Our First Whole Day Fishing: The 11 Things That Kept Us on the Bank
Neither of us had held a rod since childhood. This is the story of one reservoir, one very long Saturday, and the small things that turned a dare into a habit.
11 products8 min read
The dam we’d driven past a hundred times
There is a reservoir forty minutes from our flat that we had passed on the way to other places for years. In late September one of us said, out loud, that we should fish it. Neither of us had held a rod since we were children, and the one time we had, somebody else had tied the knots.
We decided to go for a whole day, from before sunrise to after dark, on the theory that if we were going to be bad at it we might as well be bad at it for long enough to get better. We bought the smallest amount of gear that would let two people fish and sit, and nothing we didn’t understand.
This is the story of that Saturday, with the gear appearing in the order it mattered.
5.40 a.m. — the car park in the dark
We arrived in the dark, which felt serious, and stood by the car for ten minutes because neither of us wanted to be the one to admit we didn’t know where to start. The water was flat and black and there was already someone on the far bank with a tiny light.
The rod that fits in a car door
The carbon telescopic rod and reel combo, about $22, was the thing that made the day possible. It came as a pair, the reel already spooled with something, and the rod collapsed to the length of a forearm so it had ridden in the door pocket on the way out. We extended it section by section, which is more satisfying than it should be, and it felt light and whippy and fine. The reel is the cheap part of any combo like this; it worked all day, but we were gentle with it, and if we fish a second season it will be the first thing we replace.
Carbon Telescopic Rod and Reel Combo (1.8–3.6 m)
$22.33
The stool that got us off the grass
The Naturehike folding stool, about $20, opened in two seconds and put one of us a hand’s width off grass that was wet and cold enough to feel through jeans. It is low, which turns out to be what you want on a bank: you are closer to the rod, closer to the water, less of a silhouette. It has no back, and by mid-afternoon the person on it had started to lobby for a swap.
Naturehike Folding Aluminium Fishing Stool
$19.72
The chair the other one of us refused to give up
The lightweight folding chair, about $25, was the swap in question. It has a mesh back and a shoulder strap and it takes about a minute to set up, which at six in the morning felt like a long time. By nine it was the best seat on the reservoir and the person in it was not moving. If you are two people, take one of each: the stool for whoever is actually fishing, the chair for whoever is waiting.
Lightweight Foldable Camping Chair
$24.79
The sun came up behind us at about ten past six, and within half an hour we had caught two small perch and lost three rigs to whatever was on the bottom. Which is how we learned about the second moment.
8 a.m. — losing things to the bottom
The reservoir, it turned out, had a floor made of old tree stumps and shopping trolleys. Every third cast came back without its hook. We spent most of the second hour retying, badly, in the cold, and the three things we’d bought for exactly this were suddenly the most important things we owned.
The line we never ran out of
The SeaKnight W8 II braided line, about $16, came on a 500-metre spool, which had seemed absurd in the shop and was exactly right by nine o’clock. Braid is thin for its strength, so it casts well on a light rod and you can feel a bite through it in a way you can’t with thick mono. We used perhaps fifty metres of it all day. The one thing to know before you go: braid needs a different knot from the one your dad showed you, and you should practise it at the kitchen table, not on a wet bank.
SeaKnight W8 II Braided Line (500 m, 8-Strand)
$15.85
The box that rebuilt every rig
The 264-piece tackle set, about $17, is a plastic case of hooks, sinkers, swivels and a small pair of pliers. Nothing in it is special. All of it is the thing you need when the bottom has just eaten your rig for the fourth time and your fingers are cold. We used the swivels, the smallest hooks and about a dozen sinkers, and the pliers earned their keep pinching split shot. Think of it as a starter box; the hooks are small and you will outgrow it, but not today.
264-Piece Fishing Tackle Set with Box
$17.15
The rest that gave us our hands back
The telescopic bank rod rest, about $11, is a spike with a fork on top. You push it into the bank, lay the rod in the fork, and for the first time that morning you have two hands to tie a knot with, or to eat a sandwich, or to put your gloves back on. It needs soft ground; the one place we tried it on the concrete dam wall, it simply fell over. On grass it was the most-used $11 of the day.
Telescopic Bank Rod Rest (3-Section)
$11.33
The bite went quiet around ten, as everyone had told us it would, and we moved round the bank to where the water was deeper and the sun was higher. Which brought the third moment, the one nobody had warned us about.
Noon — the glare and the heat
By noon the reservoir was a sheet of white light and we couldn’t see the water, let alone into it. One of us had a headache. The other had drunk all the water. We’d packed for cold at dawn and forgotten that a September afternoon on an open bank is a September afternoon in a field.
