Don’t Skimp on These Four Fishing Essentials

I spend a greater percentage of my income on fishing tackle and fishing clothing than most serious anglers. Admittedly, it’s an addiction, albeit (in my opinion) a safer and less destructive addiction than drugs, hookers or gambling. However, that doesn’t mean I spend indiscriminately. Yes, I take a few flyers on unproven products to try to get ahead of the curve, but I’m always on the lookout for a good bargain or a way to make my dollars go further. After all, that just allows me to accumulate more.

We’ve already provided effusive support for the Tackle Warehouse Black Friday Sale and various discount outlets, and we’re all about saving money on everything from tackle to plane tickets. Sometimes that’s a matter of waiting for a sale or using coupons. Other times you don’t need to get the cream of the crop or top of the line model in order to get something you like. For example, I have plenty of $150 rods that I actually prefer to some of the $300 and $400 models that I own.

Nevertheless, there are some things that I’ll pay a premium for, either because they lead to more fish in the boat or because they enhance the overall experience. “Skimping” means different things to different people, but when deciding how to allot your discretionary fishing dollars, these are four that deserve top priority.

Get The Best Rainsuit You Can Afford

During my first month in the Fairfax Bass Club in 1995, I called my then-and-now mentor Bill Roberts to ask him for some gear recommendations. I figured he’d suggest a particular rod or reel or selection of lures, but I’ll never forget his first words: “Get the best raingear you can buy.” Of course I did not listen. I got a buttery smooth silver Shimano Chronarch and it served me well for a long time, until the rain came. At that point I was stuck with a bargain basement jacket and pants, both of which allowed lots of cold rain to get through, and suddenly that awesome reel didn’t seem quite as valuable.

If you fish, at some point you’re going to be out in hellacious storms and water will find its way through any weak point and make you miserable or—worse—unsafe. Rather than buying and replacing a subpar suit every year, get a good one and take care of it. Between companies like AFTCO, Gill, Simms, Bass Pro Shops and others, there are lots of options at various price points. Be sure to try them on first, because the only thing nearly as bad as leaky raingear is raingear that you don’t want to wear because it’s uncomfortable.

Protective Eyewear is a Fishing Necessity

Polarized glasses aren’t just for sight-fishing. Yes, they’ll help you see what’s under the water’s surface, but they’ll also reduce strain on your eyes resulting from glare off the water under all circumstances. Furthermore, they’ll create contrasts that may help you pick up additional clues. Perhaps more importantly, though, a quality pair of glasses will protect your eyes—from saltwater spray, from harmful rays, and from a ½ ounce tungsten weight flying at you at 75 miles per hour. You can use inexpensive glasses in a pinch, but it pays to invest in at least one more durable set for hard core usage.

I keep a pair of glasses that I like in the boat, and have at least one pair in all of our vehicles. That way I’ll never have to squint my way up the lake or down the highway. Still, there are certain fits I like better than others, and certain lens colors for different types of light. As with rainsuits, find some that fit you well, provide good coverage (even if they look a little dorky) and are comfortable. Glasses that give you a headache defeat the purpose of wearing them.

If you have a strong prescription, get that put into your glasses, too. It’ll help you see things better and encourage you to keep them on. I’m not quite at that point yet, but threading my line through small guides is becoming increasingly difficult and time-consuming, so I’m sure the day is coming.

Finally, if you’re the type of person who tends to lose glasses, invest a few bucks in some sort of retaining strap or cord. No matter how good they are, they won’t do you any good on the bottom of the lake, 20 feet deep. I have a bad habit at the end of the day at El Salto of putting them on the seat rather than back in their case, which would really only take a minute. I hereby resolve to stop that before I sit on a pair and break them.

Keep Your Game Sharp and Your Hooks Sharper

In the 40-plus years I’ve been fishing for bass, hook technology—not just the shapes, sizes and styles available, but also just the overall quality—has grown substantially. The worm hooks I used as a kid were remarkably dull and weak out of the package. You had to carry a hook file to get them to any degree of sharpness. I remember getting my first pack of Gamakatsus and realizing the night-and-day difference and all that I had been missing. Today we’re spoiled by the wealth of choices that we have and the overall expectation of quality. If you need a super-sharp worm hook, you can get it in straight shank, offset or EWG; thin wire or thick wire; various colors and platings. There’s no reason not to have exactly the hook that you need for every particular situation.

That means don’t use a 3/0 when you need a 5/0, or employ a straight shank when an offset would be better. It also means that when you roll the point past the point of no return, or bend out the hook on a snag, you need to replace it immediately. To save a bit of money, you can always buy in bulk. The savings won’t be huge, but it means you’re more likely to have a replacement when changing out your hook is necessary.

Fresh Line Makes a Huge Difference

I can get by with a rod that’s slightly “off” or a reel that’s a little cranky, but shitty line drives me crazy. If it has too much memory, doesn’t cast well, or breaks on the hook set it’ll cost you bites and fish. As with hooks, we have more line choices—braid, fluorocarbon, monofilament, copolymer and hybrids—than ever before, so when you like a brand and size of line for a particular application, it pays to stock up. Indeed, that’s one way to save money. Not only does a 3,000 yard spool typically cost substantially less per yard than a 150 yard spool of the same variety, but it will result in an overall smaller percentage of waste. Even if you end up with more overall waste, you still might be able to find another application.

As with hooks, I recommend that you change out your line anytime you get a sense that its performance has markedly decreased. One way to minimize the financial pain of that reality is to use a braid-to-fluoro or braid-to-mono setup whenever possible, changing only the leader section. That will enable you to invest in premium fluorocarbon, which is typically much more expensive and much more manageable than the cheaper stuff, without ending up in the poor house.