Everybody can do their own thing and has their own ideas, but ever since drinking and carrying around a bottle of water all the time became the norm for the world, nobody I knew ever toted water when fishing for less than 24 hours in a day, let alone everywhere else they went.
When talking about myself; if I carry water, I drink water and then, how much should I bring; a half liter, one liter, two? If I don't bring water, I don't think about it and I just suck it up until the day's fishing is done knowing there are ice cold beers waiting for me back at the car.
Something that helps; I avoid eating any salty snacks before or during and if I am inclined to stop to eat lunch, I avoid processed deli-meats like the plague. That's because in the 4268.756 years I've been fishing, only three times in my life have I wanted a drink so badly that I walked back to my car and all three were days when I had lunch consisting of a turkey or roast beef hoagie.
I will admit I've always carried a very small 2.5 - 3oz flask of whiskey with me for "emergencies."
I've also discovered if I feel like I'm getting thirsty, a small sip seems to alleviate the problem while a larger slug makes me forget about it entirely... 🥃
Bottom line, if I decide to go on a three day excursion to the Mojave Desert, I'll tote water in my canteen on my burro or take my chances and drink from any oases I run across, beaver or Gila monster fever be damned...
As always YMMV.
