Winter = Down Time = Great Time for Maintenance and Customizing Tackle Part I

Don't wait for the weather to warm to clean up your tackle box, lube your reels, and check your gear - take advantage of the winter down time to get prepared for the fishing season. 

Here's a list of things to consider doing this winter so when the weather warms you're ready to grab your gear and go.

1. Clean out your tackle boxes and organize

• If you're like me by season's end your tackle is pretty disorganized. Winter is the perfect time to assess your set up as well as the health of your tackle. I like to assemble all tackle boxes, bags, ect. on the table and begin unloading everything. I make "piles" of like items I want to organize together and while I'm at it I inspect hooks, lures, and hardware for signs of rust, damage, and paint damage. Any lures I find in less than good condition I set over in another pile to rework.
• While my gear is unloaded, I like to take some papertowel and biodegradable cleaner and wipe out all of the treys and boxes before I load my tackle back in. No time is easier to do a quick cleaning then when everything is already unloaded.
• Once I've got my organized "piles" I take a little time to think through what parts of my set up I really liked the previous year, and what I'd like to do different for this season. Once I think through how I want to roll for this season, it's just a matter of loading my boxes and bags. Make sure to consider things like putting like colors together, or like lures together so if you're on a pattern and lose a lure, you can go for a similar lure that is working for you quickly. Don't forget to consider room for the lures you're going to repair as well as anything you plan on purchasing as well!
• Finally, I like to keep a trey of repair parts, replacment hooks, and blades and skirts for repairing or altering my lures. Check out the Bass Pro Enticers here - highly recommend them! I'll grab this trey and rework those lures I set to the side that need repair. You'll save yourself some money and probably have some fun in the process. The more you work on your lures the more you learn about how and why they function and you just might find that you're customizing your lures giving you an added confidence factor next time you throw it.  If I've got lures that are beyond repair I make sure to note what those are and add to my list of tackle to buy before the season starts.  If you've got spinner baits or jigs that have melted skirts, don't throw out the baby with the bath water - just spend a little time removing the skirt and cleaning the lure then add a replacement skirt and make it like brand new again for a fraction of the price of a new one. If you've got some crankbaits with rusty or bent hooks, simply replace them with new hooks and they'll be like new.  If you've got lures that have paint missing, consider buying some lure paint and doing it yourself or seek out someone locally who does custom paint jobs and see if they would repaint your baits. Check community boards like http://www.bbcboards.net/ to find folks who do custom painting as well.

 Once you've fixed the lures you can fix, add those to your boxes and bags and you're now organized and ready to go.

Stay tuned for part II where we'll discuss rod & reel maintenance and repair. Until then - Tight Lines!