East Anglian CLA Game Fair

Last Friday we headed up to Norfolk to exhibit at the East Anglian CLA Game Fair. the show was located at the Norfolk showground just outside Norwich, and is ideal as it is a permanent show ground. This is a relatively new show which has been running for about five years and is growing year on year, so we thought it might be a good chance to meet some of the East Anglian fishing fraternity. I grew up in Norfolk so I really enjoyed bumping into many familiar faces and many new ones.




Although shows are hard work I find them immensely rewarding as I have the opportunity to meet people face to face and show them some of our destinations first hand. I also love meeting our existing clients so that we can both put faces to names. I personally find it much easier to talk to someone who I have met rather than a disembodied voice over the phone! Funnily enough most of those that came to see us were interested in saltwater fishing, especially the outer islands in the Seychelles. That 50lbs GT shot grabs more people as they walk by than any other.


Charles Jardine was doing his usual crowd pleasing demonstrations, and it never ceases to amaze me how he manages to pull in a crowd, and often of people who don't fish. It was great to catch up with him as I had not seen him in a little while. I would really like to take this opportunity to thank all those that came to see us, and for your continued support.

What do you do with your kit when you get home?

So, you have just had the most awesome trip, and you have caught stacks of fish. You are flying out tomorrow morning early, and you have got to pack all the kit you brought with you back into the space you brought it out in. The worst part of the trip.

The one thing I have learnt over the years is that throwing all your gear in your bag, wet, perhaps salty with the thought in your head that you are going to sort it out when you get back is a really bad idea. It never happens. When you finally get home and you are knackered the last thing you feel like doing is to get it all out again, clean it all, and then put it away. The best thing to do is to clean as much as you can on site before you fly. A nice shower does the job perfectly.

As I pack up my clothes I put all my gear in the shower while to soak in freshwater, and then lay it all out on a towel on the bed. Make sure you keep similar rods separate as it is very difficult to see the difference between and 8 weight and a 9 weight. I wipe all rods with a wet cloth including the rings to remove grime or salt, leave it to drip dry, and then dry them down. Leave them to dry as long as you can so the cork can dry. NEVER put rods away wet as the cork will rot, and the damp can get under the varnish and make it bubble off the blank. Also make sure the cloth bags that they are going back into are dry.

While I am doing this I fill up the sink and having loosened off all the drag drop the reels in and leave them to soak. Again, especially with saltwater, the salt gets right into the backing and can corrode the reel under it. If you have used the reel covers to cover the reels in the boat then make sure they are clean and dry as well. Then pull the reels out and let them dry on the towel as well. I also throw in the sink all the flies I have used, and any ironmongery such as forceps, leathermens and pliers. I also wash off spools of leader that have been drenched as they can get encrusted with salt, making them sticky for the future. I know this all sounds overly complicated, but once you have your system it takes very little time, and means the next time that you come to pull your gear out of the cupboard it is ready to go.

Finally, when you get home and are getting ready to put everything away throw the whole lot in the airing cupboard to dry it out completely. I have found mildew on my backing before, and this can make it break under strength. I also find the a little WD40 oil can go along way to preserving your ironmongery. It is also a moisture emulsifier, and will help protect them in the future. This may seem a little pedantic to some, but much of the equipment that we use these is VERY expensive, and simple steps like this can go a long way to prolonging their life.

Los Roques, Venezuela, Day 6

As light slowly dawned on our last day the wind returned again, but not the grey clouds. By this stage in the week it takes everyone a little longer to get going in the morning and more coffee is consumed than usual. For those who have not yet found what they have been searching for such as a specimen bonefish, elusive permit or large jack the last day represents that last chance to achieve goals.

