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You Booked a Saltwater Trip… Now What?

May 15, 2022 By Jess McGlothlin

As a general rule, anglers are passionate folks. Often our identity rolls right up into our passion for fishing… it becomes a core part of our being. But I’ve found that passion often doesn’t correlate directly into a willingness to put into the work. Spending more time working at saltwater lodges over the past years, I’ve been curious to see a lot of people showing up to their “trip of a lifetime” with no idea of what lies ahead.

There’s something to be said for the unexpected. But it also pays to do a little bit of research before hopping on a plane and flying to another country to fish (or to do anything, really). And I’d argue that if you’re spending a good bit of change on a trip, taking up a guide’s time, and just generally want to have a decent time on the water, a bit of preparation is going to help.

Bonefish fish caught while fly fishing in Belize at El Pescador Lodge.

I’ll preface this piece with the fact that I did not grow up in the salt. I’m a Montana trout girl, who grew up chasing trout and grayling in the waters of the West. I had a few chances to chase salty species as a teen, and then — strictly due to photography work and the place sit takes me — I’ve been able to fish the salt around the world as an adult. For the past decade and a half, I’ve taken notes, learned from guides, and spent many long hours casting in Montana parks trying to perfect my double-haul. I didn’t grow up fishing salt, and I’m still learning. But like all good things in life, it’s worth the effort.

So here are five quick tips to keep in mind if you’re heading to fish the saltwater for the first time:

1) Casting Practice

At least have an acquaintance with the double haul. It’s okay if you can’t do it well, but watch a few videos online, play with it, and understand the benefits of increased line speed and control. Lay a few hula-hoops at 30, 40, and 50 feet and practice casting into them, so you’ll have an idea of distance when your guide tells you, “Ten o’clock, 50 feet!” and the boat’s in chaos. If you’re crushing that drill, string in hula-hoop vertically from a tree, and practice shooting line forward through the hoop. The more you can compress your loop, the better control you’ll have.

2) Understand Gear For the Destination

Not all saltwater fisheries are the same, just as all trout fisheries are a little different. Know what gear is requisite for the place you’re going to fish. I like to travel with a 8 and 10-weight rod — at minimum — both ready with floating and intermediate or sinking lines. I keep both coldwater and tropic saltwater boxes stocked. There’s some overlap in patterns, of course, but have a divide by location helps prevent me from having to pack the entire kit for every trip. Come prepared with terminal tackle (leaders, tippet, etc.) as well… do your research into the location’s fishery. Will you need wire? Maybe. Will you need 80-lb. mono? Possibly. Lodges and booking agencies should supply you with a packing list including suggested tackle, and if you’re on a DIY trip, research online. You’ll likely find some ideas. 

Two men fly fishing in Belize from a panga boat beside a mangrove island.

3) Educate Yourself on the Fishery

Come prepared with at least a basic knowledge of the fishery. There are very few locations these days where you can’t find information online about the fishery and the location… and when I’ve gone on a few exploratory trips with no information online, I’ve still been able to research other waters in the region. Know if there are crocodiles around. Are blacktop sharks an annoyance? What are the tides like? What kind of weather patterns can you expect, and what will the wading conditions be like? An hour of research can help you understand what you’re getting yourself into.

4) Take Care of Yourself on the Water

This seems to be a sticking point for a lot of anglers I’ve seen over the years. It’s easy to geek out over your gear, obsess over the fishing, and then forget that your physical ability is a key part of that equation. Tip number one? Hydrate. Drink a ton of water on the boat. (Side note: get used to peeing while out on the water. Guys, you have a big advantage here. Celebrate it.)

I get through at least one packet of electrolytes on the boat, along with a lot of plain water. I also limit myself to two boat beers a day… it’s too easy to become dehydrated otherwise, and I’d rather be on my top fishing and/or photography game. (There’s always the bar once you’re off the boat, if that’s your cup of tea.) I love bringing along a few caffeinated electrolyte Clif Shot Blocks and sticking them in the cooler. Midday, when it’s hot and miserable, they’re hard, frozen little bursts of caffeine and salt. Voke Tabs are also a great little caffeine hit, and take up virtually no space in your bag. Cover up skin with either clothing or sunscreen, and reapply the latter often. (Especially on the triangle of skin between your thumb, pointer finger, and wrist. That skin somehow always gets burned.)

Permit caught while fly fishing in Belize.

5) Be a Smart Traveler

Common sense seems to be very uncommon these days. Practice basic security measures. Keep only the minimal amount of cash in your wallet, and have at least one backup stash spread throughout your bags in unexpected places. (It’s a good idea to keep a backup credit card in one of these places as well.) Keep both hard and digital copies of all your travel paperwork — passport, visas, booking information, health information, etc. Don’t drink any unbolted water unless you’re absolutely certain it’s safe. Carry a decent medial kit with you (I detailed mine in this two-part blog post); even if you’re in a country where you think you can buy first-aid supplies if needed, what happens if the store is closed? Be prepared to take care of yourself and others. 

