the surface of the water thanks to its little red tail. I also like that it resembles multiple types of insects, so you can use it pretty much all year long. I also love how you can adapt it to fit almost any kind of fishing situation.