Off Season Preparation
As the winter kicks into full gear it’s time to start off-season preparations for the next fishing season. No matter if you are a fun fisherman, a pro, or club level angler there are many things you can do during the off season that will help you on the water when the ice thaws. Here are a few things I like to do to prepare my gear for the upcoming fishing season.
Reorganizing your tackle
Nothing gets more frustrating or wastes more time on the water than digging for a bait, hook, tool, or other item you need. After 200 days on the water during the past season, my tackle can be anywhere. That’s why I reorganize, from scratch, every year.
While I am reorganizing, I also check for damaged baits, dull hooks, and holes in my inventory. It’s a lengthy process, but it will pay off in saved minutes and headaches on the water.
I start by emptying all of my storage boxes, by bait type, onto a large table. I then clean the storage boxes with nothing more than water and a rag. I make sure the boxes are good and dry before I put baits into them.
From there, I take individual baits and check them fordamage, hook sharpness, and split ring quality. Then I organize them by type, size, and depth range and place them back in the storage boxes.
