Fishing Trip Concerns with Morning Bowel Issues

I've been asked to go fishing on a boat in the morning. My bowels are very active in the morning and sometimes I have to drain my bag 2 or 3 times in the AM. Any advice would be appreciated.

Eat a few marshmallows when you first get up; they slow down output.

Eat very little the night before.

Inform your fishing partners that you might have to empty. I would take a few small kitchen trash can liner bags.

When the time comes, discreetly empty into a bag, then tie it off. Dispose of it later.

Don't let an ostomy hold you back.

Get up early and get it out of your system before you leave.

Rowboat or bigger?

Digestive systems are different for various reasons. You have to figure out what yours is. Don't eat much in the preceding hours, and avoid alcohol, as it increases output, though I do anyway. You can catch a bite on the boat or before boarding, depending on how long your fishing trip is. I go deep-sea fishing on a boat that has a small toilet, but I never use it to empty for fear of the odor left behind. We leave early in the morning and are back by late afternoon; I've never had a problem. We are a group of friends; if an emergency arose, they would deposit me ashore. None of them know I have an ostomy. Best wishes.

Staying Hydrated with an Ostomy with LeeAnne Hayden | Hollister

Agree with everyone above. Zip lock bags, large type would help. Bring a container to put and hide them. Small cooler?

I hope it's not a rowboat!

Boats with toilets... hmm. Yeah, that smell, odor would frighten fish away... and you'd have a few jumpers overboard... ha ha! Mayday mayday...!! Men overboard!! (insert splash)

You should practice a routine to become familiar with stoma behavior. It's something I do.

(Time well spent. But morning output sucks like you have. Me too. Liquid, 2-3 times even before I get out of bed. It just sucks.)

By that, over the time having a stoma, get to know what works keeping it calm, idling... in advance. Morning output is difficult to control...

Perhaps, before any event, a week earlier, try eating lightly at night... and marshmallows do work. And see the next day how it goes. Eating lightly throughout the next day. Make the time to experience this "testing area" for your own good.

Yeah, preparation... in advance yields a better outcome. In this case, output. (Damn, I gotta write that down somewhere)😀.

Your boat event has begun this morning, June 9th. I hope it's going well.

Hi Boalsman, my brother used to have a 16 ft. open boat, and we would go fishing on Lake Superior. What I did was take a coffee can, a roll of toilet paper, and baby wipes. As I let my pouch hang over my tighty-whities, I could just pull my pants down while facing away from shore and drain my pouch into the can, clean up the spout with toilet paper that goes in the can, and my hands with the baby wipes, and into the can. Being in the open air, the smell doesn't linger very long, but on the days when the water was choppy, it made it kind of awkward, so I would wait as long as possible to not empty. Catch a big one.

Hi B,

I think we covered this a couple of weeks ago with JESB XO's topic "Tips for Managing an Ileostomy on a Boat Trip". I'd say the same advice applies here. It really comes down to what type of ostomy you have. From best to worst... if you have a colostomy, you can irrigate and be output-free for long periods of time (or so I've heard). If you have a standard ileostomy with all of your ileum intact, you can experiment with motility meds that slow your transit time down, or keep track of what you eat and how long it takes to get to your bag. Dietary changes in regards to fiber content, etc., can be manipulated to get the results you want. If you're missing your lower ileum or anything above that, then all bets are off. Your options there are to skip breakfast entirely and hope your bile output is reasonable... or make friends with those on the boat fast and suggest you all play a game of 'who can gross everyone out the best'. Confined spaces with strangers are typically something ostomates avoid at all costs. For obvious reasons. Regardless, I hope you make the best of it and enjoy the fishing! I guess you could always yell "SHARK" and when everyone runs over, you can go to the other side of the boat and give your output the old 'heave ho!' over the side. Got to live dangerously, you know!

;O)

Colostomies are only candidates for irrigation if their colostomy is on the descending or sigmoid colon — not for those with a transverse colon, as I have.

If you have a two-piece appliance, then get some closed-end pouches — you can snap one off and another one on in a matter of a few minutes. That's one of the advantages of having a two-piece appliance, the flexibility to change bag types when needed. I have small 6-inch pouches I snap on for intimate moments.

Imodium might help. Could you go fishing in the afternoon?

Fishing sounds fun! I like the idea of the coffee cans someone mentioned. Just tell them so you don't have to be nervous. Yeah, just bring your bathroom gear and an emergency kit. You'll be fine.

What do you do when you need to empty if you don't use the toilet on the boat?

Unless you're going far from shore, just head back and use the bathroom at the boat ramp or hop out along the shore somewhere on dry ground and fertilize the local vegetation.

My bag never fills up to a point where it has to be hastily emptied, thanks to the precautions taken beforehand. I do carry two new bags, out of view with my lures, etc. If the need arose, I would change into a new bag and dump the old one at sea. Very few know I have an ostomy. I live in a harsh and competitive world compared to yours. There is no point in exposing a weakness or vulnerability.

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Thanks for the encouragement. I went out for 2 hours and didn't need to deal with the colostomy. I got lucky but did release the fish back into the ocean.

I fish a lot from my boat. I just lean over the side and empty the bag, downwind of course. 🤣

I have a bottle of water I use to wash it out as I go. Very simple. I fill the bottle back up from the lake, ready for next time. Fish poop in the water all the time. 🤣😂

I walk a lot, especially in the early morning when "Bertie" is pretty active. I carry a roll of doggie poop bags with me. They serve well for emptying. Tie them up and dispose of them when back on land.

I've been on a fishing boat for most of the day and I took a small collapsible doggie water bowl, used the small bags that come in the box with the pouches and used them as a liner for the doggie bowl, took tissues of course and wet ones for my hands after I was finished... Good luck and I hope you catch the big one!

I hike early in the morning to avoid the daytime heat. You shouldn't eat and drink too much beforehand. The night before, I eat thickening foods at 5 PM and have a snack (cookies) later. I reduce liquid intake before bedtime. I get up at 5 AM, eat two Melba toasts, drink some juice, and take my meds. This thickens and slows output, allowing me to hike for up to 4-5 hours. I invented my own drainage device that fits in my "Ostomy travel bag." It accommodates doggie poop bags; just twist and knot after cleanup. Note: I drilled two Dremel holes in the sides (marked with a red circle) to allow the bags to expand in the jar.

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New to this site and just reading through some replies. First of all, I can't understand why people have problems with the odor because there's that odor eliminator that you put in your pouch. I never have a problem with odor; at least that's not one of my problems. If I ever had to go somewhere where there wasn't going to be a bathroom, I would never do anything that is suggested in these replies. I would probably take Imodium to slow it down because mine is very liquidy, and not eat anything. Maybe this site isn't for me because I'm not happy with an appliance. Actually, I don't see too much difference from the illness. Before, I ate because of the pain; now I can't eat because I don't want the high output.