My everyday carry is a small, fully waterproof box of inexpensive items I have learned over twenty years of guiding can be total day enders if you forget them. It holds backups for the cheap things that send you home early, a boat plug, an extra hat, extra polarized sunglasses, plus the safety gear that matters most: heavy duty hook cutters and a first aid kit. In this How 2 Tuesday I open the box and walk through every item and why it earns its place.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
My everyday carry is a small waterproof box of items I have learned over more than twenty years of guiding can be total day enders. It holds extra rod wraps, a packable rain jacket, an extra hat, an extra knife, all my paperwork, sunscreen, one or two extra pairs of polarized sunglasses, a face covering, extra live well plugs, my power pole and trolling motor remote, a charging cord and spare, a battery power block, extra dehookers, extra pliers, braid scissors, heavy duty hook cutters, and a first aid kit. Most of it is inexpensive, but losing any one piece can send you back to the dock.
The piece I tell everyone to stick around for is a heavy duty pair of cutters capable of cutting the hooks you are actually fishing with, paired with a good first aid kit. I learned this the hard way after getting a hook all the way through my thumb. Getting a hook in you is not a big deal on its own, but if you are somewhere you cannot get it out, the day is over and you are headed to the emergency room when you could have handled it right there on the boat.
The whole kit starts with the box, and it needs to be fully waterproof and submersible. I use a small Yeti box that says fully submersible right on it. That way, in any rainstorm, or even if the box goes overboard, your gear stays good. Some of what lives in there, like electronics, charging blocks, and a remote control, is sensitive to water, so a truly waterproof container is the foundation everything else sits on.
You always want a communication device and a backup. On my boat I have a VHF radio and I carry a cell phone, but a phone can die, so the first thing I pack is the right charging cord plus a spare, because one is none. Then I add a battery power block so I can get a couple of charges without tapping the boat battery. A way to call for help is a genuine safety device, and redundancy is the whole point.
The five or six cheap things, a boat plug, an extra hat, extra sunglasses, extra sunscreen, a face covering, do not cost much, but if you lose one on the water you have to go back to the dock. An extra live well plug is probably the cheapest safety tool on the boat. If a passenger loses their polarized sunglasses, they cannot see into the water and they are not really experiencing the day. Carrying inexpensive backups keeps you safe and comfortable instead of grounded.
Build it around the type of fishing you do and where you go. If you are doing light panfish fishing you do not need heavy hook cutters, but if you are offshore for marlin or dolphin you need cutters that can handle big hooks. Look hard at the cheap things first, the boat plug, the extra hat, the extra sunglasses, because those are the true day enders. Then add a first aid kit that matches your own ability to handle a problem on the water.
As a guide in fresh and salt water for over twenty years, I put together a kit of things I learned can be total day enders. A lot of it is cheap, but every piece can keep us safe and comfortable on the water. I walk through the whole box and the thinking behind it in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Here is exactly how I assemble my everyday carry box. I cover the stories behind each piece in the episode.
I unpack each item in detail in the episode. Press play in the player above.
I once got a hook all the way through my thumb. Getting hooked is not a big deal by itself, but being somewhere you cannot get it out is, because then the day is over and you are headed to the emergency room. That is why I carry heavy duty cutters and a real first aid kit. I tell the whole story in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The boat plug, the extra hat, the extra sunglasses, these cost almost nothing, but lose one and you are running back to the dock. An extra live well plug is probably the cheapest safety tool you can carry. I explain how to think about the inexpensive day enders in the episode, so press play in the player above.
An everyday carry box is the cheapest insurance there is for a good day on the water. Build yours around the fishing you actually do and the place you do it.
Look hard at the cheap things first, then add the safety gear that matches what you can handle. Press play in the player above.
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
everyday carry · Danco pliers · Danco split ring pliers · Yeti · power poles · VHF radio · polarized sunglasses · first aid kit · hook cutters · Star brite · Nikon · How 2 Tuesday · Saltwater Experience
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill or lesson at a time, from fishing technique and gear to the habits that make you a better angler, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
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