As usual the small fleet of boats disappeared into the depths of the national park. Kirsty and Alistair especially were on the track of some large fish as they had been a little unlucky in terms of numbers up to this point. This had really been as Kirsty had been fishing her heart out to catch her first bonefish all by herself with out any help, and had worked hard at it. Alistair in his efforts to make her dream reality had asked the guides through most of the week to concentrate their efforts on achieving this goal. Finally after some very hard work Kirsty triumphed producing an excellent bonefish of approximately 5 lbs stalked on the flats and cast for her all by herself. So after this Alistair was going to get stuck in. He proceeded to take 5 fish off the flats in fairly quick succession, most of them on the pancake flats which was no mean achievement in the wind.

While standing on the edge of the flat his guide Efren saw an approaching school of blue runner, and instructed Alistair to throw out a long line. "Further" he said. Alistair stripped more line of the reel, wound up his Loomis Crosscurrent and chucked it out in the direction of the school. He looked at Efren. "Further" came the reply. Alistair now pulled off a couple of handfuls of backing, and after a couple of fast hauls shot the lot out of the rings. Strip, strip, bang! He was attached to a good sized blue runner on his 8 weight and in for a battle! The fish strained against his line, and Alistair got a taste of how powerful these small Jack/ tuna cross fish are. After about a 15 minute fight he managed to land it. Kirsty topped this off with a couple of fine barracuda on the spin gear to finish off with.

Will and Jamie had headed off to Crasqui with with Jesus and fished the white sand beach up towards the beer shacks. The bones were really finicky in calm clear water but he managed to hook one after a frustrating first half hour of near misses. Unfortunately after all that effort it headed out into deeper water and was promptly consumed by a 20lb cuda! Very exciting stuff, but slightly irritating none the less. Jamie then stalked a good bone off the beach of about 3.5lb on minnows. Jesus then took them off to one of the lagoons to try their luck for some baby tarpon and snook, and also to evade the powerful winds. After an hour or so Will landed a good bone of about 4 lbs with a 15 yd up wind cast that for once went according to plan. The small band then took off into the back country and did about a mile through the bush to get to a nice beach and flats. Will fished one side of a spit while Jesus led Jamie down the other. After loosing another bonefish and landing one more Will then landed a nice little pompano. A tougher day than before, but still rewarding.

Rick's final day started out with so much promise. Fish were thick as thieves, and he had never seen a flat like the first one. Unfortunately his streak of luck/skill was waning... After a 30 minute wade with Cayito, they came upon the first group of bonefish and with his first cast hooked one... Sadly as it ran, it wrapped the line around a mangrove shoot and quickly popped the line... About two minutes later he hooked into another one and either had foul hooked it, or did not set the hook as well as he perhaps should have, after a brief fight, he was off. Not ten minutes later, he hooked into yet another bone, but a failure of the leader saw that one slip through his fingers. By this stage Rick was beginning to wonder if his luck had run out. However the intrepid pair then came upon the sweetest of honey pots. Rick managed to hook and land his first fish about 20 minutes later and from there, it was game on. He landed another two in quick succession, all good sized, between 3-5lbs. He remarked "the fish were as thick and friendly as any I had come across." The schools just kept coming in waves and this is despite the fact that there were many natural predators in the area (he saw two lemon sharks and a few sizable cuda). This brought his morning session to a total of five fish off that flat.

After a brief lunch it was back onto the flats. For the afternoon session locating the fish proved a little more difficult. After the run he had experienced with the flat in the morning he thought it was just fate balancing out the world. They went to three more flats and only managed to land one more fish for the afternoon. In the fading light, he came across some tailing fish just off the beach, but they expressed no interest in the gummy minnow that we were using. With that, we returned to the boat, pulled up anchor and made for home for a well deserved cold beer.

That evening I organised a casting competition for the guides on the dock. We each chipped in $10 making the total pot $100 to the winner of the longest cast. I always enjoy this as it gives the guides a chance to show us how it is done, and also the clients an opportunity to spike fun at the guides for giving them such a hard time during the week. To many taunts of "more to the left!" and "the fish is further our!" our winner was Howard, the dark sheep who came from now where to beat Raphael the favourite. After a few more beers and some good stories we said our goodbyes and thank yous to our friends, and turned out noses back towards the posada and our final supper at Acuarela. Most of us beat a reasonably hasty retreat to bed that night as we had a very early start the next morning. However, I discovered later that some members of the party had snuck out, discovered one of the guides who shall remain anonymous, headed to the nearest bar and consumed a massive amount of beer. Luckily the guide was not working for the next couple of days, but I laughed hugely in the morning when they we still nicely intoxicated.

