Spring Preparations

Although the calendar has indicated Spring for some time; after a couple of false starts- (warm weather followed by unwelcome blizzards)-it looks as though old man winter may be finally loosening his steely cold grip on us. With warming winds, the air filled with the sounds of geese, and robins bouncing around…it looks as though we can officially declare Spring’s arrival.

Now that open water is here, it’s time to whole heartedly embrace what awaits us this season. The first matter to address is Sportsman’s Spring Cleaning. Namely, tossing all of the ice gear into a distinctly unorganized pile in the corner of whatever space will allow it, and then turning to the not so surprisingly similar old pile located directly adjacent to the newly formed one. This is of course, our open water gear.

Once all the cussing stops and the annual resolutions to never let this happen again are thoroughly aired to whoever will listen, without laughing; we can get serious about first untangling, sorting, and then finally admitting defeat and tossing what is no longer serviceable. Meaning everything that is needlessly rusted or requiring a jackhammer to separate. Now that we have disposed of a large leaf bag full of what could have been, we
can now get down to the deadly serious business of satisfying our buying impulses. After all, we have just lightened our load and obviously require more stuff. If you are the male of the species and receive any difficulties from your partner on this endeavor-(not your fishing buddy, but the one whom you wake up to when not fishing)-simply point to just a mere fraction of her nonsensical shoe collection. This should give you the leverage needed to quickly use up what credit limit wasn’t exhausted on previously mentioned footwear.

As this is written, the economy still looks to be in less than a stellar state and many of you are sitting firmly on your wallets. Translation, you may not be in the market for a new boat or other major purchases. Don’t despair, there are still many opportunities to quell the burning desire to have new goodies. You can even do so without going bankrupt. Maybe Obama has a bailout for overspending fishermen? With that in mind, we can refer to this as our own personal stimulus package. Stimulating our inherent need to play with new toys…whatever economic benefit there is-so much the better.

Many of you have been through this drill numerous times and are running out of new things to acquire. After all, once you surpass your own weight in jigs…I’ll even admit, enough is enough. I’d like to point out an inexpensive option that has been around for some time with a loyal following in the Northwest, and is beginning to gain growing
popularity in other regions. This being Smile Blades® from Mack’s Lure. In the simplest of terms it is a delta wing shaped blade made of mylar used as an attractor-similar to a spinner blade. The contrasting difference being it will enticingly spin at speeds starting at ¼ mph and up to 3 mph and beyond, thus allowing you to add motion to any presentation where live bait is typically used…at extreme ends of the spectrum.

Another option would be to break your addiction to live bait and begin using artificial’s such Gulp! Combined with the Smile Blades, you will have more than enough lifelike action and taste to fool even the finickiest of fish. You may just learn something in the process and pick up a new habit. Although addicting, at least this one is low cost.