A couple of weeks ago we all enjoyed a period of unseasonably warm weather and outdoorsmen began giving serious thought to the upcoming open-water fishing season. We should know better than that; Mother Nature showed us who really controls winter in Maine and delivered a first-day spring snowstorm! Since then the temperature and weather have been less than pleasant and plans for early spring fishing have turned more to yearnings.

Nonetheless, fishing season opens Monday, April 1, and just in case there’s a miraculous turnaround in the weather an angler should be prepared. For some hard-core fishermen, snow, muck and freezing temperatures won’t keep them from visiting a nearby stream or pond. Casting a line for half an hour is like whistling in the dark, nothing may happen but it makes you feel better. I’ve often thought it prophetic that fishing season opens on All Fool’s Day, yet I’ll still be streamside somewhere in Aroostook County long enough to shed my cabin fever and welcome a new season.

If a buddy calls you in the next couple of weeks and says the fish are biting and he’ll pick you up in half an hour, will you be ready? Do you know where all your gear is, and is the equipment all in good working order? Or is it right where you dropped it last fall when fishing season gave way to hunting season? Nothing is more frustrating to a fishing partner than to be on time and find your pal buzzing from spot to spot like a hummingbird in a hurricane, searching for misplaced fishing equipment. It ranks right up there with sitting in the boat trying to jury-rig lines or a reel while your partner is fishing, and catching fish! Start finding and fixing up your fishing tackle now. Spend an hour or so on a couple of evenings or during weekend, and when it’s time to go fishing, you and all your gear will be ready.

Don’t spare the rod

Perhaps the most ignored piece of gear is the fishing rod itself, yet nothing ruins an outing quicker than a damaged rod. Inspect the guides and their windings first. Make sure the inner surface of each guide is smooth and unmarred. Thousands of casts can lead to grooves along interior rims, or even rough edges, which can sever monofilament or ruin the outer coating of an expensive fly line. Inspect each guide carefully and when in doubt slide a narrow strip of nylon stocking gently back and forth through the guide. The tiny piece of pantyhose will snag on the slightest irregular surface.

Look over the thread winding each guide and test each one for firmness. Loose or frayed winding may need to be replaced, and if any wear spots are showing, each winding may need a coating or two of preservative and sealer. Replacing a bent or broken guide or a winding takes no more than 30 minutes, and can be accomplished by any novice with patience. If all the guides need to be removed and replaced and you’re looking for expert workmanship, call the local fly or sports shop and ask about local rod-builders.

Use a soft cloth and toothbrush to clean around the rings and threads of the reel seat and the fighting butt insert, if the rod has one. A Q-tip with a light coating of WD40 or silicone spray works well to lubricate and protect these recess and knurled moving parts. Don’t randomly spray the area with a protectant as this will apply too heavy a coating, and only serve to attract and hold grit and debris, which will foul up the moving parts.

Cleaning the rod grip comes next. Cork grips get very grubby in the run of a year, as hands coated with sun block, fly dope, fly floatant and fish slime handle the grip for hours at a time. A Florida Keys tarpon guide showed me the best way to clean a cork rod handle. Spray a dry, fluffy, cloth liberally with WD40, encircle and rub the cork top to bottom a dozen times, and then turn the cloth to a clean side and rotate the grip through it a number of times. The cork will look like new and the layer of protectant will help it stay cleaner.

Reels and lines

The sun, ozone and the constant wear of trolling, casting, retrieving and playing fish wear heavily on monofilament lines. Most synthetic material gets line memory after being on a reel for months, and this can adversely affect casting ease and distance. For this variety of reasons, most serious anglers change the line on their spinning and bait casting reels at least once a season. Do it now and you won’t chance losing a trophy fish due to weakened, frayed or nicked monofilament.