Well, we are sad to be heading back to the world of civilisation and to leave this little island piscatorial paradise. We have had a fantastic trip, and I am already planning to return next year to see all my friends again. Los Roques has been and still is one of the finest bone fisheries on this planet, and with some exiting developments next year will continue to be so for many years to come. Roll on next year!

Los Roques, Venezuela, Day 5

Right out on the north western edge of the archipelago is a very long beach flat key called Carenero. This and the small keys of Lanqui and Mosquitoqui have long been a favourite of mine. Will joined Elisabeth and I and together with Jesus our guide we set off rapidly after breakfast. It is one of the longest runs they do here, and takes approximately 45 minutes to get out there. The sun was shining, there was not too much wind, and our spirits were high.

On arrival there is a small island just above this area called Isla Felipe O Brujusqui that has a wonderful pancake flat running around it and is often the home of some really good sized fish. This was also the day I had chosen to try out my new toy, an underwater housing for my video camera. Jesus led across the island, through some tightly packed mangroves and we popped out on the flat... with a strong wind directly in our faces.. Will moved up wind towards the top end of the island with Jesus, and I followed along as camera man. Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I spotted movement on the turtle grass and a couple of very large bones became visible, rooting up wind and sticking their tails up every so often. A very difficult up wind back hand cast.... Go on Will! Hauling very hard to make the line punch into the wind the fly came down very hard and the fish spooked. We kept moving.

Swapping over the other side of the channel to Lanqui Will quickly hooked up off the white sand beach on a hot flash minnow. He humoured me and allowed me to chase it around a bit with the camera before we quickly landed it and released it. A nice fish of about four pounds and a good way to start the day. We moved around the corner and Jesus stopped Will with his hand and pointed. Upwind of him in the deeper water were two or three really large fish. He threw a high back cast and a low forecast, tucking the tight loop into the wind. The fish slammed the fly like a ton of bricks and ripped line of his reel and well into the backing before he brought it under control. He expertly used the angles on it and on landing it hit 7lbs on the boga grip. His biggest ever bonefish!

After a quick wade across the channel looking for jacks we arrived on the tip of Carenero. Elisabeth had sit the last one out so Will designated her fisher and Jesus began to lead her up the beach. Just before the shacks we saw what we had been looking for, white lines moving through the clouds of minnows. In the white holes we saw some "Cerdo Macabi"... "pig bones"... She threw a fantasic line straight out to intercept and Will and I watched in suspense as a massive fish turned and chased it.. but failed to hook up. Oh! So close!

She continued down the beach with Jesus scanning the water like a radar, his eagle eyes looking for any hint of movement. I froze like a heron, and slowly moved into the point, showing her the fish and making sure she had seen it before she cast. The line sung out to encouraging comments from Jesus, the fly kissed the surface and almost as soon as she started to strip in the fish charged and hit it with a real bang, screaming out line as it the hot bone headed for deeper water. After a little bit of tug and war, she landed a lovely fish of five pounds on her 7 weight Sage. Sadly the next few fish refused to play ball, often chasing the fly, but Will did not managed to hook them. We took a short break for lunch at which time I took the opportunity to wander over the island to the ocean side which is stunning. You can clearly see the drop off just on the other side of the crashing surf.

For a change of pace Jesus decided we would head to Mosquitoqui for the afternoon session. This is an ocean flat, crystal clear water with white sand that then changes to sand and turtle grass as it swings round the corner. Will and Jesus took the inside line and I waded along the edge. It reminded me a lot of the Seychelles in nature. I saw the other tow casting in towards the mangroves, Will´s rod looking like a cat´s tail before it pounces. He hooked up, but then I saw everything go slack. I moved out onto the turtle grass and immediately began seeing fish, all coming across my left shoulder across the wind. A few deft backhand casts produced a couple f nice fish in quick succession, all surprisingly on minnows. I would cast above their line of travel so as not to spook them in the skinny water, and then start stripping it towards them. Each fish careened forward and simply engulfed the fly. Turning round to see how the other two were doing I saw Will had switched to the 10 weight Cuda rig Jesus had been carrying for him. I caught a couple more fish.

