Preparing For When the Cows Come Home
By, Jared Wood
Before you know it our line sided friends will be here and it will be time to hit the suds. There is plenty of prep to be had during the winter months. Visit your local tackle shop for those few essential items you may need during the winter months. Go early and beat the rush by getting spooled with a new line, getting a cracked guide replaced, or picking up a plug that was hot for you in the past. The time for changing lines, changing hooks/tying tail hooks, tying leaders, and so forth is now.
Get your reels serviced early if you take them to a shop or service your own. By getting your reel into a shop early it allows them time to work on your reel and get the parts needed to fix the reel. Even if you are vigilant about rinsing your reels after every trip, salt still gets trapped deep in the line resting against the spool. Make it a point to strip your line off every season and clean your spool. We subject our reels to punishment all season and the least we can do is clean them up and get them ready for next season. Take a look at your rods as well since you probably just took your reel off it. Check your guides for any corrosion or cracks. I like to take a Q-tip and rub it around the inside of my guide. If there is a crack in your guides the fibers from the Q-tip will get caught indicating a cracked guide. Don’t let a cracked guide cost you a fish next season. Make sure your reel seat is free and clear of debris that might get built up or trapped in there from the season. Just give your blank a good look over to make sure that there are no chips, cracks, or splits.
Tying tail hooks and tail flags can help to break up cabin fever. Using different materials and colors that match your plugs; as well as matching the action of the plug to the material. Hairs, feathers, and synthetic material all have their own unique action under water. Pairing these materials with one plug produces a completely different action from another. To tie your own hooks and flags you can pick up an inexpensive vise and have some fun experimenting with different materials for the upcoming season.
When it comes to changing out my hooks I don’t sit down and do all my plugs at once. Taking it on in small batches watching a Bruins game works best for me.
Working with batches of similar plugs that use the same size hooks and split rings makes things go quicker. While changing hooks check your lures over to make sure they haven’t become waterlogged, cracked, have bad hook hangers/swivels, or broken lips. Taking these steps will help to prevent heart ache when that cow comes calling.
Preparing your leaders in advance before you hit the surf next season is crucial. When you fish in the rocks you will go through plenty of leaders. Sitting down on the couch tying up leaders for plugs and bait in the comfort of your warm house is better than making leaders in the pounding surf.
Other things to look over this off season would be your waders which are probably leaking by now. If they are repairable, patch them if not replace them. Your boots’ laces are tattered and need replacing. The soles of your korkers are probably missing a few studs. The most important thing is to rejuvenate your body with sleep. Before we know it the bass will be here and the sleepless nights will be upon us.
Jared Wood is a surfcaster from New Hampshire. He is an ambassador for Penn. He can be found on Instagram as surfcaster_jared. For any question he can be reached at jaredwood25@gmail.com