Making a List

In the wonderful 1934 poem, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, this is the second verse,

He’s making a list,

And checking it twice;

Gonna find out Who’s naughty and nice.

Santa Claus is coming to town

Well, after hitting the water for smallies in one of my Jackson kayaks Wednesday, I forgot my camera, Thursday my LipGripper and yesterday, out in my boat, putting the plug in.  Maybe it’s time for me to be “making a list and checking it twice”.

Like all of us, I have a mental checklist I go through on each fishing outing, whether in the kayak, wading a river or in my boat.  But sometimes we just forget something, and hopefully, it’s not as important as our paddle.  A few years ago, my wife created a grocery list that we just print off the computer.  It has most of what we normally get and if something special, we just write it in.

Some of you probably already do this for fishing outings, but I’m thinking maybe I should create one for each type of fishing I do.  My boat fishing and wading isn’t too challenging, but a list would still help.  And, checking plug would be at the top of that boat list.  For my kayak fishing it would be a huge help as all the items I take have to be loaded from the garage or basement.  Putting the kayak on the trailer is hard to forget.  However, here are all the other items I need to get in the Jeep.  My paddle, PFD, spare tire for trailer, rods and reels, lures, lug nut wrench just in case, camera, camera mount, cooler with food and water, raingear, hog trough for fish measurement, Gerber fisherman tool, BogaGrip, fishing towels, sunscreen and fishing buff, hat, extra cloths, LipGripper, polarized sunglasses, fishing license, cell phone in waterproof bag, etc.  Wow, the list is “long”, and, I probably forgot and item or two.

And, for you, the long list can get even longer depending on the type of fish you chase and how elaborate you get with electronics and other items.  So, I think it’s time for me to create my “Fishing Trip Checklist” on my computer and print a bunch of copies.  I hope I don’t forget. 

If you’ve done something like this, I’d like to hear from you.  You can email me at kayakfishingwisconsin@gmail.com