As we moved across the flat I continued to pick of fish with the minnow. I had the sun across me and the wind in my face, but that only made it more exciting as I each time I saw one I dropped to one knee to keep my profile low, and each time they charged the minnow, trying to yank the rods out of my hand as they raced off across the flat. At one point one fish went all solid and I feared the worst. As it arced across the flat it had picked up a ton of weed, doing an effective scything act. Pointing the rod at the fish I began to wind and moved up the fish. I could see its tail flapping pathetically with its head completely covered in weed. Just behind it was a barracuda o about 20lbs thinking it had found an easy meal. I jumped towards it, spooking it effectively before carefully releasing my fish in the opposite direction. By the time we got to the end of the flat I had racked up nine fish. What a session! Will had had two, but as he was on the inside track all the fish he had been casting at were incredibly wary due to the Cuda lurking near by. We compared notes as we headed back to the boat to grab a beer and head for home. On returning back to the dock Will caught a fabulous fish of 6 pounds to finish the day off nicely.

Los Roques, Venezuela, Day 4

Today the morning began with blazing sunshine, and there was an excited chatter at breakfast. The wind laid down and breakfast was dispatched with utmost haste as everyone piled out the door to the waiting boats. On the way out to the flats some loud cover came over, but this dissipated by the time they hit the pancakes, and many were greeted by the sight of tails glinting in the sunlight.

Rick Scott was lucky enough to be allocated single boat and paired to Cayito. Wading across a vast flat they happened upon a few small rays and a school of angry looking cuda which he unfortunately was not tackled up for. The hard work put in crossing the flat was rewarded when a large school of bonefish slid into view. Casting like a demon Rick nailed five bonefish in quick succession all between two and five pounds. Even though they were wading into the sun with the wind on their backs, Cayito´s eagle eyes made for a terrific morning. He then met up with Will and Jamie at the conch shack to compare notes before heading off to smack another five in the afternoon, bringing his total to ten for the day.


Raphael had begun the day by enquiring what he really wished to target for the day. They quickly hatched a plan to head to the tarpon lagoon to see what they could find. Wading into classic mangrove habitat they quickly fell upon both baby tarpon and snook. Raphael commented he had never seen so many snook. Unfortunately Jamie had committed a terrible sin and left the correct box of flies at home.... on his bed. Muppet. However they had a fantastic time for the morning and had a couple of takes from tarpon and a large swirl from a hungry snook. They then moved onto the beach flat outside the lagoon and Jamie landed his biggest bonefish of the trip tipping the scales at five pounds. He then lost a couple of monsters on the coral. I think a few lessons were learnt here...

Elisabeth, Jane, Andrew and I decided to take the day off today to relax and enjoy the scenery. After a relaxing morning of doing absolutely nothing we met for lunch under mimo´s watchful eye, before retiring up to the roof terrace to chat, look out of the bay and continue to.... nothing.
We contemplating taking a walk up the 15th Century light house on top of the hill to see the view across the bay, but in the heat of the day it seemed like too much effort, so more drinks and rocking in a hammock passed the time. Finally, at about 1530 we thought we would take a rod down on the beach and see what was going on the local "pig bones". On the shore front there are some bonefish of such enormous proportions it blows the mind. There are certainly fish there of 15lbs or more. I know this sounds excessive, but they are well documented and spend their days swimming through the local fishermen coming and going in their boats, round the children playing off the dock attacking pelicans for an easy meal and generally behaving like pet pigs. Oh, they also destroy a fly fishermen once in a while for sport it seems.

