As I was descending the post office steps last week, a sometimes fishing friend chanced to be heading up. “Only a couple of weeks before the season opens. Got your rods rigged and ready?” he asked. “Can’t wait,” I replied, “I’ve spent all my spare time this month tying flies and giving my gear a going over.” Then we both laughed like loons, bundled up in our heavy jackets, gloves, and hats as a steady wet snow fell around us.

Unlike basketball fanatics, my March Madness is a combination of cabin fever and an overwhelming desire to fish without first drilling a hole. Symptoms are relieved, but never cured, by immersing myself for a few hours during evenings and weekends in fly tying materials and fishing equipment. With a bit of attention and proper maintenance, well-made angling products from reels to rods and flies to fly boxes will last longer and perform better.

Rod repair

Most rods and reels require little upkeep from year to year, but if a major problem exists, now is the time to make repairs. Malfunctions at streamside with no tools, improper lighting, and when the fish are jumping are frustrating situations. Use a bright light source that can be focused closely on individual rod parts being inspected, and have a magnifying glass at hand for up-close scrutiny of ferrule edges and interior guide surfaces.

Metal ferrules should be cleaned inside and out with a cotton swab or small cloth patch dipped in a household cleaner, then another dipped in alcohol to remove debris. If any corrosion exists on the outside surface, buff it lightly with emery cloth or a piece of steel wool, and coat it with clear head cement or fingernail polish. Fiberglass and graphite ferrules should be cleaned as well and each end checked for any cracks or chips. Small exterior imperfections can be handled by filling and strengthening with a coat or two of clear two-part epoxy. Any ferrule joint with larger cracks should be returned to the store or manufacturer from which it was purchased.

Each guide and its winding should be checked for alignment, loose threads, and interior line wear. Guides and rod tips can often be bent or moved slightly while sliding into and from rod tubes, while walking through woods, or being jostled around in a boat or car. Slow careful pressure with a set of needle-nose pliers will often put guides back in order and lead to smoother casting. Loose threads need to be trimmed and coated with clear rod and thread varnish, as do any worn or gouged spots on guide windings.

Metal guides that have loosened or have rough inner surfaces due to line wear and ceramic guides that have cracked or are missing inner rings must be removed, replaced, and rewound. Just one bad guide with a rough edge can ruin an expensive fly line in less than a month. It’s no big chore to wind on a new guide, often matching the thread color is the tough part. A trick I use to check if a guide has burrs or rough tracks due to line wear is to pull a small piece of discarded nylon stocking through the eye. If it snags or catches at all, it’s time for a new guide.

Reels seats and lock rings should be rinsed under a faucet to remove dust and debris. Nothing ruins a reel seat quicker than dirt particles in the threads binding the rings. Do not use wet lubricant such as WD 40 or silicone spray as they will attract and hold grime and grit in the threads and ring tracks. Instead, stick with a dry product such as graphite powder. Use water and dish detergent to clean hard rubber, plastic, or dense foam rod grips. WD 40 sprayed on a cloth and gently rubbed along cork rod handles will make them look like new. Line cleaner, insect repellent, fly floatant, sun screen, and fish slime transfer from hands to rod grips every trip and will eventually ruin them if not cleaned a couple of times a year.

The reel deal

Due to their precise, multi- faceted mechanism, constant working of machined parts, exposure to the elements and outright physical abuse, fishing reels need regular inspection and care. Screws securing the reel body and handle must be checked and kept hand tight. Use cotton swabs, cotton balls, and tiny pieces of cloth held in tweezer tips to swab interior indentions and crevices. Then all gears, spindles, sprockets, and cogs must be cleaned with soap and water, alcohol, or WD 40, then wiped dry.

Liberal spraying of exterior and interior surfaces with protectants or lubricants is a poor practice, for even after wiping down, small pockets of liquid remain behind to trap dust and dirt. Applying just a touch of grease to gears is sufficient, and never get oil, grease, or solvent on the drag mechanism or pressure plates. Lastly, check over the drag assembly for undue wear or looseness and adjust according to the instruction manual.

Replace every leader. Just a year’s exposure to sunlight and grime will weaken its tensile strength. It’s a cheap, easy process that can prevent the loss of a trophy fish. Monofilament on spinning and bait-casting reels must be checked for integrity and wear. Often you can get away with cutting off the first 25 yards of year-old mono, but if the line is 2 years old or more, change it all.

Top quality fly lines last 3-5 years depending on frequency of use. Clean and lubricate each fly line to yield smoother casts and apply floatant only to floating lines. Check for cracks and wear lines in the outer coating and replace the line if any are found. Thoroughly check the integrity of all knots and give special attention to loop-system attachments from leader to line and line to backing.

Tackle tuneup

Check over every fly box and closely inspect each fly used the previous season. If patterns were lost, or if hooks were broken or eaten and beaten to pieces, spend some time at the fly-tying vise or visit the local tackle shop and replace them. This month is also a good time to tie up any new patterns you’ve learned about over the winter. Flies that have been damaged – hackles or tails dislodged, ribbing torn free, or thread loose in the head – often can be easily repaired in a minute or two at the fly bench.

Flies with more extensive abuse, such as wing or body problems, may require partial disassembly to repair, or sometimes they may need to be completely torn apart and rebuilt. This is also the perfect time to sharpen each fly point and check the barbs, while you have the time, tools, and excellent lighting. Any fly that has caught several fish, snagged a twig on a backcast, or bumped along bottom can use a slight touchup with a fine file.

Favorite patterns from dry flies to tandem streamers are often the worse for wear from fish slime, junk in the water, and flailing through the air all season. A quick steam bath will revive colors, clean feathers and fur, and give form back to the fly. Use long needle-nose pliers or a hemostat to secure and hold the fly in the steam rising from a pot of boiling water or a tea kettle spout. Take thirty seconds for dry and wet flies and 45 for large streamers and salt water patterns, then place the flies on a paper towel for a few minutes, after which a hair dryer at low power can be used to finish drying and fluffing. Be very careful around the scalding steam.

This is also a good time of year to change fly boxes. One by one I’ve switched from metal boxes with clips and springs to plastic boxes that float if dropped. These boxes have a dense foam interior that holds the fly upright, never rusts, and allows patterns to be displayed in a variety of arrangements.

Lures and plugs required a bit of attention as well. These artificial baits often catch on rocks and submerged obstacles while being retrieved and need to be tugged free. They bounce off stumps and shoreline gravel when cast into the shallows and even zing against the boat once in awhile. If ever a set of hooks needed sharpening, these trebles do. It’s also smart to check that all split ring attachments are closed and secure and that the screw inserts holding the treble hooks are tight. Any looseness can be cured by partially unscrewing the small eye, applying a drop of epoxy or Super Glue and reinserting.

Any rust on hooks or metal lures can be easily removed with steel wool or emery cloth and then touched up with clear head cement or nail polish to resist further corrosion. If some plugs are jointed or have propellers or other moving metal parts, a drop of light oil or touch of grease will deter rust and improve mobility.

Faulty equipment and broken gear ruin many angling adventures, and just a bit of preseason scrutiny and care could prevent most problems. Once the tackle is all checked over, perhaps it’s time to look at the boat, motor, trailer, fish finder, live well, and anchor system. Busy hands will help you forget about all the snow outside, and opening day is less than a week away, so do a bit of fishing gear fix-up to help pass the time.

Outdoor feature writer Bill Graves can be reached via e-mail at bgravesoutdoors@ainop.com