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Thread: The life of a nomad, tips for on the road fishin

  1. #1
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    Default The life of a nomad, tips for on the road fishin

    Today, I'm sitting there at this new launchin spot I found, end of the woods.

    I see I have company, a homeless dude who enterprisingly takes bags of garbage from neighbors' houses, brings them into his crib in the woods, and picks through them for what he wants, throws the rest away in the woods.

    When I first found that spot, I wondered how all those shoes and clothes got to be along the shore, now I know.

    As I'm thinking how shabby this dude looks, I take a look at myself in the rear view mirror

    No shave for 2 days, bunker blood on my shirt, I looked like I just got locked up for killing my family, or accused of keeping bodies in he basement, Jeffy Dahmer style.

    So change your clothes, dude, and move on!

    Thought I would put up some of this stream on consciousness stuff for the nomads out there.

  2. #2
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    Default Tip and survival tips for nomad fishin

    So what do some of you guys do when on the road for more than a day?



    - Find a grocery store to buy stuff if you will be out for 2 days or more. I got it down to a science, I can buy 2 days worth of semi-healthy food for $20 or less. Beats the hot dogs at the 7-11.


    - Find decent places to go to the bathroom. I can always use the woods, but it's nice to clean the stink from under your arms once in a while with some soap.

  3. #3
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    This thread got me thinking. I have one friend who goes out 2 days at a time. Like Dark says he always knows where the bathrooms are and brings plenty in his cooler for food. This is not my style. After a day I need a shower and a bed. How many of you go out fishing for 2 or more days without going hom?

  4. #4
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    I've got a week long trip coming up; ponds, breachways and outer beaches in Rhode Island. Will be staying in a cozy cottage in Charlestown.

    Years back, I made frequent 3 to 5 day fishing excursions. Had an E-150 Ford Econoline with just two seats up front. In the back were my carpentry tools, camping gear (bed roll, stove, couple of gallons of fresh water), and all my fishing gear. Throughout the year.

    Used whatever pull off was available if I needed to sleep. Easy enough to find a truck stop if I needed food, to wash up, to use the toilet. Thought nothing of running up at a moment's notice to fish the Niagara--salmon, steelhead. Or driving (usually non-stop) down to Okeechobee and out along the Keys.

    More locally, it wasn't unusual for me to get a sudden notion to leave straight from work Friday afternoon and drive up along the Delaware River. I'd put in a canoe as far up as Hancock or Deposit and over several days fish down sometimes as far as Port Jervis. I ate what I caught: shad, trout, perch, rock bass. . . Sometimes bartered my catch with home owners on the river, either for permission to camp overnight, or for a few tomatoes and onions. A couple of hours before sun up, I'd drive straight back to work.

    I think back to those days and I wonder that I was so nonchalant about the whole thing. Had no money to speak of. Damn, how many times did I putter back across the Verrazano or the Tappan Zee with my gas gauge on F... for fumes!

    But they were happy times.

    Fishing has always been, for me, synonymous with happy times.

    Only, these days, I need the comfort of a cozy cottage. At least, most of the time.

  5. #5
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    DarkSkies--in this urban setting we fish in, most of our needs can be easily met at pretty much any time of the day or night: all-night diners, all-night convenience stores, all-night gas stations.

    Two essentials that come to my mind for such "nomad fishing" --

    A change of clothes. Fishing in wet clothes early in the season and in the Fall, while wading in water that's hardly 50 degrees, is not only uncomfortable, it's dangerous. Hypothermia is not something to be triffled with. Especially, if you're out fishing alone.

    Extra gear. I always have a second fly rod rigged and ready in the car. One night I was starting to cast after a 3/4 mile walk along the beach; I discovered the tip of my fly rod was broken. I didn't particularly enjoy the 3/4mile walk back to the car to change rods (the 3/4 mile walk back out wasn't much of a thrill either), but I didn't have to stop fishing for the night. I also keep a one-piece 7' medium-heavy spinning rod rigged up, in case the wind gets too fierce to fly fish, or if I come across a must fish spot where there's simply no room to cast a fly.

    A bottle of mouth-wash in the car door might not be a bad idea. This way you don't melt the face off the convenience store clerk when you're paying for your cofffee at 3 am.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by paumanok View Post
    Extra gear. I always have a second fly rod rigged and ready in the car. One night I was starting to cast after a 3/4 mile walk along the beach; I discovered the tip of my fly rod was broken. I didn't particularly enjoy the 3/4mile walk back to the car to change rods (the 3/4 mile walk back out wasn't much of a thrill either), but I didn't have to stop fishing for the night. I also keep a one-piece 7' medium-heavy spinning rod rigged up, in case the wind gets too fierce to fly fish, or if I come across a must fish spot where there's simply no room to cast a fly.

    A bottle of mouth-wash in the car door might not be a bad idea. This way you don't melt the face off the convenience store clerk when you're paying for your cofffee at 3 am.

    Extra gear
    Mouthwash...priceless:

  7. #7
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    that was once me well no more only once in a while i will go out like that tite lines and good fishin to all

  8. #8
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    will,

    You nomadic rascal. Mully and I are going to pick your brain and publish a book on your travels.

    There are 24 to 30 inch striped bass in our favorite Breachway and the Blues (to 30-inches) came raging thru the Breachway just south of the us yesterday afternoon.

    35 pound spawned out Chesapeke Striped bass were caught in the NY Bight on Thursday heading north to New England.

    You better rig up three fly rods, a medium spinning rod and a 11 foot conventinal capable of flinging a 2.5 oz pencil popper towards the Irish coast.

    If the worm hatch comes in on Memorial Day week, we will have found the Holy Grail.

    See ya.