We arrived on the dock and immediately saw a pack of them. After a few expletives about size etc, we threw a few casts out with some flash minnows. After four cast Elisabeth´s 7 weight gave a huge buck, she mumbled fish on, and her reel began to shriek as the fish tore line off the reel. About the same time the boats began to come back and as I ran down the dock and onto the beach other members of the party began to congragate. I leapt into the water and managed to prevent the bonefish from swimming under the dock, at exactly the same time as the next wave came in. I quickly pulled the fish in my direction, and the wave spat the slightly confused fish on the beach so I could pin it. We took a couple of shots and then released it, estimating it´s weight at seven pounds. Not bad considering we had only gone 30 yards from the Posada!

Just before I let a client of mine that knows Los Roques very well had sent me some floating gummy minnows saying he had managed to get bonefish to eat them off the surface. Seemed like a good time to try! I pulled one out for myself and one for Will and we cast them off the dock. After about ten minutes of twitching and not much happening suddenly out of no where a massive bonefish cam up and tried to eat Will´s minnow... Unfortunately it did not stick. We then discovered that if we cast at the pelicans, and then allowed the small black headed gulls to try and grab the minnow but pull it away, it was possible to keep the gull around the minnow. This is what attracted the bonefish. Another fish cam out of the water almost bodily after my minnow, but again I could not hook it. As you can imagine along with a few beers this was hugely amusing so there were shrieks of giggles from the surrounding party. As the sun went down and the sky went red it was time to head back to the posada for a shower and some dinner. We are definitely going to have a go again tomorrow as that was way too much fun!

Los Roques, Venezuela, Day 3

The morning greeted us with much of the same weather, and the crossing over the deeper water to the pancake flats was a little rough. Note to self, if you have a spray jacket, remember to put it into the boat! I partnered up with my American friend Rick Scott, and as this is his first salt water experience I really want him to get stuck into some fish. On any trip the first couple of days can be a little daunting, getting used to all the new tackle, what goes where, and what you really need and what you don´t. After a 30 minutes run in the 28 foot panga we arrived at out destination... One of the keys right on the edge of the archipelago that does not receive much fishing pressure. Incidentaly, many clients asked me why they don´t have flats skiffs here like most fisheries. The answer is very simple, there is a reasonable amount of deep water to cross here in between many islands, cuts, flats and channels. If you try too many of the runs in a flat skiff you would not be able to stand by the time you arrived. The pangas are comfortable, fast and above all safe. All the boats are equipped with biminis allowing shade during the day. Chris has is upgrading all his boats to 100 horse power and four stroke engines as well, which really helps. If we had been fishing from skiffs I don´t think we would have got out today across the channel.

On arrival at our flat we hopped out and began to wade down a long slightly marly flat. Every so often we might sink a little which made going a little slow. Cayito our guide almost immediately put us into fish, and despite the imperfect conditions Rick had four good fish by lunch time. As the fish headed towards us up wind and up tide they almost appeared green in colour which made spotting them considerably easier. I waded a little further away from the two of them and managed to land a couple of nice fish, the second one being about five pounds or so.

At lunchtime I had arranged to meet up with Will, Jamie, Kirsty Nightingale and Alistair Robjent at the old conch shack out on the flats. This is a fantastic little building almost entirely constructed from drift wood and other flotsam and jetsam. It is built on stilts out on one of the flats, and offers a fantastic opportunity to get out of the sun and catch up with the days events. Everyone arrived excited, and as the sun had now appeared for an extended period of time the fishing had improved. We eagerly swapped stories and pics while munching on an fantastic salad and pork escalopes supplied in the cooler along with cold drinks. While we ate I spotted a tailing fish directly out the back waving at us while we ate. Perfect.

Kirsty had just lost 15lb barracuda on a popper, had also landed six bonefish, and Alistair had managed a couple. After lunch they disappeared off with their guide Jesus for more action. The rest of us did a swap, so Jamie joined me, and Rich went off with Will. The next couple of hours fishing were great with Jamie and I landing three apiece before turning our bow for home, a reviving shower and some good food. The rest of the party also had a good day with Liam landing his first five bonefish on fly.

