by Paul Sinicki
Being a fair weather fly fisher I don’t fish when the line freezes in the guides, so I use the time to prepare for the next season. This is the time to clean and check your rods, reels, lines and flies. You may also want to go through your vest or whatever system you use to carry your tools and equipment.
Let’s start with the rods and clean and check them. First wash them down and dry them. The next step would be to check the guides with a cotton swab to make sure that the cotton is not sticking on the inside of the guides. If the cotton sticks anywhere on the guides take a closer look to see why. If a Guide needs to be replaced this is the time to do it. The reel is next to check. Remove the line from the reel and clean it in mild warm soapy water, rinse and dry. Now is the time to examine the line for cracks or problems. Remove the dirt by cleaning the reel, lube and reapply grease. Remove the items from the pouches of the vest or what system you use and place the fly boxes aside for now. Check the items you removed to see if they need replaced cleaned or repaired. Check your fly floatant, leaders and tippet to make sure they are sufficient for the start of next season. One of the final steps in this process is to check your fly boxes and spare fly inventory. You would want to replace the flies that are badly beaten and unraveling. Check to make sure that you have all the sizes you use of your favorite patterns. If you need more flies now is the time to start replacing the flies by buying them or tying them.
After this you will be ready for the new season.