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It’s never too early to get your tackle ready

4 min read

It might still be cold enough outside that the local waterways are frozen, but the reality is trout season is just around the corner.

March will find many locals sitting along the bank of a catch-and-release water saying under their breath, “This is the start.”

Now is not too soon to clean the rod and reel and check for missing necessities. I count my spinners while others check hand-tied flies. Are there enough hooks to keep that bait grabbing log happy, not to mention that tree with more decorations than what is found at Christmas?

On warm, rainy evenings, night crawlers can be found in the lawn. Collecting them might make your back ache but money can be saved by collecting a good supply and then taking care of them. Worms hate heat so keep them moist and cool. Of course, that is the plan if we ever have a warm night. So much for global warming!

More often than not, the old, reliable fishing rod stands neglected. It doesn’t hurt to give it a good scrubbing. After cleaning and drying, a coat of wax not only helps protect it but will allow longer and smoother casts. This is not to say long casts are necessary to catch fish but there are occasions when another five feet of distance will catch fish, while the shorter cast falls can’t reach of a school of crappie.

I found this to be true when fishing for pan fish. John will toss a 1/32 ounce jig and hook fish while my cast falls short of the school. These light lures are not easy to cast.

I try to equip separate bags for each type of fish I am trying to catch. Early in the season, one bag will be for crappie and another for trout. While similar, they do not hold the same equipment.

The crappie bag will be heavy with assorted jigs and small, curly-tailed grubs. A stringer and bag will be present along with a few small floats and a number of hooks. A few spinners and a tape measure will be all I usually need. With this bag, I am ready for crappie.

The trout setup holds a variety of spinners, split shot and a bunch of No. 8 hooks. Also, I keep a few bottles of Powerbait, especially early in the season. A set of hemostats helps remove the hook from a trout’s mouth allowing a safe release. Another item I consider almost a necessity is a good pair of polarized sunglasses.

After these two bags, all that is needed is water holding fish.

Later, as summer approaches, my thoughts turn to bass or catfish. This is when the four-pound line is put aside and I turn to six- or eight-pound line.

Most local bass will weigh less than four pounds but they tend to live near some sort of weed growth of fallen trees. It takes a bit heavier line to keep them out of heavy line breaking cover.

More than once, I landed three pounds of fish along with four pounds of weeds. Spinner baits and plastic worms dominate my bass bag, and there may be a sprinkling of miscellaneous lures.

Catfish require a larger hook, and when fishing in good catfish water, heavier line. Last summer, I hooked and landed 54 pounds of catfish in just more than an hour. The largest weighed 17 pounds with a 15-pounder in the mix.

My equipment consisted of a medium seven-foot rod, eight-pound line and a No. 4 hook covered with a gob of nightcrawlers.

Suffice it to say, the two big cats went where they wanted, and I was fortunate the water was open with little in the way of snags. Those catfish were the highlight of my summer fishing.

What I named are the important things, at least to me, in my separate fishing bags. You might have different ideas, but I am ready to go. Are you?

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.

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