The sunglasses that showed us the drop-off
The KDEAM polarised sport sunglasses, about $11, turned the sheet of light back into water. Polarised lenses cut the reflected glare, and suddenly we could see the pale shelf where the bottom dropped away three metres out, and the dark shapes of the stumps that had been taking our rigs all morning. We moved the cast two metres to the left and stopped losing hooks. They are not prescription-friendly, so one of us wore them over contact lenses and the other squinted and borrowed them.
KDEAM Polarized Sport Sunglasses
$11.45
The bottle that still had ice in it
The 304 stainless steel insulated bottle, about $21, had been filled with ice and water at the petrol station at half past five. At three in the afternoon there was still ice in it. It has a straw lid, which means you can drink one-handed while holding a rod, which is the whole point. It is heavy when full and lived on the ground by the stool rather than in a bag.
304 Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottle (With Straw)
$20.99
The gripper that saved our thumbs
The Booms G17 aluminium fish gripper, about $8, clamps a fish’s lower jaw so you can hold it still and get the hook out without putting a thumb in its gill plate. We had been unhooking perch bare-handed all morning and had the small punctures to prove it; perch have spines in their fins and a dorsal like a row of needles. With the gripper, unhooking went from a wrestling match to a thirty-second job, and the fish went back faster. It has a scale on it, which is approximate and not the point.
Booms G17 Aluminium Fish Gripper (8.3 in)
$8.05
The afternoon was slow and good: a nap in the chair, a walk round the dam, three more perch and one small bream that we were disproportionately proud of. Then at about half past six the light started to go and the water changed colour, and the last moment of the day arrived.
7 p.m. — the last half hour
Everyone who fishes will tell you the half hour after sunset is the best of the day, and everyone who has never fished will not believe them. The bites came back. We could no longer see the rod tips. We’d packed two things for this, almost as an afterthought.
The headlamp that worked with wet hands
The USB rechargeable headlamp, about $11, has a wave sensor: you pass a hand in front of it and it turns on, which is exactly what you want when your hands are wet and smell of fish and you don’t want to touch your face. It lit the retying, the unhooking and, an hour later, the walk back to the car. The beam is wide rather than far; it is for working at arm’s length, not for spotting the far bank.
USB Rechargeable 9-LED Headlamp
$10.67
The little lights on the rod tips
The LED rod tip bite lights, about $5 for six, clip onto the last few centimetres of the rod and glow. When the tip twitches, the light twitches, and you can see it from the chair twenty feet away in the dark. We caught the last and biggest perch of the day because a green dot moved. The batteries are sealed, so when they die the lights die; at this price we did not mind.
LED Rod Tip Bite Lights (6-Pack)
$4.75
We packed up by headlamp at about eight, with cold hands and nine fish between us, all returned, and agreed in the car that we would come back the following Saturday. We did.
What we’d leave at home
Everything in this story
Carbon Telescopic Rod and Reel Combo (1.8–3.6 m)
$22.33
Naturehike Folding Aluminium Fishing Stool
$19.72
Lightweight Foldable Camping Chair
$24.79
SeaKnight W8 II Braided Line (500 m, 8-Strand)
$15.85
264-Piece Fishing Tackle Set with Box
$17.15
Telescopic Bank Rod Rest (3-Section)
$11.33
KDEAM Polarized Sport Sunglasses
$11.45
304 Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottle (With Straw)
$20.99
Booms G17 Aluminium Fish Gripper (8.3 in)
$8.05
USB Rechargeable 9-LED Headlamp
$10.67
LED Rod Tip Bite Lights (6-Pack)
$4.75
Everything here comes to about $167. Prices in USD; they move a little from week to week.
Frequently asked questions
What do I need for a first day of bank fishing?
A rod and reel that come as a matched pair, line, a small box of hooks and sinkers, something to sit on and a way to unhook a fish. Everything else is comfort. Our full kit for two people came to about $167; the fishing part of it was under $60.
Is a cheap telescopic rod good enough to start with?
Yes, for a reservoir or river bank and for fish that fit in your hand. The one in this story cost about $22 and cast fine all day. The weak point on any cheap combo is the reel; treat it gently and it will last a season.
Do I need polarised sunglasses for fishing?
They are the one accessory we would not go without again. Polarised lenses cut the glare so you can see where the bottom drops away and where the snags are, which is where the fish are too.
How much line should I buy?
More than you think. A beginner loses rigs constantly. A 500-metre spool of braid cost about $16 and we used perhaps a tenth of it, which was the point.
How early do I need to be there?
Before the sun is on the water. We arrived at six in late September and the first two hours were the best fishing of the day. The last half hour before dark was the second best.