How to prepare your fishing tackle

Rubbish weekend weather? Prep the gear and invest in your fishing future

When the weather turns turtle and the bureau declares “no boating,” there’s a lot left to do with your idle hands other than dangle a mothball for silverfish in the living room.

Take the time to prepare your tackle for the season ahead and you will emerge from the gloom positively recharged and rearing to go. Here are some tips to help you get started.

DON’T SPARE THE ROD

Begin with your rods. Give the guides close inspection -- a magnifying glass or reading glasses help -- and look for cracks on the inserts that will damage your line and, nothing surer, eventually result in lost fish. Remove damaged guides by slicing the binding with a razor blade. Head to your tackle store, buy a replacement, some thread and varnish or two-part epoxy, and effect the repairs.

Broken tips are best removed with the aid of a match -- not too much heat or you will melt the fibreglass -- and a straight pull with pliers. Use five-minute Araldite to affix the replacement, taking care to ensure it’s properly aligned. Roller guides will need dismantling, cleaning and a light oil to keep them rolling freely and at their friction-preventing best.

Clean the rod, reel seat and have a bit of a flick, avoiding the ceiling and fan at all costs, to check that the stick if firing alright. Bend the rod from the tip, as we anglers are wont to do, and admire the arc while reflecting on all the great fish you’ve landed. Put said rod aside and move to the next one. And so on.

REEL DEAL

Now to the reels. If you’re a keen angler, rather than just a weekend dangler, it’s time to get down and dirty. Maintaining your fishing reels isn’t a drag but it does pay to sort out that part of the mechanics as smoothly as possible.

Retrieve each reel’s exploded diagram from your fishing files, lay down some newspaper on the dining table (sorry Mabel), and perform surgery with your tools. The key to a drama-free reel service is to place each piece in chronological order, as you remove it, much like the aforesaid exploded diagram (Google for online copies if you haven’t kept them).

Clean the parts, pay particular attention to bearings, spindles and bail arms, grease the gears, reassemble and crank to make sure the reel is working as intended. Make another pot of tea and pour…

Cleaning the drag washers, removing dirt and water via a bath in thinners, is the key to a smooth fighting drag. Fibre washers are generally kept dry, using only graphite lube, but leather washers need light oil.

Run the line through the guides and tie it to your kids or better half. Tell them to mimic a hooked fish while they run through the house. Make sure there are no humps or chatters in the drag as they peel off line. It might be time to order new washers -- or buy a reel or two -- before those winter boat-show and tackle-shop deals are over.

Re-spool or top-shot your reels with new line and reattach to host rods. Thread the line through the guides, tie a double and/or attach a double, add a hookless lure and have a backyard dummy cast or two. Feeling twitchy? You are almost ready to get back out in the field.

TACKLE-BOX TUNE

Now move to the tackle box. Beware the kids; if they’re anything like mine you won’t be able to open the lid without half the kit being pilfered and turned into girl’s necklaces or tied to sticks for the young fella to whizz through the air.

Suffice to say, it’s time to throw-out rusty hooks, replace them with new ones, stock up the terminal bits you need, and run a check of your lure spread. Clean the tackle-box trays, pack the kit away, make a list and go shopping. And do check the bargain barrels at your tackle store. Winter is the time to catch a deal.

Now invest some time in tying doubles, wind-on leaders, albright knots. Buy a bunch of zip-lock bags and premake rigs for all kinds of fishing applications. Write the rig specs, ie, Live Bait 9/0, on the outside of the bag with an Artline pen and pack them in your tackle box. The next time there's a hot tuna bite, you want to bash the bottom for table fish, you're thinking about floating a livie out in the slick under a balloon, you'll be ready to go.

Your end-of-year tackle preparation and maintenance should now be complete. You will have a bunch of outfits at the ready, a loaded tackle box with ammo, and a pretty good “buzz” from downing too much caffeine and cake along the way.

Nothing surer, you will be pumped to put your finely honed arsenal to good use. And as sure as night follows day, the weather will turn for the better and the new fishing season will be upon us.

Now for readying the boat and the imminent spring clean…

How to prepare your fishing tackle

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