Oh man, I forgot???

[rseas]

I am a creature of routine, if my process for doing anything is disrupted something will be forgoten. My fishing trip preparation is simple. I have to collect and make sure that they make it into the truck; a tackle bag, a 5 gallon pail, stuff from the bait/beer refrigerator (bait) and a rag. The rest of the gear lives in the boat in the garage and so far it is hard to forget the boat (phone call…”aaa honey I thought you were going fishing today?” My reply “I am, in fact I am 100 miles down the road, on the way to Come Catch’em Lake”. Hers “You planning to take the boat?”. Me again “%&*%#$%^##...no I was going to fish off the beach”) OK, it’s not that bad…yet but there is one item that I consistently forget. It is a rag, not sure why? But that is my most forgot item.

So, for a fishing trip, what is your most forgot item?

[Amx]

I keep a rag or towel in every vehicle. Hand rags, and oil/dirty rags in everything.

Sometimes I forget to take the cooler, if I'm late and in a hurry. It also acts as a foot rest when I have the boat up on plane.

[The Quadfather]

Funny thread..

#1 is the scale, #2, camera.

but the pisser is going trolling for trout with friend... and forgetting the downrigger mounts for the gunwhale. "Sorry friend, looks like you're using a banana weight":geek:

[bionic_one]

I once forgot my paddle. Thankfully I was only fishing about 20 minutes from home, but man was I pissed.

[hewesfisher]

Worst I forgot? Before my shop was completed, I parked our boat in the carport, and after every trip, all the stuff that might have walked away was removed and stored in the house. We had a checklist for the "must haves" for every outing to make sure we didn't forget anything. We made a run to Lake Roosevelt (1hr 40mins away) and had planned to do some nighttime shoreline walleye fishing. Upon arrival, we realized that each of us thought the other put the GPS and Sonar displays in the truck, which neither of us did. Water levels were lower than I had ever seen on the lake, so there was no way we were night fishing without GPS. Needless to say, we made an unscheduled trip home for the electronics.

To add insult to injury, we didn't even get a hit after dark.

[rseas]

The forgotten paddle reminded me, I have a forgotten paddle story also. I used to live on top of a mountain in Southern California. Frequently I used fish off my yak in Big Bear Lake, one mountain over or about 90 minutes on winding mountain roads. On one trip to fish trout I get to the lake, unload the yak, park the rig, wander back to the water and my kayak. I open the fwd hatch to get the paddle and no paddle. I suddenly remember that I had fished for halibut in the salt few days earlier. After the trip I washed everything and set it aside to dry. My paddle was at home in the rod rack, but dry. Long story short, after loading the gear back on top of the Cherokee and a quick trip into town I found a couple plastic oars at a drug store and taped them together. They worked and saved the day.

[G-Man]

My issues are usually shellfish related, to be specific, crab pots. I'm usually up much longer than I want to be the night before I go fishing making sure I've packed everything I need. However, when I hit the salt during crab season I have been known to forget the pots, bouys/lines or the bait.

[jens]

Bait.

[BentRod]

I 2x the bait as for most commonly forgot item for me....that is part of the reason I don't use it much!

The worst forgotten item in recent history was the wing nut for the (+) on my trolling motor battery. I knew exactly where I had placed it that morning while loading up and it was safe and sound at home. I rummaged around in the truck and found a wooden clothespin, so clamped that on the post and got it as tight as I possibly could....and off I went. Did alright until I was cruising across the lake on the high setting and smelled woodsmoke.....looked down and saw the clothespin was smoking. After that I only moved around on the two lowest settings which kept things slow, but cool.

A physics lesson in electricity: A loose connection causes resistance, resistance leads to heat (the greater the current, the greater the heat), heat leads to burned clothespins and/or melted wires.

when I got off the lake, the clothespin looked like a a big used matchstick.

[Mike Carey]

nothing specific, but usually at least one item every time I go.

[Dave]

Two weeks ago I took my buddy to Lake McMurray. We are out there about an hour trolling with the masses and I realize that my 2 life jackets are still in my salt boat (pictured in my Avatar) in my garage. I was immediately concerned because I am not a law breaker so we headed in and ended the trip about an hour early. We had only planned for a few hours on the water anyway so we were fine leaving early once discovering my mistake. Thankfully back at the launch there was no enforcement officer waiting to check this enforcement officer or my boat minus my two life jackets. Needless to say it was a wakeup call for me and a mistake I will do my best to avoid in the future.

[bcalvert]

I have been know to forget the net a time or two. My son still complains about the ones that got away because I didn't remember it.

[mav186]

My problem is this...I load the rig, load the boat...double check the list, then cross everything off of it...not once but may be even TWICE! Then tear out of the driveway like a Screamin' Banshi and forget to close the GARAGE DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[panfisher]

I've forgotten the "Vehicle use permit" several times where i had to find some other fishable area's to park that do not require one#-o .

[Marc Martyn]

While floating the Clark Fork River I had to take a break on the shore REAL BAD. I found an area under the freeway bridge and beached. Climbing out of my pontoon boat, I quickly pulled off my fins and vest and laid my vest on the concrete footing of the bridge. Frantically unsnapping my wader suspenders, I was finally able to get to my jeans zipper.......whew, just in time!![thumbsup]
Sighing with relief, I got my fins back on, got back in my boat and started floating down the river. About 10 minutes later, a friend called me and told me he caught a fish and I should switch to a certain pattern. Deciding to change to that pattern, I reached for my zinger on my vest that had my nippers and ............no vest!!!![cursing] I looked back and the bridge was about 1 mile up the river with no place to beach in sight.
Fortunately, when we finished the float, we drove back up the freeway and I walked down below that bridge and my vest was still there.
Lesson learned. When taking a rest break on a river, do it next to a road or below a road bridge. There are sections of rivers that have no nearby access for miles. I was lucky.

[Blackmouth]

For some reason I tend to forget the net. I'll be out in the middle of the Puget Sound trolling for salmon, with a fish on, ready to be scooped up, and where's the net? DOH!

Seems like everytime I forget the net I always pay for it. Needless to say I've gotten good at tailing fish and getting them in the boat netless.... If anything, it's a good luck charm to forget the net....

[skimpy]

#1 is the scale, #2, camera.:

Ditto !!!!!!#-o

[Trent Hale]

When the sky is overcast I tend to leave my SOLAR BATS in the truck or even at home.

[bob johansen]

I always use a check off list - have one for each boat. The problem is sometimes I leave the checkoff list in the boat and it blows away and I have to make new list.

[racfish]

My worse nightmare is forgetting the plug for my boat.My 2nd worse is my License /punchcards.I set them on the table in plain site so I wont forget and Bam. I got all the way to Drano Lake without a license or punchcard.