Over the past 14 years of booking fishing adventures for people all around Australia and the world, we have come up with a few hints and tips that help minimise issues. We need to control the things we can control.
Hints, Tips & Information
Flights:
The one thing that has caused the most stress and upset over the years is missed flights. If you miss a flight between Sydney and Melbourne, there are dozens of flights to choose from. The cost to you is money and your time with some inconvenience.
But for example, if you miss your flight to Darwin and are on-going to Maningrida, you will probably miss at least one-day of fishing, typically with a significant cost in purchasing new tickets. But most of all, you are going to miss fishing time. 🛩
Our recommendation is that this is not the time to be hoping to get all green lights so you get to the airport on time. Book your taxi 🚕 early and enjoy a coffee at the airport waiting for your flight not rushing to get your flight.
Medication:
Australia has an incredible service in the Royal Flying Doctors and other organisations that help provide medical care for remote locations. This service is for emergencies only not that you forgot your meds.
There is not going to be a chemist close by. If you are taking medication, I recommend that you take two separate medication packs with enough for an extra five days in each pack. Then give one of the packs to someone travelling with you. If you are travelling alone, then pack them in different bags. I understand that this could potentially create a waste of your medication. There is an old saying in the bush it’s better to be looking at it than looking for it. That most especially applies to essential medicines. If your medication needs to be refrigerated there will be facilities at your location to do this.
I also recommend you take your preferred medication for things like a headache. For example, I always travel with two packets of Panadol. 💊 For those heading to The Tropics Tropical rash can be uncomfortable let me tell you this stuff is gold (pawpaw) it also works fantastically on insect bites but this stuff is now our preferred insect bite relief (Tea Tree) 🌳
Medical information:
If there is anything you think is essential for the location to know, please provide that information to us and directly to your fishing destination. When we say anything you think they should know. Maybe a better instruction would be anything you think your partner would like them to know. Your Fishing Guide would rather know beforehand then try to work it out if something was to happen. 👩⚕️
Weather conditions:
Everyone seems to spend way too much time on Youtube looking at amazing unique locations with… well, the weather is almost unbelievable. Not sure about you, but I would love every one of my fishing adventures to look like the perfect world of Youtube. Please remember that the weather is something we cannot control. What you need to do is plan for the conditions. A raincoat could be the difference between a miserable ride home and getting back to your accommodation reasonably dry.☀️🌤
If you suffer from seasickness, prepare for any condition on the ocean. 🚤
240v Power:
For those (me included) that need a sleep apnoea machine, all locations provide 240 V power to run your device. Many locations, because of the remoteness, can not guarantee constant supply. By this, I mean there could be an interruption to the power supply during the night. In 14 years, we have only had the occasional night with clients on a charter with no power. 🔌
Accommodation:
In booking your fishing adventure, we should have let you know about the accommodation for the location you booked. Please note that all charter operators provide facilities that are adequate for their geographical location.
Several locations in northern Australia provide glamping 🎪 style accommodation (fancy safari tents). These are typically not air-conditioned. We will let you know if your location does not have air conditioning ❄️ or other facilities like that.
Air conditioning and heating:
Where ever possible, there will be air conditioning, and for those locations in New Zealand and Tasmania, there will be heating facilities🔥. This is something that we will talk about in the booking process.
Mobile reception and WiFi:
As much as we want to or indeed need to get away from the world of constant communication and unnecessary urgency, most locations have mobile phone ☎️ reception. Typically this is through Telstra, as they supply the infrastructure for remote communities. If it is essential that you have phone reception, we recommend that you get a Telstra Sim card and redirect your other number to your temporary Telstra number📱. Again, during the booking process, we will clarify the location’s facilities.
Wi-Fi is often available for emergencies (communication) as satellite 🛰 NBN is slow and expensive.
If it is essential that you have the constant ability to connect with the outside world, please speak with us. You can look at several options regarding the higher of satellite telephones (sat phone hire).
Part of the survey requirements for all commercial fishing charter vessels is they have to carry a satellite phone and VHF radio.
If, for any reason, you want people to think that there is no telephone/Internet where you are going, please let us know, and we can send you an email that says just that. If you are on a mothership, the only communication form will be a satellite phone or the VHF radio. You will most likely have no mobile reception when you are out fishing.
Health & Safety:
The locations you will be visiting in Australia, New Zealand and PNG are remote and can be dangerous. I was visiting an island in the Torres Strait and we asked the guide if we could go for a swim. He said no to me but yes to my fishing companion. But there was one condition he had to leave his rather expensive James Bond watch with him. We both did not go swimming that day.
If you do not know something ask!
Can we drink the water in the showers?
Drinking water:
Every location will have unlimited drinking water. And there may be other restrictions with the use of water but never regarding the personal consumption of their water resources. Each location will talk to you about the importance of staying hydrated (non-alcoholic hydration as well as non-soft drink hydration). When we are fishing in the Northern Territory in November for example it would be nothing unusual to drink 7 L of water in a day. Obviously when flyfishing in Tasmania or New Zealand hot chocolates are probably more essential.
Dehydration is not just dangerous for your health it often means that you will miss out on fishing time. No man or woman is a camel and the last thing you want is the lodge manager limiting your time on the water for your health and safety.
Alcohol/booze/a cheeky drink:
Each location has different licensing laws that we will talk about in the booking process. Most locations have a liquor license providing a good selection of different beers wines and spirits. Other locations you are required to order your alcohol prior to the trip.
We understand the importance of having a cold drink with your friends and family on your fishing adventure. And each location operates under the responsible service of alcohol act. Everybody wants you to enjoy your trip. Just keep in mind that there is a duty of care that everyone shares the responsibility for.