Fly lines getting average use should last at least three years, but must be checked thoroughly on a regular basis for cracks in the outer coating that can severely affect the ease of casting, and its flotation or sink rate as per its design. Several times a season every fly line must be cleaned, and coated with floatant if it’s a floating line, to extend the life of the line. Ease of casting will increase noticeably each time a line is treated as well. Check the integrity of all knots between line, leaders and backing, and replace the entire leader in the spring and the tippet section several times a season.

Reels with severe mechanical problems need to be sent back to the manufacturer, or be examined by a local expert, but annual cleaning and minor maintenance can be accomplished by the owner. Use a clean cloth and soapy water to remove exterior and interior dirt, dust and debris, and then dry thoroughly with another cloth. For tight, hard-to-reach spots use a Q-tip lightly coated with WD40 or cleaning solvent, and then use the other dry end to clear away any excess fluid. Use only a drop of light lubricant on the drag system and other moving parts, and a very thin coating of grease or spindles and handles as recommended by the owner’s manual. Too much of either lubricant will only serve to attract and hold grit that can damage delicate mechanisms, so apply sparingly and thoroughly remove any excess.

Check the drag assembly for tension and smoothness and adjust accordingly. Anytime a reel is to be stored for a week or more, the drag should be backed off completely. Never put lubricant directly on the drag pads or tension surfaces. Use a thin-bladed, close-fitting screwdriver to check the tightness of all exterior screws that hold the reel together, as they tend to loosen with time and travel. A drop of any liquid or paste meant to secure troublesome screws is a good idea, but never use glue or cement, or it will be impossible to field-strip and repair a reel while on a trip.

Better Baits

Dig out your tackle box and sort through the most used lures and plugs. Take some steel wool or silver polish to the metal lures to remove tarnish and rust. Use a small set of needle-nose pliers to check for looseness of eye bolts, hook rings and nose rings on all plugs and lures and add a drop of clear contact cement where necessary. Use the pliers to straighten any bent hooks or barbs and to hold each treble hook as you sharpen each point with a small diamond file. Trying to hand-hold plugs with two or three sets of triple hooks while you sharpen each is a poor and often painful idea.

Flies need to be sharpened as well, especially larger sizes such as streamers, striper and salmon flies, bass bugs and wet flies. Just a couple of strokes along each outside edge should do the trick. Test for adequate sharpness by gently sliding the point along the top of a fingernail, if the point catches, the fly is good to go.

Check the fly head to make sure the thread isn’t unraveling or becoming bare. These problems can be easily solved with a coat or two of fly-head cement, or in a pinch the wife’s clear nail polish will do the trick. Anyone with a bit of fly-tying experience can also replace hackles, tails or body ribbing to save a fly. In some cases it’s even possible to repair the wings.

If a fly is beyond repair, strip the hook with a razor blade and tie a new one, or throw it away and head to the nearest fly shop for a replacement. Some patterns that look beyond repair can be steamed back to life. Wash the fly in soap and water, rinse it in clean water, and pat it dry with a paper towel. Then using long-handled forceps, hold the fly over the steam of a boiling tea kettle, turning it frequently for a minute, then lay it out on a paper towel, position the feathers and let it dry. The colors will be vivid and the shape will be like new.

Locate your net, creel, clippers, boots and vest, and make sure all are in working order and fit properly. Visit the local sports shop with a replacement list for flies, lures, lines, leaders, hooks, bobbers, sinkers, spinners, swivels, split rings and any other two-bit item the absence of which will detract from the fun of the next outing. These small but often essential necessities are very hard to obtain on remote lakes or rivers.

I’ll admit that looking out the window at the snow and harsh weather doesn’t exactly jumpstart your desire to wet a line, but the season is only days away. Why not get in the mood by getting prepared. Fixing up tackle, tying flies and picking up odds and ends at the sporting goods store always cheers me up and helps me endure the time until opening day. Give it a try, because that first cast of spring is just around the bend.

Outdoor feature writer Bill Graves can be reached at graves@polarisumpi.maine.edu