6) Bonus Tip: Don’t Be That Guy

By its very nature, fishing is a hit-or-miss activity. When everyone gathers at the bar at the end of the day, the guy next to you might have landed a Grand Slam, where you hardly saw anything other than a single school of bonefish. It doesn’t mean you had a bad guide. It doesn’t necessarily mean the other guy is a better angler. Some days it’s just not your day, no mater how much work you put into it. Fish will be fish. Don’t get pissed off about it. Don’t blame your guide because you “Didn’t see fish.” (Chances are the fish were there, and your guide saw them, but knew you couldn’t cast that far. At the end of the day, the guide can put an angler into fish, but the responsibility of catching falls to the angler’s skill. (Hence Tip #1 being at the top of this list.)

This is all common-sense stuff… just use your head. Most of all, enjoy the trip, and be willing and ready to learn from your guides (to this day, I still carry a little notebook and jot down casting tips or learnings every day I’m on the water). Fishing and travel on their own are two very good things, and when combined, they’re one of the very best things about life. Go forth and enjoy!

Filed Under: Fishing Tagged With: Belize, destination, fishing, fly fishing, help, lodge, saltwater, tips, tips & tricks, travel, travel tips, tricks, tropical, tropics

A Quick Note to Those Postponing Trips

March 24, 2020 By Jess McGlothlin

Definitely ready to get back in the field again. Like many of you, my world has changed pretty drastically these past few weeks, and Q2 and even Q3 plans and photo shoots have been canceled or postponed. For small businesses, it’s crushing. But this will pass, like most things, and I’m hopeful we’ll all bounce back in time.

Quick note, folks: if you’ve had to change travel plans due to recent events, please consider deferring your lodge stay or guide trip instead of cancelling. We all know the travel industry is struggling right now, but this virus will pass and one day we’ll be traveling again. Support those people who help make travel moments great, and book for the future.

Okay, PSA done.Jess McGlothlin drone image of girl fishing open highland field in Tasmania.

Image: Tasmania, October 2019.

Filed Under: Jess McGlothlin Media Tagged With: coronavirus, COVID-19, fishing guides, guides, help, Jess McGlothlin, lodges, travel, travels

Podcast: Backcountry Mini-Series with the Element

June 18, 2019 By Jess McGlothlin

I had so much fun chatting with K.C. Smith and Tyler Jones—the team behind The Element Podcast—a few weeks ago for this recording. I first ran into these two Texas hunters at a conservation event in Montana, and have since enjoyed following along with their adventures (give their Instagram a follow!). Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

In this podcast, we talked about travel, photography, gear, hunting and all kinds of outdoor goodness. From backcountry bivy camps to tales of escapes in the South Pacific, this was a fun one! Give it a listen, and let me know what tips were useful—and what you’d like to learn more about.

Filed Under: Jess McGlothlin Media Tagged With: advice, backcountry, fishing, help, hunting, K.C. Smith, learning, podcast, recording, The Element, The Element Podcast, tips, travel, Tyler Jones

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It’s always worth waking up before dawn when I’m on a lodge shoot. (Coffee tastes better when it’s still dark out, too.)

Last week in Belize for @elpescadorbelize.
I’ve got just one spot left to join me from Febr I’ve got just one spot left to join me from February 2-7, 2025 in Argentina on the @goldendoradorivercruiser! This mothership-based golden dorado program is a great winter break and offers some of ridiculously fun fishing, excellent cuisine, and comfortable quarters with good company. DM me for more info to grab this last spot; it’s well worth the $4,200.

📷: me and @martinanderssen, last season.
Grateful for wide open waters and the people who c Grateful for wide open waters and the people who choose to make their living on them. 

Image: Belize last week for @elpescadorbelize.
Despite the pretty massive challenges 2024 has bro Despite the pretty massive challenges 2024 has brought, I’ve been so damn grateful to have gotten to meet and work with incredible folks all over the world, in some pretty stellar fisheries. January and February were Argentina, visiting lodges I can’t wait to get back to in a few months to see friends. March was Baja and Las Vegas. April and May were the Darien Gap in Colombia. June brought me back here to Montana to shoot a friends wedding and a couple fishing jobs, and then it all came to a screeching halt with an injury. I canceled eight international shoots in all, spending August and September in Texas having surgery instead of abroad. But November’s brought me back to the road with a return trip to Belize, and I’m keenly looking toward to what 2025 brings. It’s going to be a sprint… and a marathon. A sprinting marathon? We’ll see.

I just know I can’t wait to be back on the water with both new and old friends, capturing stories and chasing fish. 

Thanks for following along, all. Grateful for you.