Los Roques, Venezuela, Day 2

Sunday certainly has not been day of rest. The weather has been a little tough, and we were greeted with overcast skies and reasonably strong winds. However, Will Proger and James Steele-Perkins had a fantastic day with their guide Raphael. the two of them set about smacking a bunch of bones off the beach flat out at Brujusqui, and Jamie caught a nice pompano for a little for a little variety. Suddenly their attention was drawn by a large gathering of pelicans and sea birds chasing busting bait fish, so they leapt in the boat and chased after them. Under the bait fish was a school of horse eye jacks and amid much hysteria Will threw a cast out and the line went tight. Unfortunately he was using his seven weight bonefish rod and eight pound tippet at the time.... line screamed out of the rings as Will realised he was in for a serious fight. Raphael turned round uttering the immortal words "you had better relax my friend, you are going to be here for a while!" After a 50 minute battle he managed to land it, a ten pound horse eye. He was shattered, but elated. A fish of that size on a rod a tippet that light is a great achievement, and one he will treasure for many years to come.

Liam Collins also achieved greatness by landing a number of decent sized barracuda, and then a fantastic 30lbs Jack Crevalle on light spin gear. Everyone caught fish, but with condition begin what they were, the pancake flats were a real challenge as most of the fish would see you before you saw them. One would often end up stepping on them causing a large splash and putting your heart in you mouth. Although this is tough fishing it can be very educational and rewarding. As a fisherman you learn more in tough conditions as you have to stop looking for the fish in the water, and start looking at the water. A fin or tail can often be all that gives away the position of a fish as it roots around looking for crustaceans. Nervous water is the other tell tale sign. As a feeding bonefish moves in skinny water, especially against the wind and tide, they push water in front of them giving their position away.

Los Roques, Venezuela, Day 1

The trip started well with our flight from Lisbon on TAP (Air Portugal ) being practically empty. This allowed all of us to have four seats to ourselves! Nice! On arrival in Caracas we were swiftly scooped up by the wonderful Tony and whisked off to the Eurobuilding Express hotel which took only 10 minutes. That evening the party went out to dinner down by the Marina with Ramon Paz, Chris Yrazabel’s partner at Sightcast. After a fantastic steak we headed back to get some rest before our departure the following morning for Los Roques.

The flight to Los Roques only took 30 minutes on the LTA Dash 7 aircraft, and even though by this stage some of us had a little bit of a 1000 yard stare we were all buzzing with anticipation of the days fishing ahead. The sun lit up the warm in an incredible aquamarine colour that is so unique to Los Roques as we banked over the town of Gran Roques before coming into land. As we passed through the “airport” (more of a wooden shack on the beach) Chris and his team of guides were all there to meet us. As we caught up with old friends Chris escorted us to the Posada Acuarela which was to be our home for the next week. The guides arrived with the luggage and suddenly there was the usual pandemonium as half of the UK’s tackle shops was spewed all over the tables.

The first day is always a bit mad as everyone is totally overcome with anticipation and half the gear is left behind. I was no exception which was to be my detriment later. We experienced a little mixed weather on the first day with a couple of sporadic showers making fishing a little tough with the bad light. Never the less most managed to get off the starting blocks with a fish or two under the belt. The pancake flats are as fantastic as I remember, and we all saw some impressively sized fish well over five pounds. During the afternoon I was wondering down a beach flat at Madrisque and happened up very large bonefish harassing a pelican after it had dived into the band of minnows. Casting the flash minnow I was using I dropped the fly about two feet away from it giving it a couple of sharp strips and this silver torpedo whirled around and hammered the fly before deciding it would prefer to be in Cuba. I stared in awe as I watched the line disappear through the rings and suddenly realised I was half way through the backing and this had to stop.


