Contents of My Fishing Travel Carry-On

Have you ever seen someone waltzing onto an airplane with just a paperback book, a small tablet, or perhaps nothing at all?

I’ve always wanted to be that guy, someone who travels light and doesn’t seem to miss anything, but the truth is I will never be that guy. I’m an overpreparer, a true belt-and-suspenders type.

While the airlines have generally been good to me about getting my fishing luggage to distant destinations without loss or damage, I still typically bring a heavy carry-on. When I’m headed to a foreign fishing travel destination, it’s usually my Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s Advanced Angler Magnum tackle bag (except for the rare occasions where a backpack will be more functional). On the ground, it becomes my boat bag and I like them so much that I’ve purchased four (two Mags and two Super-Mags).

In the air, however, it contains comparatively little fishing tackle. Even though TSA allows hooks, they’re not worth the hassle you may get from a TSA agent or his foreign counterpart.

Here’s what it contains for the typical international fishing trip:

• Reels -- Ideally you can borrow rods, or if you have to take some along you can safely check a rod tube, but you haven’t been miserable until you’ve tried to use someone else’s coffee grinder of a reel with 20 year old blue monofilament on it. Store them in some kind of protective pouch and never let them get away from you.

• CPAP -- because I’m old and fat and if it gets lost or damaged I could die. Or at the very least I could end up quite tired and unable to enjoy the trip. Additionally, according to rumors perpetrated by Hanna, I occasionally snore like a damn freight train. Planes increasingly have outlets, even in economy class, so I can plug in the machine. On our overnight flight home from Alaska in July I took two Tylenol PM before we boarded, fired up the CPAP onboard, and woke up in the Lower 48.

• Ear Plugs – You can opt for anything from disposable dollar store foam plugs (my choice) up to expensive noise-canceling headphones, but these will save you from the wailing of the baby in seat 23E, as well as from your snoring cabinmate on vacation.

• Medications – They’re light and don’t take up much room and if you have to bring them along there’s a reason to avoid losing them.

• Rain Jacket – Even if you think the chance of rain is light on your trip, leaving this one at home will increase those chances exponentially. It can also be used to cut spray on a rough boat ride, for cold airplane cabins, and as a pillow.

• Change of Clothes – If your checked luggage is lost, carrying one complete change of clothes will allow you to get what you’re wearing washed without having to go nekkid or to borrow your friend’s oversized/undersized and who-knows-where-they’ve-been skivvies. These can also be used to cushion your reels or other delicate items like the CPAP.

• Charging Cords – Your phone, tablet or other electronics will not last the week without being charged, and you may not be able to get what you need quickly or inexpensively on foreign soil. Besides, with USB outlets now available on so many planes, you can max out your juice inflight to ensure that you arrive fully charged.

• Electrical converters — if you are headed to a country that does not run on the same power outputs as the U.S.

• Printouts – Print out a copy of your itinerary, the airline’s baggage policy, all in-country contacts, and any other information for hotels, car rentals, etc. You should also have these on your phone, but if the phone goes dead (you remembered your charging cords, but it could still end up in the water), you’ll have backups to your backups.

• Passports – We keep our passports in a bright-colored folder within our carry-on baggage. We also have pictures of them on our phones along with photocopies. This is easy protection against a hellish diplomatic trek.

• Kindle — You need some sort of entertainment, whether that be a laptop, tablet, book or something else. I also bring a magazine in case the Kindle craps out for some reason. Hasn’t happened yet, but I’m sure it will the first time I forget a backup.

• Snack – Bring a granola bar, and energy bar, some trail mix or anything else that’s unlikely to spoil, melt or stink. Even presumably short hops can get quite a bit longer due to unanticipated delays, and you’re most likely to get hungry when you can’t access anything to eat.

• Gum – Helps if you tend to get motion sickness or your ears stuffed up in flight. Also good if you fall asleep on the plane and wake up with stinkmouth and don’t want everyone to avoid you. On the off chance that you end up sitting next to a supermodel and she wants to kiss you, this may seal the deal (no guarantees).

• Toothbrush and toothpaste — see gum/supermodel, above

• Eyeglasses — or if you prefer to stick things in your eyes, contact lenses and an acceptable amount of solution. Seeing is helpful.

• Sunglasses (2 pairs) — see eyeglasses, above.

• Hand-sanitizer — I didn’t add this one until recently but now I see the error of my ways

Here’s what it doesn’t contain that you might add:

• Eyeshade – If you need absolute darkness to sleep, one of these is a cheap and easy remedy. With the increasing proliferation of masks these days, you might not even need to buy a separate one. Just take an extra mask and slide it over your eyes.

• Travel Pillow – I know that some people swear by these for comfortable sleep on a plane, and if I tried it I might love it, but I’ve never had issues sleeping and they just seem a little bit too bulky to keep track of through the Amazon or on safari.

Ideally, your carry-on is still reasonably light and easy to carry. If that’s the case, and your checked bag weighs too much, you can remove items from the latter -- things like soft plastics (surprisingly heavy) or clothing — and move them into your carry-on. Still, it pays to resist making it unwieldy.

By not overstuffing it, it stays low enough that I can tuck it under the seat if necessary. That means I never have to gate check it or give it to a flight attendant who might cram it into a storage compartment elsewhere. It also keeps it light enough so if I have to run through the airport like pre-scandal O.J. Simpson, I retain my catlike agility.