Greg Schwipps - Fishing For Dummies

As your fishing evolves to match your tastes, your rod and reel will likely change. With any rod and reel, remember that you need to carry it to wherever you’re fishing. The rod’s most important job, of course, is to perform well on the water. But before it gets to the water, it has to survive inside of your car’s trunk. Or a boat compartment. Or the mile-long trail down to the stream. Most rods “break down,” meaning that they can be separated into sections. This makes packing easier. Some rods are one-piece, so think about your travel issues before you purchase a rod. Although you won’t need them for basic fishing, rod carriers are available. Often made from tough plastic, rod carriers protect your gear while in transport. (Some require that you remove the reel from the rod first, which can be done fairly easily. Others are designed to hold the rod with the reel attached.)

In the old days, tackle boxes were metal and looked like miniature tool boxes. Today’s anglers can choose from tackle carriers that are as varied as the selection of suitcases in a luggage store. Tackle carriers house your lures, flies, hooks and other terminal tackle, and maybe a spare spool of line. Most have varying compartments to keep gear organized, and the plastic is often designed to keep soft plastic lures from melting. As there are different kinds of fishing, there are different kinds of bags. (Some are built to hold many spinnerbaits, for example. Others, the giant plugs of the muskie fisherman.) You have a lot to choose from when it comes to the latest tackle carriers.

Anglers can still buy the traditional tackle box, although plastic has replaced metal. These are a good choice because they are waterproof when sealed, available in many different sizes and styles, and tough as nails. Some feature drawers with compartments to hold things like lures and hooks; others have removable utility boxes that can be filled with your stuff. Others offer trays that fold out when you open the box. A good tackle store will have a range of boxes available, and there are even more options online. Shop around and handle a few before you buy. They come in hundreds of different sizes and styles. Some are difficult to carry for long distances; others work better on the floor of a boat.

Soft-sided tackle bags are increasingly popular now. These come in different sizes, as well, and can be filled with plastic utility boxes that you can mix and match for different trips. You might have one box of largemouth bass plugs; another box might hold all your walleye jigs. Some of these bags have handles that double as shoulder straps, allowing you to wear the bag as a backpack. Bags come in colors ranging from green to pink, and can have nifty zippered compartments, d-rings, and built-in sunglass holders.

A word on size: You need a tackle box or bag big enough to hold your gear, but the bigger the carrier is, the clunkier and heavier it gets. My advice is to buy a bag or box that feels right for your current needs, then sell it or give it to a friend when and if you outgrow it. Lugging around a tackle box half full is like seeing a stadium half full of fans. There’s a lot of wasted space.

I cover the importance of drinking a lot of fluids in Chapter 6because staying hydrated is both a safety issue and a comfort issue. You need to pack a lot of drinking water or sports drinks (say, a bottle for every couple of hours or so). Drinking plenty of fluids will keep you sharp and clear-headed. If you pack a cooler, freeze some water in plastic bottles. It will keep your food cold, and as it thaws, you’ll have nice cold water to drink.

Never drink from the water you’re fishing, no matter how clean it appears to be!

You don’t want to go hungry, do you? Bring a sandwich or two, and some apples, bananas, and nuts. A plastic container of peanuts can be tipped to your mouth without having to handle the goods if your hands are dirty.

On my boats, I carry a plastic container of hand wipes. Meant for things like road trips with little kids in the car, these containers fit in a cup holder and offer an easy way to clean the bait and fish slime off your hands. I always feel better eating my PB&J after having cleaned the shad guts off my fingers.

I’m taking it for granted that you already know how to make a sandwich. Over the years, I have found just a few common-sense things that have resulted in better sandwich eating or at least less sandwich disasters in the bottom of the cooler:

Wrap it small and tight. A big hero sandwich looks great, but you will not normally eat it all at once. Then you are in the position of having to rewrap it, which hardly anyone ever does properly, and the result is a lot of salami, lettuce, and tomato bits rolling around the cooler or the back of your vest. Cut the sandwich into smaller pieces and wrap each piece individually. Use wax paper or cling wrap for wrapping and then put everything inside a plastic bag.

Dry is good. Although soggy bread may be good for bait, it’s lousy on a sandwich. Remember that a sandwich to take along on a fishing trip is not the same as a sandwich that you make at halftime while watching the game on TV. Often, you are not going to eat your fishing sandwich for a few hours. That mayonnaise that tastes so good on a ham sandwich in the den is going to squoosh right through the bread when you unwrap your sandwich at the stream. Sliced tomatoes will soak through the crustiest, freshest roll. My solution is to cut down on the wet stuff, and if I absolutely need some, then I put it next to the meat and cover it with a piece of lettuce or a slice of cheese.

Fish are a natural resource, and as such, they belong to everyone and to no one. Actually, if you fish legally and catch a legal fish, then that fish belongs to you. But you still have to follow the rules. Fish populations are monitored and sometimes managed by your local Department of Natural Resources and Fish and Wildlife divisions, and their goal is to ensure healthy, well-balanced populations of fish. Those rules and laws governing wild game help maintain that balance, and Conservation Officers are the law enforcement branch of the DNR. When fishing, you may be visited by a Conservation Officer, and he or she might ask to see your license and inspect your gear.

Obviously, to prepare for this event, you need to have your license with you at all times. You also need to know the laws affecting the kind of fishing you are doing. Be courteous and let the officers do their job. They work to protect the same resources and places you love.

Carry your license in a waterproof container, or place your license in your wallet and your wallet in a sealed plastic bag.

Like anything governed by rules or laws, in fishing there are those who knowingly break the laws for their own gain. Most often this involves anglers taking more fish than they are legally allowed to keep, or catching fish using illegal methods. Most states have a toll-free number that you can call to report this sort of activity to Conservation Officers, and I recommend you do just that if you see someone wantonly breaking the fishing laws in your area. After all, a poacher is taking fish illegally — fish that you and other law-abiding citizens will no longer be able to catch. It is your right to report poaching.