I clamped on the anchors and began to give it some stick. After a short tug of war I won and beached the largest bonefish I have ever caught. As it wallowed in the surf I laid it against my rod with the tip of the fork against the butt. The fish’s head reach at that point approximately two centimetres from the first section of my four piece SAGE. Wow.... and popped the barbless minnow out of it’s mouth and pointed into the surf before gently releasing it. In conferring with the guide and Chris we estimated the fish at approximately 12 lbs. Quite a way to begin the first day! That evening we were treated to our first of Mimo’s dinners. Mimo used to cook in a restaurant in New York, and apart from running Acuarela in Angelo’s absence he is a superb chef. I think I can put my hand on my heart and say this is the best food I have ever had in a lodge.

Packing tips for trips

As I frantically pack before my immanent escape from these cold shores to the warmth of Venezuela it has dawned on me that packing for international fishing trips is turning into a science. As usual the lead up to any trip is incredibly exciting , and all part of the trip experience. Littering the sitting room with every piece of fishing tackle you posses and MIGHT need becomes a ritual, but with new flight regulations on what you can carry on, what your luggage restrictions are, and how you crowbar that last fly box in can often have you scratching you head in bewilderment.

Almost on a daily basis I am asked about what gear fishermen can take on board the aircraft. this is a very grey area as in the airline regulations there are actually no restrictions on taking rods or reels into the cabin. However, in reality it has become abundantly obvious that due to stringent security at airports this is very rarely the case. In recent travels I have seen clients taking reels on board and getting away with it in one direction, and then being made to take them out of hand luggage and sent back to check in on the way back. Bottom line is it entirely depends on who you get, but if I had to sway in one direction I think it happens more often than not. I have also experienced personally having my reels confiscated at the gate while boarding the aircraft and being made to run back to check in, in which case I very nearly missed the flights. As you can imagine my beloved shiny possessions did not make the connection, and turned up three days later.

My recommendation is therefore to put everything in the hold, and make sure that your house insurance covers extra items. I have found that travel insurance very rarely covers the excess on favourite toys. I would also recommend doing a little cross packing if you are travelling with someone so that you have some clothes and can fish at least if equipment does not make it.

Currently airline regulations allow in economy (business and first class has a higher weight limit) in the hold either two bags of 23kg per person or one bag of 35kg depending on which airline you fly with. As my Simms rolling duffel weighs 45kg when fully packed this presents a bit of a quandary. The large rolling duffel bags are excellent as they allow you to put your rods safely inside your bag, so I tend to pack another bag inside it of the light soft sided variety. When I arrive at the airport I simply take one out of the other, and check them in separately hence avoiding the overweight charge. Cunning hey? I then take my camera equipment and breakable items on as carry on. Another tip that I have learnt over the years is that if you are not happy using locks on your bags in case airport security decides to break in, use plastic zip lock cable ties. Enough to pursued someone not to have a peek inside, but easy to cut off if security wants in.

Reels I pack into a reel brief giving them protection and also allowing all spare lines and loose paraphernalia to be put away without becoming loose inside a bag. This can all then be removed on arrival and allocate directly into a vest or flats pack as necessary. I always carry spare lines and leader loops as a matter of course. It is a disaster to travel half way across the world and end up fishing with a 10 weight for bonefish as you only 8 weight line is cut on coral.

Rods all go in a rod case out of their aluminium tubes. This cuts down on weight significantly, and then the case goes inside the bag. In the case of salmon rods nothing beats a Kiss case or large hard plastic case. Make sure you pad the case you with a pair of socks or something if the case is long than the rods.

Flies can not go in hand luggage either, so they too must all go in the hold. I have recently discovered some outstanding fly wallets made by Finsport that I pack all my tarpon flies and streamers into that take up much less space than large plastic boxes. Flies are in zip lock bags inside meaning they are water poof and flat. The wallets are small enough to fit in a flats pack, and I found them particularly useful for the large flashy profile and brush flies we used in the Seychelles, as well as the smaller size for all my tarpon flies on this Venezuelan expedition.

You may find these few intrinsic thoughts useless, but I have found these systems have evolved over the years from the days of carrying EVERY piece of kit I possessed in the thought that it might prove useful.