Tackle Tips
Every time you fish in salt water, make sure you rinse off your tackle (including any lures used) with freshwater immediately after you are done. It is amazing how fast salt water will corrode metal. When rinsing off reels, do not use too strong of a stream of water as this can drive the salt water deeper in and corrode the inside faster. If a reel gets significant exposure to saltwater and is not properly rinsed off it is nearly guaranteed not to work.
When fishing in freshwater you do not need to rinse everything off unless it is dirty. However, make sure you don’t put wet lures in your tackle box without leaving it open to dry. Hooks and other metal parts will rust if you do this, although not nearly as fast as in salt water.
Many fishermen like to attach a hook to the middle of a guide on the rod when they are not using the rod. This is a bad idea as this could scratch the guide and cause damage to your line later (or, in the worst case scenario, snap the line when fighting a fish). If your rod had a hook holder near the handle you can use that; otherwise you can attach the hook to the side of the guide in the metal part that attaches to the rod.
Back off the drags on all reels when storing them. Keeping the drag tight can compress the drag washers and cause them not to function properly.
Certain types of plastics can react with other types. For example, the plastic strips I use in the Strip and Bubble technique will melt onto the plastic bobbers I use if they are stored together. Make sure that you don’t store two types of plastics together that will react in this way.
Every time you fish in salt water, make sure you rinse off your tackle (including any lures used) with freshwater immediately after you are done. It is amazing how fast salt water will corrode metal. When rinsing off reels, do not use too strong of a stream of water as this can drive the salt water deeper in and corrode the inside faster. If a reel gets significant exposure to saltwater and is not properly rinsed off it is nearly guaranteed not to work.
When fishing in freshwater you do not need to rinse everything off unless it is dirty. However, make sure you don’t put wet lures in your tackle box without leaving it open to dry. Hooks and other metal parts will rust if you do this, although not nearly as fast as in salt water.
Many fishermen like to attach a hook to the middle of a guide on the rod when they are not using the rod. This is a bad idea as this could scratch the guide and cause damage to your line later (or, in the worst case scenario, snap the line when fighting a fish). If your rod had a hook holder near the handle you can use that; otherwise you can attach the hook to the side of the guide in the metal part that attaches to the rod.
Back off the drags on all reels when storing them. Keeping the drag tight can compress the drag washers and cause them not to function properly.
Certain types of plastics can react with other types. For example, the plastic strips I use in the Strip and Bubble technique will melt onto the plastic bobbers I use if they are stored together. Make sure that you don’t store two types of plastics together that will react in this way.