Prepare now for the tides of March and April!
As the striper run winds down into the New Year, and the bites dissipating just as quickly as the December temperature drop, before throwing your gear in a heap in the garage, it’s a better idea to think about organizing. All that foul weather gear, waders, Korkers, terminal tackle, plugs, swim shads, multiple rod setups, the list goes on and on. And when you have an abundance of gear which you’re constantly swapping out during the season as conditions and fish size dictates, the end of the season it could likely be a painful task to get it all cleaned up and organized for the spring run.
But it’s worth it if you take the time to do it now, before you go digging back into those piles of gear come March when preparing for the spring run!
Rods & Reels
During the fall run you’ve no doubt been regularly rinsing your reels down with freshwater after an outing this will prevent corrosion from the saltwater on all your gears and internal reel mechanisms. Post-season, depending on your reel setup it’ll likely be a good idea to break down the reel and clean everything thoroughly with freshwater, some Dawn dish soap, even going so far as utilizing brake cleaner. Once you’ve cleaned it out well, you should lubricate any portion where metal is touching metal and re-grease wherever applicable (PENN makes a great two-pack of oil and grease).
Any of the tackle shops open during the winter months can do the servicing of your reels if you prefer to have it handled by a professional. If fish with a Van Staal you can take a trip down to Staltwaters Bait & Tackle in West Islip and bring them reels for servicing. Van Staal as an example recommends getting their reels serviced every 12 to 18 months; yes the internals are sealed so theoretically you won’t have much corrosion or damage, but let’s be real, it happens and it’s always better to send them in for yearly service maintenance to keep them working optimally. It may behoove you to throw on some fresh line as well to prep for a new season. You can stop at any of the small local businesses around the island, depending on hours open, talk some shop, and have them spool on some fresh line of your choosing on your surf reels.
Lastly, on your rod setup, give your guides a quick looksee to ensure they aren’t compromised – one little chip in the ceramic will cut your line in an instant, or if a guide is loose or bent, any of these things could cost you the fish of a lifetime. Swapping the top guide is easy with a heat gun, a replacement tip, and some glue – for the other guides, I’d recommend leaving it to your local tackle shop which specializes in these types of replacements.
Plugging Along
Those plugs and lures you’ve been tossing during the fall run should also get a good wash down, same as your reel; some warm water with Dawn dish soap will do the trick. This will help remove any odd smells that may build up, a rust scent if you have rusty hardware, and helps remove any excess salt, dirt, or vegetation that may have accumulated. Once they’ve dried, consider replacing the hardware. The winter downtime provides an opportunity to greatly increase the performance of your plugs, perhaps upgrading the split rings to a heavier pound test to prevent breaking off a big fish, or choosing a higher-grade metal that will prevent rusting in the future.
If your treble or J hooks are in good shape, you can always remove them and get a hook sharpener and give them a fresh set of sharp teeth or upgrade the hooks to some higher-grade options, or swapping out those trebles with more conservation-friendly inline hooks. I opt to upgrade everything with a fresh set found at your local tackle shop; this makes for a great “time waster” during the off-season sitting down and upgrading all the terminal tackle on your plugs.
The last piece of advice for some plug upgrades is to change their presentation of them. A Danny that has three hooks on it, maybe you remove the middle treble hook to make for an easier release next season. Take a bottle popper that has a J hook on the end of it and swap it out for a hook with some teaser bucktail and sheen at the end for a different presentation when it swims. The opportunities are endless when it comes to creativity to modifying your plugs.
The Terminal Side
Often overlooked, your terminal tackle can make or break an outing; for example, running out of pre-tied leaders. Something I enjoy doing in the off-season is pre-tying my own leaders. I fish a variety of different plugs and I prefer a little bit of an old-school rigging rather than a uni-to-uni setup. I like to pre-tie my leaders with Ande 60-pound Monofilament, 100-pound barrel swivel, and 75-pound Tactical Anglers Power Clips. Different strokes for different folks, but this is what I prefer to do and often times I find that if I snag up most of the times I’m able to unsnag myself. And in those rare times where I can’t, I’m losing my leader instead of tons of line, which is a win in my book.
