Part 1

There was a fringe of ice along the shore as I waded out to make my first cast.  My bait of salmon eggs arched out over the green-tinged water.  I felt my sinker touch bottom a couple of times and then there it was---that hard to describe sensation that something had hold of my bait.

I set the hook and the steelhead came out of the water as if it had been jabbed with a branding iron.  Its body twisted over the surface.  My drag was too tight.  There was a sickening snap as my line parted.  The fish came out again and this time I saw the hook and sinker go flying out of its mouth.

If the steelhead this angler is fighting gets into those branches something's going to break.  That means having to rig up again. Advance preparation sharply reduces the time that takes.

An angler downstream hooked a fish a heartbeat after I lost mine.  His fish also came unpinned.  In less than a minute I was fishing again.  I was better prepared when the next steelhead picked up my bait.  That one wound up on the bank.  As I beached it, I noticed the angler downstream still fooling around trying to get a new rig tied.

I mention what happened that cold winter morning for a purpose.  The reason I was able to get back to fishing so soon that cold winter day wasn't because I was faster at tying knots.  It happened because I was better organized.  I had a new rig all set up and ready to go in the Mack’s Lure Pip’s Leader Caddy I had in a pocket of my fishing vest.  All I had to do was snap it on and start fishing. 

Hanging up and losing your gear while drift fishing for steelhead is a cinch to happen.  Rigging up again is no big deal if you have a Mack's Lure Pip's Box in a pocket of your fishing vest.  Having pre-tied outfits all ready to go in one of these tangle free boxes will have you back on the water in no time at all.

The organization was a result of time spent getting my gear ready before I got anywhere near the water.  I'll never understand fishermen who don't take advantage of down time to work with tackle.  Let's face it.  The things any of us can do to control the number of fish we catch is limited.  We can't do a blessed thing about wind direction or velocity.  We can't control air temperature or water temperature.  You can’t even control the kind of a mood your fishing partner is in.  One thing we can do is get our gear ready and winter is the ideal time to do it.

I don't care where you hang your fishing fedora, there will be days this winter when it's useless to go out.  Even though the season remains open, rivers may be at flood stage, snow may make roads impassable or perhaps there's a sheet of ice on your favorite lake. 

You can pull a stool up in front of the boob tube if that's your choice.  It's not mine.  I'll head for my tackle room and work on my gear.  It's the next best thing to fishing and I'll catch more fish as a result.  Proactive what I’m preaching and you will too.

Advance preparation does pay off.  Here's a guy displaying proof that it does.

Anybody who spends much time on the water from spring through fall is a cinch to wind up with messy tackle boxes, worn lines, dull hooks, leaky boots and raingear, beat up lures, rod guides that need rewrapping and reels that beg for oil and grease.  And that’s just for starters.

You don't need a degree in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology to make the kind of repairs or the tackle organization I'm talking about.  I've got the mechanical skills of a retarded billy goat.  But even a mechanical moron can oil his reels, sharpen his hooks and do the other things I've mentioned without creating a bigger problem than he had in the beginning.

There are other things that make what I’m talking about a whole lot easier. One of them is to take advantage of those angling accessories readily available to you that make advance preparation so much easier.  The Mack’s Lure Pip’s Boxes are an excellent example.

We’ll take a look at how those boxes can be of such great help in my next column.  Watch for it beginning Jan.15.

-To Be Continued-