(Photo credit on the final shot goes to the awesome @highpeaksrep, who caught me on the other side of the camera this past May in Colombia.)
Posted @withregram • @elpescadorbelize Well, tha Posted @withregram • @elpescadorbelize Well, that’s all from me, folks! About to board my flight back to the States. Thanks for following along this week as I’ve been shooting and fishing at @elpescadorbelize. If you’re looking for a fishing getaway this winter, put Belize on your list. This crew will take good care of you. 

If you’re seeking more on fishing, travel, and what happens when the two combine, follow along at @jess_mcglothlin_media. Thanks for joining me this week, and I hope to run into you all down in Belize one of these days!
Ten weeks ago I was learning how to walk normally Ten weeks ago I was learning how to walk normally again after endoscopic spine surgery at @texasback. Four weeks ago I started to slowly add weight workouts back into my PT and training routine. Today, I am on the tail end of my first trip back on the road, on a shoot down in Belize for @elpescadorbelize. Though I’m still a bit limited on my activity, I’ve grateful to have snuck in a few days fishing with friends. This tarpon, caught while fishing today with @jrflyhighbaby and @portillomariano7, isn’t my biggest by a long stretch, but it’s going to forever be a memorable fish as it marks a (still slow) return back to work. 

Some things are meant to be. We were about to reel up and check another spot, and I asked Junior to wait a moment; I wanted to throw one more cast… something just told me it might not hurt. And you know what? It didn’t. This tarpon came up out of nowhere and smashed my home-tied purple-and-white tarpon toad. 

Thanks @jrflyhighbaby for the picture and the day, to @peterdermanmd and his team for a surgery very well done, to @epicflyfish for making a very fun fiberglass rod for tarpon, and to the entire @elpescadorbelize team for welcoming me back… always feels a bit like coming home.
I’ve learned it’s best to embrace and work wit I’ve learned it’s best to embrace and work with the conditions on any given day—with the cameras, fishing, and just about everything else. So when the light is bright, hazy, and full of glare, we adjust and work with it. 

@elpescadorbelize manager @ebenschaefer hooked into a snook a few days ago here in Belize.
Awesome to be back to work, back on the water, and Awesome to be back to work, back on the water, and back in Belize. I’m down at @elpescadorlodge this week doing a bit of photo work and an Instagram takeover for the lodge. 

Yesterday was my first day fishing since injuring my spine in June, which led to surgery September 10. I’m incredibly grateful I’m able to be back on the water (saltwater flats, no less) at 10 weeks post-op—we had this snook (and a lot of his buddies) in the first hour on the water! I’m still on very modified duties (careful of fast boat runs on choppy water, twisting while casting, and bending awkwardly), but being back on the water is good for the soul. 

Y’all know me… I’m usually behind the lens, not in front of it—and I’m happiest there. But consider this post proof of life. 😆 I’m slowly getting back into the field once again. 

Big thanks to guide @mikey_so_fly and Shawn for a good first couple days back on the water. Working at the lodge tomorrow for an architectural shoot, and then have a few more days of fishing. All’s well here in Belize.
And off we go again. I’m finally (and very car And off we go again. 

I’m finally (and very carefully) back on the road, (slowly) resuming work after a summer / fall of injury-surgery-recovery. I’m still somewhat limited in my activities, but am thrilled to be heading to familiar waters at @elpescadorbelize for a week of photography and fishing. The fishing program won’t be quiet my usual—no targeting the big tarpon this trip—but I’ll be plenty happy to play around with other critters. Belize just had Tropical Storm Sara pass through last night, so we’ll see what the conditions hold. Stay tuned this week here on IG for daily IG trip report stories as I get back to work on the flats of Belize.

And if you’re in an airport and see a tall girl with a tan @pelican case covered in fishing stickers, say hello! I have a day of flying and five airports to hurdle through before I hit the dock at the lodge.
Getting close to final call on this trip! If you’re looking for a winter escape or feeling a bit celebratory, come fish Argentina in January. I’ll be at @estancialagunaverde on Lago Strobel January 25 - February 1, 2025, and have a few spots open for anglers. (I’ll also be offering basic photo instruction for those who are interested.) Join me as we fish for massive rainbow trout, enjoy the stunning scenery and epic fishing, and relax with excellent food and lodging. 

Pricing is $7,500 (7 nights / 6.5 days fishing); private room and shared guide. DM for more info.
Cheer on your people. And if the air temp’s belo Cheer on your people. And if the air temp’s below freezing, it just means your beer stays cold longer.

Image: @katmai_sky toasts to a fun, frigid girls’ day on the Missouri River. Montana, March 2023.
Happy 135th birthday, Montana. Image: Missouri Ri Happy 135th birthday, Montana.

Image: Missouri River, Montana. Summer 2013.
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