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Phil Spinks - Coping with fishing 'lockdown'
With the terrible coronavirus keeping thousands of anglers indoors, now is a good time to make good of a difficult situation and get some much needed tackle prep done. These would once have been tasks for anglers during the traditional closed season back in the day.
1: Rods and reels. A bit of TLC can make your treasured fishing equipment last much longer and perform better. I start by giving the rods and reels a good clean up with warm soapy water. Most modern reels require very little maintenance but a drop of good quality grease on the moving parts definitely helps. Some modern reels have maintenance ports allowing a drop of oil to be applied to the gearing.
2: Re-spool with new line I like to change my line once a year at least. Having a strong reliable line is a must have in my fishing. Although Angling Direct stores have had to shut we are still offering an online service. Treat yourself to some new line and get those reels reloaded ready for action.
3: Tidy that messy rig wallet up Many anglers have a rig wallet full of messy rigs that they are never likely to use. Lots of the small rig components can be reused such as anti tangle sleeves, mini rig swivels ect.... Have a rig wallet full of rigs that are spot on. Super sharp hooks, and neat tidy rigs are a huge edge.
4: Freeze maggots If you had any maggots left before lock down instead of throwing them away bag them up and freeze them. Dead maggots can be a great bait. You could even add a drop of flavour to them before freezing.
5: Garage/shed tidy up Get that garage or shed organised. I often get back from a long day fishing and dump my gear in the garage. My predator gear gets all packed away in the spring and the carp/tench gear comes back out. Stay safe in these difficult times, sacrificing a few weeks fishing is a small cost if it’s going to save lives. The fish will all still be there when we get back out and it will seem like the glorious 16th June again!