I woke up very late today. Lots of messing about the night before. Nothing constructive. And I decided this morning that I deserved to sleep in.

After all, it had been a long week.

This is a terrible ethic on so many fronts. And, as aspiring fisherman, we will soon learn the perils of squandering the morning.

Trout are a wary, cold water fish. They gather in pools, face upstream and gently fin against the current. They are visual hunters, scanning for the ripples of an insect or the flash of a minnow’s tail.

They are also looking out for aerial predators, raptors like eagles and ospreys. And the looming shadow of an indiscreet angler.

If we get up late, we miss our window when the light is in our favor, when we can more easily melt into the darkness and make our casts undetected. We’ll have another opportunity at dusk, but that is also when we are most preoccupied with getting our camp in order and setting up for our evening meal. And it is fully in keeping with our tradition that the early morning is pregnant with baraka.

God helps us with obligating the predawn prayer. While a blessing for all of us to be commanded to wake at this most fortunate time, perhaps it is even more so for the hunter/angler. As men, we have been tasked as the sole providers for our families. And while modernity may have erased the centrality of early rising in realizing this obligation, a fish camp can bring us quickly back to that primeval place where everything lines up and makes complete sense: we rise, we pray, we seek for what God has decreed.

To do that well, we need to be prepared, so let’s talk about that.

Practically speaking, we are car-camping. This should make planning and packing a bit easier for everyone. If you want to bring it and you can fit it in your vehicle, there’s no reason not to have it. As a starting point, here’s my basic personal packing list:

daypack
tent
sleeping bag
sleeping pad
camp stove
fuel canisters
lighter
cooking mug
spork
head lamp
first-aid kit
50’ paracord
phone
canteen (or bladder or both)
knife
compass
toilet kit (trowel, toilet paper, soap, washcloth, glasses, tooth brush/paste, floss, deodorant, contact lens storage/solution, eyeglasses, medications, brush/comb)
Zip-Loc gallon bags
garbage bags
water purifier
pants
shirt
undershirt
underwear
jacket/windbreaker
beanie
scarf

This is how I begin, and then I customize my list based on the trip I’m taking.

June Lake is a sub-alpine lake at nearly 8000 feet. It will be autumn with historical highs in the upper 60s. Overnight lows can drop into the 20s.

That’s pretty chilly. We need to consider this when we pack. Pick up (or rent) a good sleeping bag. We want to dress in layers, so bring that long underwear. I like merino wool– it’s comfortable, warm, and airs out nicely. Pack that puffy jacket and bring a water-proof rain shell. This page has some good information on layers and there is a nice little video at the end.

While at the campsite we will have access to running water and bathrooms with flush toilets. But we don’t want to sit in camp. Fishing the lake could be fun, but on a weekend there is likely to be significant pressure. We want to fish the spots that the weekenders will ignore.

That means being prepared for a day without facilities. We’ll talk about water purification and backwoods toileting in our next post, but there is an obvious category of highly-specific gear that cannot be ignored on this trip:

Our fishing stuff!

We will be spending Friday October the 11th with our guides, God willing. And it’s my understanding that all of our fly fishing gear will be supplied, so we’re all set for that day.

But Saturday morning we’re on our own and we have a few choices to make. The more confident among us may choose to continue fly fishing. If so, and if not already in possession of the necessities, we can get set up at The Troutfitter. But I gotta’ say, fly fishing stuff is way expensive.

That annoys me, but I’m ignorant of the economics. The anarcho-primitivist in me wants to say that this is classist bullshit pricing tied to marketing a particular aesthetic that targets wealthy white people who are just uncomfortable enough with their privilege that the notion of complicating the pursuit of catching fish is somehow balancing.

And that’s probably true.

But I want to be more open and generous in my assumptions, so I’m willing to accept the possibility that there are things like manufacturing constraints and market size that drive prices up.

I don’t have a lot to invest, and I’m not yet sure that fly fishing is my thing, so I’m bringing my Daiwa pack rod. It’s a basic spinning rod and I bought it in 2015 and have taken it on multiple trips, but I’ve never actually used it. Shame on me.

You can actually get inexpensive fly fishing gear. Shakespeare makes inexpensive, entry-level gear that will catch fish. Their Cedar Canyon fly fishing combo comes in at less than $50. Cabela’s has entry level combos starting at around $100.

These prices do not include your line and terminal tackle. I have a few flies that I’ve accumulated (and never fished), but I think I will wait to learn a bit more before I make any investments there.

I would like a nice net to land my fish. And the idea of waders seems practical, but I might just use my wetsuit from D&T IV.

What do you think? What else comes to mind as a fishing essential?