Organization

Just some of my boxes. Not shown are my 
Surf bag and trout box which live in my car.
My freshwater bass tackle box also not shown
is stocked and ready to go.

    In real life I'm the kind of person that is fairly neat. I'm pretty laid back. If we were roommates I wouldn't be that annoying neat freak that expects everything to be spotless, nor am I slob. Chances are 50/50 that I'd have dirty dishes in the sink or not. But if I did have dirty dishes they wouldn't sit there for days.

   On the other hand when it comes to my fishing gear and camping gear I am meticulous. Most winters I give myself projects to keep me busy. Some of these projects are changing out rusty hooks, making poppers, making saltwater leaders, hair rigs for carp, and albie deceivers. 

   Since I spent so much time birding the last few years and not that much time fishing, needless to say I didn't have too many projects. I can't lose poppers to gator Bluefish if I am chasing birds. Also, I didn't do anything, birding, fishing, or hiking last year due to my health. I have plenty of poppers to get me through the next five years sitting in my spare room. The only "projects" I really had to do was make some leaders and change out some rusty hooks.

   The last few days I spent a lot of time organizing my gear. Keep in mind most it had been untouched for the last year, some of it longer. For the most part it was pretty neat and organized to start. However, I went through every piece of gear I own. I went through all of my boxes and bags and made sure they had the lures that I will need to be successful. For example, my surf bag needed the new leaders. I also had to put inline circle hooks in the bag since it is the law to use inline circle hooks when using live bait for stripers. 

I wrote down all the different boxes 
and when I was satisfied that it was 
ready for fishing I checked it off.
I also counted spares of some of 
my lures. Holy crap! I will never 
use all the fishing gear I have 
even if I live to be 100!!

   I went so far as to make boxes for species specific applications. When I go to Wachusett Reservoir (lakers and Landlocked Salmon) I carry my lures in a box that goes into a backpack along with food and water. My tautog box has bank sinkers and thick tautog hooks. My albie box has Deadly Dicks, Pickering Albie Deceivers, Zoom Flukes, bass hooks, and a popper and Jumpin' Minnow in case I come across blitzing Stripers.

   The three most important boxes are my Surf bag, fly boxes and my trout box. My trout box is so tiny it fits in my pocket. Still it is loaded with Rooster tails, Kastmasters, casting bubbles/flies, and small Rapala swimmers.

   My fully stocked fly boxes will fit in my waders and pockets along with a spare leader and tippet. Despite having three fly boxes, if I can get away with it, by far my favorite fly is the ant. I'd use it exclusively if I could, but works best in late summer and early fall.

   My Surf Bag is now ready for fishing this spring. It has lures with new hooks. There's enough leaders to get me through the spring. There are also other necessities such as a snag hook, pliers, and wooden eggs. My surf bag needs more maintenance throughout the year than my other stuff. Obviously my surf bag gets used more than say my tautog box which may or may not actually see the light of day. Also, the bag gets filled up with torn shad bodies, Zoom flukes, and chopped up leaders. After a few sessions, the bag looks like a dumpster fire. So every couple weeks I have to go through the bag and clean it up.

  I went through all of my spare gear too. I counted up my poppers, albie flies, and a few other things. I put back jigs and soft plastics that had been haphazardly thrown on a shelf. I went through my box of new plugs and Kastmaster XLs.

   As I said at the beginning, my gear is usually pretty clean and organized. Over the last week I went over the top. I am not one with OCD. I aimed for perfection not because I am obsessed but because it was fun. It was fun to aim for perfection. Right now I know where every piece of gear is from stuff in my boxes or in my storage room. This will only last until my next fishing trip where I'm bound to leave used stuff in my car and not put it back where it belongs.

Just one shelf full of gear I'll never use

   It is that time of year, if you haven't gone through your fishing gear since you put it away in the fall. Now is the time. You don't want to find out all of your hooks went rusty on a perfect seventy degree day. I still have my least favorite project left. I have to change my line on the reels I use. I went through all of rods and reels too. I decided to narrow down my rods that I will actually use and put the rest off to the side. Still, I have to change the line on thirteen reels. It's one of those projects that I hate doing and procrastinate until the last minute. But once I start doing it, its not really as awful as I make it out to be