Sometime ago I read a string on a fishing chat board while surfing the internet that had me questioning the web's open access . The post seemed to be written by a older retired gentlemen whom told a tale of fishing travel luggage woes on his big trip. The trickle of dribble started with some unfortunate misdirection of his gear after the even more undesirable breaking down and then overbooking of the small puddle jumper which was to extract him from the budget mexican destination. It followed the in and outs of his lost gear and his extended stay all the way through to the return of his items from the airline. Talk about not packing anything sharp in your carry-on, this story had me hiding the tweezers' and pointy instruments by the computer station.






The tone of the post with its subtle hints of thriftiness gave enough evidence to think it was a ex pat pommy or at least a Kiwi telling the story. He sounded like a nice old fella but it reminded me of that old Aussie joke: Q,How do you tell when a British Airways flight has landed? A,The jet engines keep on whining! The most intriguing thing about this internet post was not the authors bland story or the fact that it seemed to be a complaint with a happy ending but more that his trickle turned into a stream of posts about bad travel experiences. That stream even seems to have a constant flow these days. Check this,carry on that ,pack your rod, fed ex your reels ahead,this airline allowed this and not that, were a few of the constant comments. Many post regarding airlines , travel , post 911 and fishing equipment have been aired on the fishing net now. Mostly people think they have been doing folks a favor by giving a heads up but in reality it has done nothing more than spread fear amongst traveling anglers particularly those contemplating there first fishing travel experience and or newbies to the whole saltwater fly game. Lets face it most of the great saltwater flyfishing fisheries require some sort of air travel for the majority of us.
Compounding the confusion people experience while researching these destination on open forums and net stories are poster whom think they are writing airline policy. In one case I read someone's post who told all and sundry that exceeding the luggage allowance was not a problem on a small Queensland airline as they just flew another flight to deliver the excess , CRIKEY good airline that one. God help us also with these new band of experts on the scene who are "leading" trips to locations they know nothing about and with no real travel expertise ! Just today I read a article penned by one of these people on their website that is a real gem. Apparently this drongo had no local currency or cash to exchange when he arrived in the destination country could not even buy a hot beverage. No foresight there whatsoever and I can not believe that he boasted about it in print to boot. Most of these type of guys have never had a original thought in their lives and ride the coattails of others who have doen the hard yards. Brutal but honest and my advice is buyer beware. If you deal and travel with these donkeys, good luck.






Facts are it is no more a nightmare to travel anywhere to fish now than pre 911 and in fact you are less likely to lose your luggage than ever before. All you need do is plan ahead , pack right and be calm, mostly be calm..shit happens! This is the first part of what will be a continuing series on traveling and in this article we will talk about Flies,Rod Tubes, Reels and carry on luggage. In the future we will look at other topics such as customs, passports, paperwork, negotiating airports and security checkpoints, attitude (yes your attitude), dressing for comfort, practicability and effect both in the air and on the ground, ticketing and seat assignments, ground arrangements to and from your destination, hotels and upgrading, backup plans, travel insurance and much much more. Some things to remember when reading these articles. Do not take my experiences and advice as gospel ALL airlines and airports operational procedures and rules are different. Rules and procedures are open to interpretation and change without notice. Double check with airlines for luggage restrictions and or connection times and check all hotel and car reservations regardless if you did it yourself or used a agent. Choose your airline for the SERVICE not the price. Or try SKYHIGH AIRLINES .Finally I would recommend that the average Joe Schmo doing a trip once a year is much better off using a good fishing travel agent that understands what is required rather than trying to save a few bucks by doing it yourself. As a agent I have some interest in this and of course understand folks trying to saving a few bucks but have little sympathy for failed flights, connections, reservations and cancellations that you arranged for yourself "on the cheap". Part 2 to follow...