Your food intake for a day of fishing should be directly related to your amount of activity. Elmtree said that you should stay away from foods containing processed(refined) flours if sitting in a boat and I have to agree with him. A couple of my friends that fish with me regularly, except for Parker because he never eats anything, sit in front of my boat munchin' doughnuts and chips living it up while I'm rowing my tail off. I spend most of my fishing time behind the oars of my driftboat or hiking the banks of the Sauk River Steelhead Ranch. I am almost always "active" while fishing. Rowing a driftboat can be very physically demanding, especially if you're rowing a 20 ft. beast like Bob does on the Kasilof, my back hurts just thinking about it. The oarsman needs ample carbohydrate stores in order to have enough energy to be on the "sticks" all day.

Ideally, the night before an all day float trip I eat large helpings of food containing unrefined carbs whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and don't forget a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. The unrefined carbohydrates will release slower than the forementioned refined carbs(sugars). Throw in some chiken breast, salmon, hatchery steelie, or steak for protein which you will need to build and repair all those rowing muscles.

A two ounce serving of MET-Rx only contains 24 grams of carbs which you will burn off rowing through or hiking to the first fishing hole, however, within that two ounce serving you get 37 grams of quality protein. I used MET-Rx as a meal supplement for one, two, and sometimes three of my six meals a day when I used to pump iron. The stuff is like the supercharged version of Ultra Slim Fast; great for meal supplements and weight(fat) loss. Don't expect MET-Rx to give you a days worth of energy but unless you drink a serving about every two hours.

Fishing Farmgirl mentioned reading ingredients to find products containing corn sweeteners, she'sright, PowerBars are made with high fructose corn syrup or something similar, which gives you a "burst" of energy but soon leave you feeling burnt out. Save the PowerBars for your between meal rations. I am often seen munching on a PowerBar shortly before arriving at a long plugging slot or before the hike back to the camp at the SRSR. All in all, PowerBars are not much better for you than a granola bar. Most of the hype behind PowerBars, Gatorade, etc. is just that, hype; a lot of marketing behind a lot of sugar if you ask me.

Low carb diets are great if you are concerned with weight loss. Your body will turn towards its reserve energy stores(bodyfat) when carbohydrates are not present or have been depleted. Most people will feel sluggish without carbs until their blood sugar levels stabilize which can take several days.

I don't always have the time to prepare quality foods for fishing trips and that quick fix of junk food from 7-11 doesn't give me the sustained energy I need for a days fishing. I burn out too quickly when I resort to mooching doughnuts from my buddies. Beer has not helped me win any marathons either.

Take the time to eat right and you will feel better on the river and have that extra energy for that long hike into the canyon on the Zipperlip. If you want to eat junk then you might as well run a 50/50 mix of gas and water in your jet sled motor. See if you make it over those riffles then.

Life is short....Fish hard!!!




[This message has been edited by SAUKit2em (edited 08-28-2000).]