Cleaning, planning aid success in fishing

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Spring arrived Monday afternoon. At least, that’s what my calendar says. But since my day-planner wasn’t made in Maine (where “Mud” is an actual season that runs at least until April 1, and where “Spring” sometimes seems to last from mid-April until early August) I figure it’s OK to ignore the official calendar and keep the furnace cranking.

You may say it’s spring. The moon may say it’s spring. But me? I figure spring doesn’t start until spring fishing does.

And in most cases, that’s still a couple weeks away.

Which brings us to the second installment of tips from noted (at least in this building) fishing aficionado Don Corey, owner of Annika Rod & Fly and president of the Penobscot Fly Fishers.

It seems that I’ve been a bad boy this year.

OK. It seems that I’ve been a bad boy since I began fly fishing several years ago.

At least, that’s what Corey leads me to believe (although, of course, he’s much too polite to actually come right out and say it … to me).

Fishing, you see, doesn’t finish when you waddle out of the river at the end of your last session of the year.

Not really. Not quite.

In fact, Corey says that if I (and you, for that matter, if you’ve been bitten by the same procrastination bug that plagues me) were serious about my fishing, I’d take better care of my gear.

Immediately.

Since we’re now several months past “immediately,” Corey has cut us some slack, and says that the maintenance work we should have done last fall can just as easily be done over the next couple of weeks.

“You could have just said you planned to do it in the spring instead of the fall, when you should have,” Corey said the other day, as he itemized a few things that anglers might want to address in the days ahead.

First, most anglers have a rod or four with cork handles. Most of those handles are either chipped, broken or grimy. And Corey says cleaning those grips and making minor repairs is easy.

“[You] can take some sandpaper, probably 100 grit, or [a scouring] pad and just rub it back and forth,” Corey said.

And if you need to fill in holes in the cork, you can make your own filler by sanding down a grip, saving the sawdust, and mixing it with wood glue.

As far as fly line goes, Corey pointed that my hands-off method of maintenance is probably costing me when I head to the river.

First, he said, anglers should take the fly line off reels in the fall and store them in loose coils, rather than in the tight coils that result when line is kept cinched onto a small-arbor reel.

And second, many a caster loses valuable distance not because of technique flaws, but because his line isn’t in top shape.

The secret: Give it a bath … and rinse it with conditioner.

Corey said there are plenty of commercial products on the market that can revitalize old fly line, which zips through rod guides much better when it’s clean and conditioned.

“I usually stretch the whole line out, then I take the commercial cleaner for lines and put it on a rag,” he said. “You just rub it the whole length of the line.”

Corey recommends cleaning and treating a line three times a season … or more often if you fish often or fish in salty or murky water.

Regularly stretching fly line is also important as it removes the kinks and coils from a line that has been stored on a reel.

As for trollers who prefer hauling lead-core line, or casting monofilament line, Corey says a preseason checkup is also in order.

He suggests replacing the most-used portion of monofilament line, and checking lead-core line carefully to make sure it doesn’t have nicks in it.

Lead-core line can also become brittle, and most anglers don’t replace it nearly often enough.

Contest, auction update

When you offer a prize on the Internet (as Corey and I have on the Bangor Daily News’ Newspapers in Education on-line auction), you hope that someone … anyone … will bid on it.

Thankfully, that finally happened over the weekend, as the first bidder stepped forward to say he’d pay $30 for four fly-tying lessons with Corey. I’ll tag along to learn along with our eventual winner.

That was good news for Corey and me, as I had begun to get a bit worried at the lack of bidding activity.

Now, it’s up to you to get involved. There are plenty of great items available, including shopping sprees, trips and artwork. If you’re interested, check out www.bangordailynews.com and follow the link.

And remember: The clock is ticking … you’ve got three days left.

Drift boat winner update: In conjunction with the Eastern Maine Sportsman’s Show, we’re giving out a drift boat trip with Dan Legere of the Maine Guide Fly Shop.

Though the show is over, you’ve still got a few days to get your entry blanks in. The drawing will be held on Friday, and I’ll notify the lucky winner sometime that day.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.