Please note that once you have passed immigration, if travelling from overseas, you will only need to check in like any domestic flight, but you will need identification upon check-in for all internal Australian domestic flights
This information ‘Passport for Your Fishing Adventure’ is to help you plan.
There are so many things that we cannot control on your fishing adventure, so ensuring we get everything we can control right is vitally important.
🗓️ 250 + Days Before (Big Picture Planning)
✅ Confirm Trip Details – Ensure dates, itinerary, and accommodations are locked in.
⚓️ → Everybody makes mistakes! Confirming you have the correct dates with FishingEarth and that your flights are all booked on the dates as you had meant to book them and to the right destination.
✅ Book Flights – If not already done, secure flights to avoid last-minute price hikes.
⚓️ → The earlier that you book flights, the better. Gone are the days when there are great last-minute deals on flights.
✅ Review Passport & Visa Requirements – If traveling internationally, ensure your passport is valid for at least six months after travel.
⚓️ → For those travelling internationally, these are essential steps to take. Australia has a reasonably strict border policy. Ensure you have my contact details saved on your phone in case of any issues. We have never had any problems with Clients coming into Australia… Many don’t want to leave, but we are happy for you to come and visit.
✅ Travel Insurance – Consider coverage for trip cancellations, medical emergencies, and lost gear.
⚓️ → This is something that we all learned was important during Covid. We have done a lot of research on travel insurance, and although this is not an exact science, the cheaper the policy, the less protection you have. There is no such thing as bad weather; it’s raining policy, but there is protection if your charter is cancelled due to dangerous weather or another type of insurable event.
Equally, you want protection for things that happen beyond your control from your side of things. Ill health again some type of insurable event.
🔥TIP — Ask questions and start doing this early on because it’s not a cost centre that insurance companies seem to spend a lot of money on general customer service. We found that, on average, it took a week to answer questions as we had them.
🎣 250-150 Days Before (Fishing Prep & Research)
✅ Understand the Target Species – Research techniques for GTs, Spanish Mackerel, Permit, etc.
⚓️ → I know we live in a time when there are more experts than you can poke a stick at. However, I believe that YouTube and Instagram create a false narrative. In saying that, there are some incredible opportunities to learn techniques and different behavioural patterns of fish.
There is more to learn than one person could possibly know. But the more you know, the better. A lecturer at university once told me to learn new things and apply them to what you already know.
✅ Tackle & Gear Planning
- Will you bring your own rods, reels, and lures or use the provided gear?
⚓️ → Ask what gear they have.
• Check recommendations for heavy-duty setups (e.g., 80-100lb braid for GTs).
- Make a list of essential poppers, stickbaits, jigs, and leaders.
⚓️ → No matter how amazing the destination, I always take some of my favourite lures, poppers and flies.
✅ Clothing & Footwear – Invest in quality UV-protective fishing shirts, reef shoes, and a good hat.
✅ Physical Prep – If GT fishing, start building endurance—it’s a physically demanding sport!
⚓️ → If there was ever a better reason to get fitter, I can’t think of one.
🛫 90-150 Days Before (Logistics & Fine-Tuning)
✅ Confirm Transfers & Accommodation – Ensure flights align with transfers to the lodge.
⚓️ → Again, make sure that FishingEarth and the team have everything set up as you have requested.
✅ Vaccinations & Medications – If necessary, update any vaccinations and carry seasickness meds.
🔥TIP —> If you have vital medication to continue to take and run out, you will not be able to fish or leave the charter. I recommend that you have two sets of medication. If you will be away for seven days, have two sets of 10 days’ worth of medication. Don’t pack them together; maybe take one in your own personal gear and have the backup supply travelling with someone else. We are so fortunate here in Australia to have our remote medical services, but it’s a long way sometimes to find a pharmacist, and the likelihood that they have what you need could be low.
✅ Dietary Requirements – Inform the lodge if you have any food allergies or preferences.
⚓️ → Have you let the team at FishingEarth know that you can only eat prawns and coral trout? Well, we would all like to eat like that. But these remote locations need to understand what you need and of course any allergies.
✅ Packing List Draft – Start listing key items:
• Lightweight rain gear
• Polarized sunglasses
• Waterproof dry bags
- Power banks & spare charging cables
🧳 90-30 Days Before (Gear Check & Packing)
✅ Test & Service Gear – Spool reels with fresh braid/mono and replace rusty hooks.
⚓️ → There are few more frustrating things than to get there and find out that the braid that’s been so incredibly reliable over the last couple of years has started to degrade and breaks on even the smallest fish. Yes, most locations have backup stuff, but you can’t replace that fish that was lost.
✅ Break in New Gear – Test rods, reels, and lures to avoid surprises on the water.
✅ Confirm Final Travel Documents – Double-check flights, accommodation, and transfer schedules.
⚓️ → When doing something this exciting and memorable, having double redundancies can’t be a bad thing. Recently, we had some clients turn up at the airport and check in at the perfectly timed moment to watch their flight take off. They mixed up the departure time with the check-in time. In that instance, they lost 24 hours and a full day of Fishing.
✅ Plan Personal Extras – Snacks, specialty drinks, sunscreen, lip balm, insect repellent.
⚓️ → Have a good think about if there’s anything that you would like available at the Lodge that may not be available.
✅ Share Itinerary With Family – Provide a copy in case of emergencies.
🚀 30-7 Days Before (Final Countdown!)
✅ Pack Smart – Keep essentials in carry-on luggage (avoid checked luggage disasters!).
✅ Double-Check Weather – Prepare for any last-minute weather changes.
✅ Charge GoPro/Camera Batteries – Ensure you’re ready to capture those trophy moments!
✅ Arrange Currency & Cards – Notify banks of travel and carry some cash for tips and extras.
✅ Confirm Meeting Points & Departure Times – Ensure no surprises on travel day.
🎯 Departure Day!
✅ Final Gear Check
- Identification credit cards, etc
- sunglasses
- medication
- phone (fortunately or unfortunately most locations now have some sort of phone Service).
- toiletries and personal care (if you have a favourite sunscreen or lip balm etc.)
- headphones, kindle, downloaded movies or your favourite TV show
- water bottle
- camera
- 😎✈️🏝🚕🚁
✅ Get to the Airport Early – Avoid last-minute stress!
🔥TIP —> An old bushman gave me some advice one morning when packing lunches on my parent’s cattle station. The sugar jar was half empty and I was inquiring as to whether I should fill it up or not. He simple answer was it’s better to be looking at it then looking for it. This applies to your Travel plans perfectly.
It’s better to be looking at your departure gate then running to find it with your name having been called out already and your bags getting offloaded.
Better to be sitting watching your aircraft at the gate then watching it take off.
To be in the taxi on your way to the airport then stressing about where is your taxi and if it’s not here in the next five minutes I might miss my flight.
✅ Relax & Enjoy – You’re on your way to an epic fishing adventure! And don’t forget to put the out of office email signature… Gone fishing!
Here are some extra links for you to look at.
As Robert De Niro said in the movie Ronin, “Whenever there is any doubt, there is no doubt with careful planning and research.”
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Sleep apnoea and remote destinations
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Medication and remote Travel
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Sandflies AKA (No-see-ums, Biting midges, Punkies, Midges, Sand gnats) doesn’t matter what you call them avoiding them and treatment of their bites is the same
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What is included?
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Travel Insurance
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Health & Safety
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Just say NO
