That's My Story

IN A PINCH – Published April 05 – Western Outdoor News

About this time of the year, I do my “fisherman’s spring cleaning” in getting ready for the season. We fish year round down here, but generally as the crowds taper down around October or November of last year, a lot of the rental gear gets stowed and most of my personal stuff gets bundled up too. Of course, perhaps like many of you, I make myself a resolution that “I’ll clean it up next weekend!” Oh sure…

We’ll here it is springtime and I have run out’ve excuses. It seems that with each airplane that lands the number of rod tubes and ice chests being unloaded grows in proportion to the warming weather. Right now there are “tourists”and “commuters” in the airplanes, but in a few weeks, each plane will be filled anglers and somehow time got away from me. Fish are biting already. So, I gotta bust into storage and pull gear. I see one of my competitors (and friend) doing the same thing and we both laugh because we both know what we are doing and how we are both guilty of the same negligence. There’s no tomorrows.

Before I did this for a living, this time of year was always the BEST excuse to go shopping and turn all those “wants” into “needs.” I don’t want that reel. I need that reel. I don’t just want that new blue hose-headed lure. I cannot live without that lure. Don’t laugh, ladies. I’ve heard the same thing when it comes to spring shopping for shoes too!

But when you’re doing this for a living, you can’t just bust out and buy new stuff. You can’t just discard some old hooks anymore or toss away a scratched up lure. Moreso, in Mexico, it’s not like we can just slip down to the nearest mega-tackle store and skip happily up and down the aisles binge shopping. So, we gotta make things last and last as long as we can. I used to be paranoid about always using shiny new gear, but that lasted about the first half of my first season when I saw local skippers using rusty hooks, eye-less lures, and spark plugs for lead.

I know a lot of my amigos in the tackle industry are gonna hate me, but here goes…

Hooks – Sure enough a drop of water got into them and it doesn’t take much to oxidize the whole lot. I soak the whole batch in any one of the many handy solvents you can buy in your tackle store. So what if the finish comes off? It’s more important to me that the hook is sharp so I soak them; rinse them ;dry them; and sharpen them. One thing I like to do is to put them all in a shoebox filled with rice (Not cooked rice, Einstein). The powder of the rice flour helps dry off any moisture. They’re ready to go. I also don’t feel as bad when a client goes through hook after hook through loss or when the hook gets swallowed. What the heck, it’s an old hook.

Feathers – I take permanent markers to the faded ones. I color ‘em all up again. Markers work great on the eyes. You can even buy paint pens now too. I add feathers or skirts made out of shredded foil and use duct tape to hold it to the head. Lots of my neighbors have chickens so it’s also easy to add feathers too.

Rods – I always keep clear nail polish in my box. Takes care of just about any minor dings or scratches. It’s also good for stopping a thread run around the guides. Spray some WD-40 on a soft cloth and wipe them down for a nice show-room sparkle.

Drags – Drags can get pretty hard to come by for many reels, but for quick emergencies, it’s amazing what you can do taking a little sandpaper to the discs and scuffing them up a bit. It’s not a permanent solution, but in a pinch when your favorite reel gets torn up by a fish on a mission and you still have 4 more days of fishing to do, it’ll get you by.

Rod clamps – You know what I’m talking about. There’s certain excellent reels on the market and no matter what you do, you know you will either lose the screw or the darn clamp it self. Everyone sinks their research dollars into the reel, but they let some kid in the mail room design the clamps. Keep zip ties handy.

Plastic lead heads – Super glue, Baby. Trim the body with scissors. Glue the body to the back of the leadhead.

Scratched up throwing iron or Marauders or Rapalas – Don’t touch them and don’t let anyone else use them. Put them in a special place. If they’re scratched that means fish bit ‘em. They’re battle tested. It’s not broken, it’s just scratched!

Side note: La Paz now has an Office Depot and a City Club (looks exactly like a Costco inside) and bowling is the town’s latest craze. Yes, there’s now a bowling alley and cappuccino shops are popping up next to internet cafes. Can Chuck E. Cheese be far behind? East Cape, can you hear me? The city is moving YOUR way.

That’s my story. . .
Jonathan