Two Way Radio aka Walky Talkies and Fishing….Roger Roger

So it was this year I got exited about whole idea of using walky talkies while fishing. It was Mike that put me on to the idea and I was resistant at first. When he told me he had bought a couple for him and his brother I rubbished the whole idea straight away (I do that quite a lot, I change my mind about things quickly but NEVER about line trays). I think it was when we fished the Don that they started to appeal to me. Nothing chears you up more when you are having a terrible days fishing than knowing everyone you are with is having an awful day as well. What improved matters was the fact we could have a laugh about it. There were three of us- Mike, Alex and I. We regularly split up throughout the day as the fishing was absolutely awful and gave each other updates by radio.

– Seen any rises?
– No, have you?
– No, nothing at all, has Alex?
– He has not seen anything either.
– Roger that

Yup- exiting stuff that!

The conversation went on like that for the full day. To amuse ourselves we would occasionally burp in it just to be manly. It was also good as sometimes we would walk by the other person without realizing and they could catch up quickly. Essentially you still have the solitude but not the inconvenience of trying to find a fishing buddy when they are late. Alex of course, on the Don trip, put a radio in his pocket and it got wet (this turned out to be a bit of a theme with Alex)
Anyway, so I bought a pair from eBay.

Of course, other than the one mentioned there are other advantages. I have, on occasion, not been as tuned into what’s happening on the river as my fishing buddy (some might say I have not been as fluky as usual) and been put on to fish as a result of my walky talky. I have been fishing away, not doing particularly well while my fishing buddy is maybe a couple of hundred yards away- not wanting to shout it is a simple matter of asking them how they are getting on over the two way radio- usually the reply is that they are hauling them in and I have I not noticed the record breaking hatch of blue winged olives. Ah yes, as I tie on a BWO I just noticed it now.
They also act as a bit of an ego booster sometimes-

– caught a nice trout
– caught another one
– and another
– Oooh this one is bigger
– Lovely colours on this one

Of course the one problem I found was that they are not waterproof, at least not the ones I bought and which Mike recommended.

The first mishap came when I was fishing for Sea Trout at night– a perfect opportunity to use them. They worked great until I hooked a bat and in the confusion I dropped the radio in the water. But as luck would have it I dried it out and didn’t touch it for a week, voila, worked perfectly. I suppose that is the danger of taking anything electrical near water- at some point it will get a dunking and are you prepared to lose it? Alex has dunked his phone a couple of times so has taken out one of those insurance thingies that gets him a new one- every time we go fishing he loses it or dunks it in the water (not to mention losing his wallet) Anyway, where was I – oh yea electrical stuff. I think the next time my radio got a dunking was by Charlie-

– Here, your radio has stopped working and the front bit has all steamed up!
– Let me see it (opens it up to see water in the batteries)
– Did you dip this in the water?
– Er, no, I did fall in though
– !!!

Alex put the final nail in the coffin when he was wading over the river to show me his giant brown trout. I am a bit of a pansy when it comes to deep water and tricky wading, actually maybe not so much a pansy as being allergic to death- just doesn’t agree with me, however Alex is what can only be described as a “wading commando” in that if his head is still above water then a good result has been had. I have seen him in tricky situations where I would basically have to come out the water and have a lie down to calm down and he has barely rated it on the scary scale. Anyway, so Alex wanted to show me his giant trout (secretly he wanted a hero shot photo and as usual muggings here is the only one that carries a camera) and waded across the river at chest height to show me. It was most impressive trout and well worth the death of the radio.

The blue line represents the water level and the red circle is the now busted walky talky.
By luck would have it I have now found some waterproof walky talkys that work exactly the same as the ones that got busted except they look like mini bananas =

I have seen the ones I recently bought only in the UK eBay for some reason; have a look at them here for prices.

Walky Talkys- Ebay

There is still a good selection on the US Ebay .

Go check em out !!

[tags]ebay,two way radio, auctions [/tags]