What should I bring on my Galveston fishing charter?
It doesn’t matter whether you’re on the water for an hour or a day, there just aren’t many places to stop and pick up a few things you forgot once your charter leaves the dock for a great fishing charter, sunset cruise, or dolphin tour. The feeling of frustration while tripping over extra or “what if” things you brought along can be equally frustrating as well. So it’s important to make sure you bring the things you need for a great experience, while leaving the things you don’t need behind. Most captains are happy to return for little things before they’re out of the marina and almost every captain will turn around if they leave their own sunglasses at the dock as well!
Here are a few quick tips and things to consider when packing for your next fishing trip:
What should we bring to eat?
This seems to be the most overlooked piece of information when planning for a fishing charter.. A general rule of thumb, if the trip is less than 6 hours… snacks will easily get you through. Common snacks are beef jerky, chips, and fresh cut fruit. For more than 6 hours, sandwiches or favorite boat foods are in order. Classic boat foods are cold pizza, fried chicken, wraps, and chicken sandwiches. Lunch and snacks are the only meals involved with most fishing trips, so you can easily pack accordingly… except for the hungry teenagers, they eat everything in sight.
What should we bring to drink?
Water and gatorade are most popular for sure, some boats have water provided. Sparkling water is very refreshing and often overlooked as well. These will typically fit in a small to medium cooler, or go into a cooler already on the boat.
Is alcohol allowed on the boat?
While there are a few captains and boats that have a zero tolerance policy for beer and alcohol, most boats allow beer and some even provide it for free on the boat as well. A nearly universal policy though, no glass bottles! Broken glass is never fun, especially as a surprise on the boat or in the cooler. On a fishing charter, it’s hard to drink beer and fish at the same time, so you can probably count on less to be consumed than normal. In most cases, an average of 1 beer per person per hour is more than enough. So if you’re bringing an extra cooler full of beer… it might just be something heavy you get to carry to and from the boat when you arrive.
What are some other essentials?
The immediate things that should come to mind are sunglasses, sunscreen, phone (camera), shoes, and clothing. Moisture wicking material helps to keep you cool in the heat, a light jacket helps block the wind on a cool morning, and footwear is likely to get wet while you’re on the water.If you’ve been on a fishing charter trip in the past, think back to what the captain had or wore or packed for themself on the trip… after all, they spend tons of days on the water, so they might know a thing or two about it.
When it comes to packing for your next fishing trip, hopefully this guide will be very helpful in the process! Please feel free to share your favorite boat foods, boat drink, and other items with us on facebook or instagram as well: we would love to hear from you.
