Time For Some Spring Cleaning

I realize that a lot of the country is still battling brutally cold weather and has an itch to go out and get some serious fishin’ in. But there are some things that need to be tended to before that first trip which is why we’re doing our “Spring cleaning for fisherman.”

This is the time of year that I like to go out in the garage, since that’s where all my fishing gear is, and do my own spring cleaning.

Start With The Rods

The first thing that I do is take all the reels off of the rods and clean the rods completely. For me this entails really scrubbing each blank and cleaning all the eyelets.

While I’m doing this I’m checking every guide to see if there are any nicks in them. If there are, I want to replace them now ‘cause nicks in your guides can cut down on casting distance as well as fray your line. The worst case scenario is that you hook a great fish on your first trip and lose it because a nick in one guide cut your line.

I also like to use something like Clorox Cleanup on all my cork handles to clean and disinfect them. Here’s a little hint, after cleaning them, wipe Armor All on them. This will keep them much cleaner over the course of the season and cuts down on the damage that they take.

Cleaning The Reels

Of course while you’ve got your reels off of your rods, it’s a great time to clean and lube them. Honestly, this is one of the things I look forward to the most in spring cleaning. I like knowing that all my reels are going to perform the way they were designed to and if there is anything to be concerned about, I find out now, before there is a failure on the water.

Now For The Hard Part

Next it’s time to jump into the tackle box, or bag in my case. I go through every pocket one by one to see what I’ve got, what needs to be replaced and what I need to add. I like to open every package of soft plastics and check those baits. I don’t know about anybody else but I have on occasion run across some that have flat out gone skunky!

These get thrown away immediately. From there, re-organizing the plastics is the next step especially considering that new lures are added every season. This helps me to know what is where and make it so that I can find the baits I want easily when the time comes.

Now is the most tedious part. I get into every box within the bag, take all the baits out and clean the box. This is a pain in the butt! However, it makes me slow down enough to check all the hooks on those lures. I have run across so many dull, bent, rusted or otherwise damaged hooks over the years. When I find them, I replace them. I do this in every hard bait box till I’m done and again, this process allows me to re-organize. I put any new hard baits into their place and if I run across any lures that are just flat out ruined, I get rid of them.

When I get to my spinner-bait box, which also includes buzz-baits I like to check all the skirts, oil all the swivels and check the hooks. If these hooks are dull, get out the file and sharpen them. You sure don’t want to lose a fish because your hook is dull. That would absolutely suck!

I do the same on the hollow body frogs. I sit and check all the hooks, make sure that there aren’t any holes in the bodies and, if need be, replace some of the strands in the legs.

Finally, I go through my terminal tackle box to see that I am well stocked with hooks, snaps, weights, pegs, jig-heads, beads and all the other small pieces that I use during the course of the season.

Tedious, But Worth It

Yes, this amounts to a full day of work but it really prepares you for the entire season. I always think in terms of what it would be like if I got a last minute call to go fishing and none of this was done. Would I have to turn down the trip or just take my chances? Yup, I would just take my chances, but it sure feels better to know that everything is in order and ready to go!

See ya’ on the water …