There are some things that are better done before you leave to go fishing. Whether you’ve got a handful of random trips to local streams in your immediate future, or you’re going on that big-ticket trip, your home is the ideal place to prepare for the water.
It might seem romantic to simply throw your rod, flies, and waders into your trunk on Friday after work for a spontaneous weekend in the woods. But that weekend will go much better if Thursday night included checking knots, ensuring flies have been reorganized, and replacing any used gear. Showing up and having to tie, organize, and hunt down an open outdoors store is not the same as a carefree day’s worth of fishing.
You don’t need to prepare for any sort of angling doomsday. But running through a couple simple mental checks can really keep you fishing once you get your feet wet.
Here are four reasons why you should be a fly fishing prepper at home, as well as one of my top priorities for before I leave my house:
Time (and space) is on your side.
Whether it is cleaning reel mechanisms or tying knots, it is always helpful to be able to spread out and keep things organized. You will work much better on a table in your basement than you will while fishing; you know, when you are standing in water and holding your rod under your armpit while attempting to figure out why your reel isn’t clicking.
Your wits are about you.
There is a certain clarity that goes out the window when your brain enters fishing mode. Just like having physical space, clearing mental space for picking which boxes go into your vest and which stay in the car bag is best done at home. With bugs coming off the water and other anglers pulling into the parking lot, you might not be operating at peak decision-making form.
You have everything you have.
There are plenty of tricky ways to tie a nail knot in the field. Want to know the best one? With a nail knot tool. If it is sitting in a drawer at home, it isn’t going to be much help once you pull your reel out and notice that your welded loop is frayed. Taking inventory and engaging in gear triage is best accomplished when you have all your stuff at your disposal.
Shopping is a known commodity.
If you notice something is amiss or missing, better to have that problem at home than when you’re out and about. At home, you have the internet and a chance to source what you need. The fantastic streamside fly shop might have a lot of stuff, but there is no guarantee they’ll have exactly what you need to make things work the way you want them to.
One of the absolute best things for home preparation is setting up leaders and tying knots in general. A leader wallet full of fresh, well-tied leaders is an excellent boost for angling confidence. I like to prepare a couple of dry fly, nymph, warmwater, and salt leaders before the season. I measure out the sections to my specs, take my time tying solid connection knots, and then hit every knot with Loon Outdoors’ UV Knot Sense. This fluid dries in seconds in the sun or with a UV light, and really works at strengthening and smoothing out all sorts of knots. You can use it on the steam, but it is an essential part of my fly fishing workbench at home. For under $10, it is a must-buy.
Pick up Knot Sense, or better yet, the UV Kit which includes a small UV light and the Wader Repair fluid, from Loon.