    Bob

    I spoke to the owner and he will try to get the wifi turned on this weekend. We are good to go for a friday arrival.

    Now that I'm 70, Irequire a shower daily and a good cigar once a week.

  9. #9
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    Paumanok, you really should think about writin a book.


    Some tips:

    If you keep your food in the same cooler as your bait, do NOT eat the sandwich that "slightly" got wet by the clam juices, unless you brought a few extra rolls of toilet paper.



    Baby powder - don't leave home without it. Liberal applications when necessary. You can't prevent the funk in your waders, but you can prevent the funk from building up in areas that live in darkness.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by DarkSkies View Post
    got wet by the clam juices, unless you brought a few extra rolls of toilet paper.
    Yes you are a little TMI at times Dark.

  11. #11
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    Default Ghetto grocery stores and clean bathrooms

    To add to this thread, I took pics of my favorite places to buy food and ones that have the nicest bathrooms. Makes a big difference sometimes. I took pics inside the Porta Potty at the NCB, but i think if I posted them people would be

    Best Ghetto grocery store in Queens/Rockaway: (clean bathrooms too, upstairs and to the left) The meal you see displayed cost $10.32, and is enough for a full day, or 1 1/2 days if you're not a pig like me.


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    Best quick Jbay place for a pit stop and clean bathrooms:

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    Best product for chafing from fishin in wet gear for 2 days or more:
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  12. #12
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    Two words. Trail Mix.

    You can get giant bags of the stuff at BJ's or Sams Club. They are great for boosting protein and sugar levels and if you eat enough you won't have to find a bathroom for three days.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frankiesurf View Post
    Two words. Trail Mix.

    ....and if you eat enough you won't have to find a bathroom for three days.

    Yeah but when you find the bathroom you better have a lot of toilet paper!!

  14. #14
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    It's not a good idea to carry your plug bag for 5 nights in a row without using a jacket or something as a buffer.

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  15. #15
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    Default Find someplace safe to sleep

    Take it from someone who learned the hard way by sideswiping the back 1/4 of the truck when a tree was too close to the side of the road.

    I drive all over for a shot at decent fish, and have learned no fish is worth the consequences of an accident. Even a 5 hour energy drink has a let-down point.

    When I get to that stage now, the first thing I do is pull over, get out, and do squats to get the blood going. Jumpin jacks if I have to, anything to get that blood pumping through my veins.

    If that doesn't cut it for the next hour or so, I know I'm done and have to find a place to crash. I tend to stay away from rest stops because of the fruitcakes you meet at night there. So I look for a restaurant that will open in the morning with a secluded parking lot in the back, a bakery, deli, something like that. Then I hit the back and grab a few z'ssss. Nothing like the alert attitude you get from a few hour's sleep, and it may save your life.

    Could also prevent your family from the choice of what suit they should bury you in, so that decision to turn off and grab some sleep could impact a lot of people, if ya know what I mean.

    Fish hard, but drive safe, that's my PSA for the day.

  16. #16
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    Default Montauk on $15/day

    Found some spots worth mentioning:

    (I had more pics, but somehow lost about 50 of them)

    Hess Station, Rt27E, Southhampton - the best place to hit the bathroom if you're traveling with a wife or girlfriend. Clean beautiful bathrooms, they will impress any woman you bring with you to Mecca.

    Food on a budget - I hit up the IGA in Montauk, best value around. Food for 2 days cost me $28 this time, including a 12 pk of soda cause I ran out. I would advise to bring your liquids to Montauk instead of buying there, you WILL get thirsty.

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    Ice, I make my own 25# blocks, for the fall one block can last for 3 days.
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    Fuel - don't buy in Montauk or any towns east, fill your tank near Shinnecock or further West. As of 9-12-09, they're charging $3.32.gallon for regular gas.

  17. #17
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    Default Chafing and wet neoprene

    I don't have chafing problems with my breathables, but I ain't wearin breathables on the rocks at Montauk just to slice a hole in em when I get knocked sideways.

    So it's the neoprene backup pair for me. Whenever I wear them for more than a day, my ankles get chafed by the pants and I get bloody blisters.

    Here's my solution...

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    Might look kinda weird, but I wrap the tape loosely, circulation is fine. More importantly, I wore the waders for 2 days with no chafing, rash, I'm jumpin for joy!

  18. #18
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    A better, in my opinion, idea for cooler ice, is to freeze the half liter bottles of spring water. I buy the 24 pack sams choice at wally world. 24 for $3. In a 150 coleman, use 40. as they Thaw, you got cold water to drink.
    God is Great, Beer is Good, People are crazy.

  19. #19
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    Do you have different socks on?




  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by dogfish View Post
    Do you have different socks on?




    Yeah I guess I do. Today I washed my hair in the sink in a Moco beach bathroom after not having a shower for 3 days. Washed all the other orifices too, got some strange looks when I walked outta there.

    The thing to remember is ya gotta do it quick, and don't give an eff what kinda looks you get from people.

    I did feel strange as I got some fuel at a gas station. A mother and her daughter were lookin at me kinda funny (ya know that look people give you when they're not sure you're a serial killer? They give you a half-hearted, nervous smile, when behind that smile they're thinking: "please God let me get my gas and drive away from this guy!"

    That kind of smile, and look was what I got as I re-adjusted my gear, put a clean shirt on, and put the waders and rain jacket on quickly as the gas was filling. As I drove away I shouted: "I'm goin fishin!" but they still gave me that nervous smile.

    I can't understand why....


    ** BTW, I found out I don't need to tape my pants any more, Hodgeman makes these things called "gaithers"? that hold your pants legs in place so they don't slide up. Didn't find them yet in the tackle shops I checked.

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