If there’s any drinking tip that I can provide it is that you don’t go hard that first night. We all know that 99% of the time people do the right thing in these locations regarding the consumption of alcohol.
All of these locations have a zero tolerance to fighting.
Guides:
These are the people that you will spend the most time with on your fishing adventure. Their number one responsibility is to get you back home safely. Communication is the key to a successful client & guide relationship. There has to be a list somewhere of essential people in your life not to upset. On this list will definitely be Fishing Guide’s! That’s not to say they (me as I have guided for a number of years and still do from time to time) are difficult people. I could go on but you understand what I’m saying. If during the day you are upset or uncomfortable with anything from language through to smoking just have a chat with them. Because the second responsibility that they have is to make sure you have an enjoyable trip. Most locations now have no smoking on any of the vessels. From time to time you might come across a guide that likes to have a cigarette during the day. Talk to them first about maybe only having a cigarette when the boat is moving to a new spot so you don’t get any secondhand smoke.
There is a very famous saying in the fishing industry and that is happy guide happy trip and typically more fish.
Listening to your guide:
Short and sweet this one.
They know the area they are fishing (hopefully). It wasn’t until I started to do some guiding myself that I really understood some of my guides frustrations over the years due to me thinking I know better.
One of Australia’s best ever barramundi fishing guides gave me some superb advice. Learn what I’m teaching you about fishing for barramundi in this area and then apply your fishing skills to that new knowledge.
Tipping your guide $$ & drinks:
Please remember that this is their place of work and they have to adhere to the rules and regulations of their employer. Always ask the manager if it’s okay to shout your guide a drink at the end of the day if that’s what you would like to do. I’m always excited when I see my guide being the first one to go off to be and much less excited when they are the last one to go to bed.
Tipping your guide is entirely up to you. We often get asked how much? My stepfather was chased out of a restaurant in Los Angeles in 1990 (his surname was MacDonald) and the waiter asked him where the tip was? My stepfather replied the same place your service is! As much as people are envious of a guide and their lifestyle it is pretty tough work and any tip is always appreciated.
If I had to put a number on it I would say that $100 per day per boat. There or thereabouts will keep everyone happy. Remembering it’s a service industry and bad service should never be rewarded.
Weight restrictions for your flights/charter flights:
First things first where ever possible please pack in a soft style bag (this is my goto travel bag) they come in different sizes and the 120 L is perfect for fitting fly rods in.
The next thing is you may have 32 kg with Qantas but your regional flight may only have 15 kg. It’s tricky business this excess luggage caper with the regional airlines. Even when you pay for extra baggage that does not guarantee that your bag will be on the flight with you. Don’t worry we’ve had the conversation about why they offer excess luggage if its not guaranteed to be on the flight with you (see the Seinfeld episode where Jerry reserves a higher car).
If you are taking excess luggage please keep your bags blow to the limit of what you are allowed with your regular ticket. For example if that’s 10 kg and you need 30 kg in luggage take three 10 kg bags.
If there is a group of you travelling and you want to absolutely guarantee that your extra luggage will be on the flight with you then you will need to speak to the coal centre and purchase an extra ticket for your flight but let them know that this is purely for your extra luggage and that ticket will give you 100 kg that is guaranteed on your flight.
If you are taking a charter flight whether it be fixed wing or helicopter they take the safety take off weight very seriously (as you hoped they would). When you weigh yourself please be dressed in what you will typically wear when travelling. Please also weigh your shoulder bag and your luggage
Planning:
First, nail down the essentials. Does arriving at the airport only to realise your passport has expired sound like fun to you? Don’t be that guy. Get your documents in order, pre-book anything that will make your trip less stressful (eg parking, transfers, insurance) and store the details in a travel app, or print them out, old-school-style, if you are that way inclined like me.
Clothing:
Given that every destination has washing facilities plan to have approximately three days of clean clothing. Each location does have different intervals when it comes to washing days. At the end of the day however if you run out of clothing they are not going to tell you to jump in the lake and wash it yourself.
We recommend that you have the following items.
A good quality sun hat. These days a lot of people wear buffs/face shields with their baseball caps. ✅
Appropriate fishing clothing x three ✅
Clothing to wear in the evening ✅
Rain protection suitable for the area. I always take a spray jacket no matter where I am going. This is what I take ✅
Fishing sunglasses. I always travel with a backup pair in my group. So we have one extra set. If you have prescription glasses/sunglasses and you struggle to see without them PLEASE PLEASE take an extra set. Better to have smelly clothes and to be able to see. ✅
Footwear for on the boat fishing or hiking along a river. Nice comfortable shoes for the evening whether that be thongs or trainers it’s up to you. ✅
A head torch ✅
Camera or these days your phone takes an impressive photo ✅
Travel Insurance:
In truth there is no magical travel insurance policy that covers everything that people talk about regarding a remote fishing adventure.
A number of charter operators recommend that you take out travel insurance for bad weather on your charter. This is very ambiguous and something that you need to discuss with your insurance company.
Have a read and see if it works for you.
Last ideas:
Make sure you take some cash with you. If you are concerned about your luggage in transit, then find a good lock for anything. Also, a cheeky thing clients have been doing recently is putting an apple air tag in their luggage. Make sure you name it for what it is… Fishing adventure air tag. I
Do some reading on the area that you are travelling to. Make sure when you are there if there are other groups to take a deep breath when needed.
Finally:
Does this guy ever stop you say?
Get some good suncream
Make sure you put your out of office on your email
Turn the gas stove off &
Most importantly of all do not miss your flight!