If you’re like me, you already get way too much email: Work emails, chain letters from friends, unsolicited messages promising docile Eastern European brides and diamond-hard boners. No matter how many times you avoid them or press “unsubscribe” they always seem to return, and each annoying email brings two friends with it.

Half the problem is just avoiding phishing scams and remembering all of your passwords.

The other half is figuring out which ones you really need to read and which of those merit a response.

Despite that ongoing pain in the butt, I’m here to advocate that you should receive even more emails – just make sure that they are the RIGHT kind of emails. If you’re judicious about what you sign up for, and what you read, not only can you identify better trips, but you can also figure out how to take them most economically.

Here are some categories to consider:

Lodges/Outfitters

If you’ve already identified a lodge, outfitter, country or body of water that piques your interest, sign up for every possible emailer about that topic. Even if you are hoping to fish with Outfitter A, it doesn’t cost anything to see what Outfitter B has an offer. In fact, when it comes to fishing reports, finding the intersection of what the various sellers have to say will distill the story down to a few truths. If one of them says you can expect to catch 100 fish a day, with 20 of them over 10 pounds, and the others make no such claims, then you may need to alter your expectations. You can compare pricing, too – and while it may not always be apples-to-apples, if there’s a great disparity you can go on TripAdvisor or Facebook or ask them directly about the differences to see if they’re worth it to you.

Also, through their fishing reports you may settle on going at a particular time. For example, if they keep mentioning a great topwater bite in April, but never in July, and you want to catch big fish on a Whopper Plopper, that might help you make your decision.

Anglers Inn Mexico fishing report and special discount deals

Fishing Travel Advisors

In addition to the specific lodges themselves, I strongly recommend that you sign up for the newsletters from fishing travel agencies. Many of the most informative sites – like the ones from Yellow Dog Fly Fishing, Fly Water Travel and Tailwaters Fly Fishing – are aimed at fly anglers, but I view that as a feature rather than a bug (no pun intended). Not only are they chock full of all sorts of good fishing advice, but even if you’re a conventional gear angler they can help you identify species and fisheries that you might not otherwise know about. They tend to have great info on fish like tarpon and golden dorado and giant trevally that those of us in bass-world might not know much about.

Additionally, their newsletters and websites often have good information about general travel requirements (visas, shots, State Department warnings), which have become especially critical in the era of COVID. Furthermore, they may offer last-minute specials that can bring out-of-range trips within your budget. Yellow Dog in particular often has opportunities for amazing travel at sub-market prices, if you’re willing to act on a whim.

Fishing Gear

One way to bring down the cost of a dream trip is to assemble all of the tackle you need at 20, 30 or 50 percent off retail. Many of my readers no doubt already get regular email traffic from the likes of Tackle Warehouse, LandBigFish and Bass Pro Shops, but it pays to sign up for correspondence from specialty retailers as well.

If you know that you’re likely to go through 100 black/blue 10-inch Power Worms, or 50 watermelon red 6-inch Senkos, wait for a sale, but likewise be on the lookout for other opportunities – for example a fly fishing retailer may have a great end-of-season sale on Simms or Patagonia clothing. You don’t need to be headed to the Madison or Bitterroot Rivers to utilize that. In fact, sometimes it pays to stray from your lane – a saltwater or generalist retailer may blow out bass tackle because their typical clientele doesn’t value it like you do.

Tackle Warehouse Black Friday sale for bass fishing travel and trips

Airlines

It pays to be subscribed to every frequent flier program you might use, and to get their regular email updates. Whether it’s Alaska Airlines running a BOGO special or American with their occasional low mileage redemption fares, this is an easy way to reduce the cost of travel, increase your travel benefits, or both. You should also subscribe to sites that specialize in “points travel” like Million Mile Secrets or The Points Guy for that same reason.