Fishing and drinking are two great sports best enjoyed one after the other (fish by day, drink by night). I've fished a lot of different places -- mostly the tropics -- and have yet to pop a cold one in the boat simply because I'd never forgive myself if I missed a strike or dropped a fish because of some avoidable mistake I'd made after having a couple of beers. Maybe that's paranoid but I don't have fighter pilot reflexes to begin with so why give the fish an even bigger edge?

My favorite fishing and drinking story was told to me by legendary guide Warren 'Wazza' Smith who fishes Crocodile Dundee territory in Australia's Deep North. Seems he had two clients for a week who started drinking at breakfast and usually were back at the camp by 2 p.m. as they were too drunk to fish any more (or had already gone through a case, and wanted some more 'foaming neck oil', at which point Warren stayed ashore). Over four days these characters lost 7 rods and reels over the side. Some times there was a fish on, or a fish striking. Sometimes the sweat/ sunscreen/ bug repellant made their hands so slick that ended up throwing the rod over the side when they cast. Dragging the bottom with a snag rig retrieved 4, leaving these bozos with three US$400 combos to pay for when they left (which they did).

Wazza said the most frustrating thing was having torn down the same Calcutta 250 two nights running only to lose it for good on the third day. He didn't charge for rebuilding the reels, and true to Australia custom these clowns didn't tip him either.

Other Aussie guides have had similar experiences. A couple of them have gotten wised up. If you fish with Russell Kenny (another top gun guide) every barramundi (musky) rod has a Bass Pro foam sleeve Velcro'ed around the rod right above the grip. Doesn't impede the casting any (adds a couple of ounces weight to the rod though), but the rig retrieval rate is 100% as it floats. If I had a drinker in my boat, if he borrowed any of my gear it would have one of those floats on it. Somebody telling you they'll replace a lost rig doesn't help much when you're in the bush.