A look ahead
By Mike Frisch
At least half of winter is in the rear-view mirror now and that means that open-water is nearing! While some of the year’s best ice fishing is still ahead at late ice, now is also the time I start preparing for open-water.
Tackle Inventory
I average five days a week on the water as an open-water guide. The neat, organized tackle boxes of opening day become a distant memory by summer. While I try to re-organize a bit at the end of every trip, the situation gradually gets worse as the season progresses.
Now is the time to dig out tackle boxes that haven’t been touched from last fall, take inventory of what remains, and make a list of needed tackle. I also reorganize what remains in each box as well and prepare “homes” for those items to be purchased.
This coming season I do anticipate staying more organized with my tackle. Because, I sampled a couple of the new Lure Lock tackle boxes last fall. These storages feature TakLogic Technology which holds lures in a soft, safe place preventing movement, keeping them protected, and keeping their hooks sharp.
My experience last summer convinced me to replace my old tackle storages with these new boxes.
New Tackle
Organizing existing tackle is a good job now. This is also a good time to acquire new tackle. For me, that means stocking up on “old favorites” and ordering new lures that hold promise.
As a TV fishing show host, I am fortunate to occasionally get my hands on new lures before they hit store shelves. Last fall, I sampled a couple “new for 2019” tackle items that earned places in my boat for this season.
The new Baby Z-TOO is a junior-sized version of the popular Z-TOO soft jerkbait. This little bait produced big smallmouth bass on several trips late last season. They’re made from ElazTech giving them tantalizing action and also good durability, often allowing several fish to be caught on one bait.
We also sampled some of the new UV-colored Fire-Ball Jigs on walleye TV shoots last year. On one memorable November trip on the off-colored waters of the Mississippi River, those new colors helped our baits be more visible and put a bunch of nice-sized walleyes in the boat.
Spool New Line
Stocking new lures is a good job now, and so is respooling fishing reels. Starting your season with fresh line will mean better line manageability, and increase your odds for landing that first trophy fish.
Lots of kinds of fishing lines are available. Much of my fishing, however, centers around using braided main line on my reels, with Tactical fluorocarbon leaders added between the braid and lure.
Low-stretch braids offer super sensitivity, while the fluorocarbon leader acts as bit of a shock absorber to help land hard-fighting fish and, is also less visible underwater. I’ll respool with fresh braid now and, because braid is also very durable, use it all season long, only occasionally retying new leaders.
When guiding for walleyes using jigs or rigs I use spinning rod/reel combinations with this line set-up. Those same combinations also do double duty if we switch to jig-worm fishing for bass later in the day. This means less rods/reels needed in the boat.
Late last year, we also started using the new Custom Pro Speed Spin reels and were very impressed. These reels are light, yet strong and feature silky smooth drags that did a great job battling hard-fighting fall smallies and those jig-hooked Mississippi River walleyes too!
If more hooked and landed fish in 2019 is your goal, consider completing the suggested tasks above. Preparing now can, in fact, mean more fishing successes later.
As always good luck on the water and remember to include a youngster in your next outdoors adventure!
Mike Frisch hosts the popular Fishing the Midwest TV series and is a co-founder of the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s School of Fish. Follow Fishing the Midwest on Facebook to see more from Mike.