Many people who have seen me fishing have commented on how clean my tackle is and joked that it is because it never catches anything. “Oh boy, I haven’t heard that one before.” I always retort, but it’s clean for one simple reason. I keep it so.
It was my dear Uncle Horace (yes, I did have one) who remarked one day when I had just come back from fishing and threw my filthy wellies into the cubbyhole, “Aren’t you going to wash them off? They’ll still be dirty next time you go!” And so he embarrassed me into cleaning them off, then my holdall that had some mud on it, then my basket, then I removed the rod (only had one then) from it’s bag and cleaned that, then the reel…..
Eventually it was all cleaned and true enough, it felt much nicer when I took it all out on my next trip looking like new again. I don’t know what set it into my mind then, but I’ve been pretty much like it ever since, with everything! Even garden tools are cleaned off, hiking gear, camera equipment gets a dusting and check, and the dog gets a hosing and rub down when he comes back dirty.
Guess what? The tackle seems to last longer and look nicer because of it and it doesn’t take long. How many times have I seen matchmen turn up at matches looking like they’ve been dragged across a ploughed field and then have had the cheek to ask “Are you looking to sponsor us?” NO!
I’ve said it before, how many sponsors would F1 racing teams get if they just left their cars from one race to the next? Even from practice to qualifying and qualifying to race day, they’re polished every time until the cars gleam. That’s pride for you.
New Season
So now that the real season has begun, if you haven’t already done so, it’s time to get your tackle out and check it over to avoid disappointments. Get all your rods out and set them up to test the ferrules. Choosing a sunny day is a good idea so you can see better and get a bottle of ArmorAll, either that or Son-of-a-gun if you can still find it.
Look along each one and check the eyes, are they bent? Are the legs on them still sound, not likely the break soon? Linings cracked? Whippings still OK?
What is the handle like, is it covered in groundbait? I was given one like that once to try, absolutely coated in groundbait that had dried as hard as concrete. Soaked it in the bath, lapped an old towel around it and kept pouring warm water over the towel. It took two days to get it all off, but I followed that up with a scrubbing with a nail brush and washing-up liquid and the corks came up like new. The chap didn’t realise it was his rod when I gave it back.
Now spray the rod with the ArmorAll, inside the rings as well as this helps your casting, and polish with a clean duster. Barring any scratches you have picked up over the years it should now shine like new again. It pays you to give your rod this treatment if you’re thinking of selling it on Ebay, just before you photograph it.
Your poles too. Maybe as a pole angler you’ve been fishing all through, but now is as good a time as any to check the elastics and don’t just pull out a couple of feet from the end.
Remove the bung and see how the inside bits are doing. Look at the mess I found in my margin pole and the other top kit was worse the elastic had broken completely. Replace and dodgy elastics and buy bungs with plastic connectors.
Reel Useful
Have a look at your reels as well. Not much you can do with them these days, they’re a bit like car engines, it a specialist skill getting inside them these days. Fortunately, providing you keep them clean they will last for years with the lubricants they came with. Just give them a good wash with Fairy Liquid, shake and dry them off.
Remove the spool and check the line. How long has it been on there? Take off a few coils and see how it behaves, if it twists and looks like the coils have set, or if it feels rough when you run your fingers over it, take it off and put new on.
Make sure you have enough line, on fixed spool reels the line should come to around 1 millimetre below the lip of the spool. Not level with it or above it, just below is enough, 2-3mm below if you’re using braid. You don’t need thousands of yards on either, if it’s a deep spool put some backing line on, any old stuff from another reel with do and put just sufficient new line on top of that.
Don’t go spraying the reel all over with WD40 as some suggest. If you have a problem with the reel it’s best to get it sorted properly by an authorised agent. If it’s not worth the cost, buy a new reel, they’re cheaper and better than ever these days.
Check your stock of hooks and rig lines, nothing worse than travelling lots of miles to find that you don’t have a suitably sized hook fit for the purpose. Look at floats and feeders, are they damaged and have you enough? Get down to your local tackle shop and don’t forget to up on your split shot.
If you haven’t been fishing since last autumn, have a look at your nets in the garage or shed, have the mice been at them? Check your chair and/or bedchair too. Even our dear Editor, Graham, could tell you a story of travelling 200 miles only to find when he got to the venue, the mice had eaten lumps out of his chair and urinated all over it.