I like to keep my leaders around 4 feet, but I will pre-tie various sizes both longer and shorter since you never really know what conditions will call for. When pre-tying leaders – aside from the terminal tackle mentioned previously – it would be wise to keep a pair of pliers and scissors handy to both cut any excess tag lines off while ensuring that your leader knots are tight. I accomplish this by holding one end of the barrel swivel in my plier split ring tip while pulling the other end with the TA clip until I can’t anymore (be sure to wet your lines with some good ‘ol natural lubricant, saliva).
I typically tie up enough leaders to last me for the season, and once done I have two leader wallets where I roll up about three leaders to one baggie. I have one wallet for my surf belt and another for my backpack so I’m ready regardless of what setup I’m bringing out. I also tend to do a lot of chunking throughout the season, so I will also whip up a couple of classic fish finder rigs to have at the ready. For this all you need is some mono, a sinker slider, a barrel swivel, and a circle hook – there are various ways to tie off a stopping point for the sinker slider so it doesn’t hit into your hook, or you can do a simple dropper loop rig if a sinker slider isn’t your cup of tea.
Don The Apparel
Once I’ve covered all my actual fishing gear I move onto my surf setup, specifically my waders, Korkers, and surf belt. Waders are a tricky one during the season; sometimes you’re unsure if you have a leak or you just run hot and you’re wet because you’re sweating. The best way to test this is to hang your waders from a fence and get the hose and fill the inside up with water – you can kill two birds with one stone here by taking time to sanitize them as well with some OdoBan Dive, a divesuit cleaner and deodorizer. When you’re filling up the waders with water, you want to look for any leaking; depending on the color of your waders you may be able to see small areas of darkened wet discoloration (that typically means there’s a leak of some sort).
There are various types of glues, aquaseals, and contact cement that you can utilize with a new piece of waterproof fabric, where typically you just cut double the size of the leak spot and easily patch your leak. Once all leaks are patched repeat the process to ensure you’ve fixed your problem and take a crack at sanitizing them with the divesuit cleaning solution. Next, I move onto my Korkers; for around $30 Korkers sells replacement hardware that I’ll swap out spikes on my outsoles. Just like your reels or terminal tackle, these are at risk of rusting out and you don’t want to sacrifice your safety with some rusty spikes.
| PRE-SEASON SCOUTING |
| A good way to stay tapped into your local fishing spots is to keep a close eye on them, especially in the off-season. Imagine a spot you’ve fished relentlessly in March and April all the way through October and November, and then not stepping foot there again during the offseason months of January and February. That’s a long time for Mother Nature to run its course and completely change the landscape of your fishing spot. The structure could change, that sandbar that provided action all season could’ve washed away in a nor’easter, or perhaps your favorite inlet was impacted by dredging or beach replenishment. There are so many variables at play and it’s wise to keep a close eye on your spots in the off-season to always be in the know. Next mild day, take a walk along your favorite stretch at low tide and make mental notes for the spring run. |
Lastly, I’ll give my surf belt a quick overview to ensure that any of the nylon attachments are still in good condition, while making sure the carabineers are not rusted out and are still functioning properly. I also inspect any Velcro closures on my bag, tube pouches, leader wallet, and plier sheath. Velcro has a lifecycle, most typically lasts around 20,000 “cycles” aka how many times you open and reattach it. So with any hook and loop fasteners, there’s a point where they wear out, especially after being soaked in saltwater and pounded by waves and sand. If you purchased your tube pouches or bags from a specific builder contact them to see if they can provide your Velcro closure with a new life, or if you know how to sew, you can cut the threading on yours and sew in some new ones.
This is essentially what I do every off-season to ensure my gear stays in the best shape for years to come. Good quality gear costs a lot, so it’s best to protect and preserve it to prolong the lifespan. Personally I’m more of the buy once, cry once type of consumer, preferring to purchase the best of the best and taking care of it to ensure that it lasts.
Nothing gets me more hyped for an upcoming season during the winter than going to my local tackle shop and spending some money on new gear for the spring run. I can almost guarantee you that your local tackle shop staff will appreciate not only the camaraderie of having some customers in the shop during the off-season, but your business as well. Supporting your local tackle shop during an essential downtime for them is always appreciated.
