Other Equipment for Fishing

There are millions of dollars worth of stuff you can get with which to fish. Here are a few of the ones that every fisherman or woman should have.

A net. I recommend strongly that you get a rubber net, especially if you fish mostly with hard baits , like I do. Treble hooks get sooooooo tangled in regular nylon nets. I wish I had one. Another thing to consider is that cheap nets are cheap for a reason. If you fish for panfish exclusively, you probably don't need a net at all. But if you fish for big fellas, get a good net. It'll save you a good deal of hassle and it'll save the health and possibly life of any fish you throw back.

Long needle-nosed pliers, hook remover, or hemostats. These should be long enough to get the hook out of the throat of toothy fish, so that you don't have to worry about what you catch. I myself use hemostats, but I am told that those hook removers with the pistol-grip work very well.

A hook-removing first aid kit. Knock on wood, I haven't had a hook stuck in me really good yet, but I've seen it happen and it'll make a grown man weep. They sell kits for a couple of bucks that use the same method that is used in emergency rooms. I don't have one, but I will before next season.
A cheap camera. In my opinion, you should always photograph big ol' fish that you throw back. See Ethics of Fishing for my thoughts on catch-and-release and keepers.
Tackle box. There are lots of different styles, from old-school single-tray ones to modern duffle-bag styles that compartmentalize your gear in Plano plastic boxes. The one that I got for you is the best of both worlds, I think. I have two, a giant old-school one that has six trays and storage for an entire buffalo in the bottom, and one that looks like a triple-fanny pack. It has three pouches, each of which holds two small Plano boxes. I like it because I wade a great deal, and it allows me to not have to haul my whole suitcase. Instead, I pack my most-used baits in the small Planos and leave the big box in the truck. That way the stuff I'll probably need is with me, but everything else is still accessible. It's a good system for me.