"Try some of these money saving tips!"
Author - John E. Brady, Hanover PA-USA
Copyright 2001
e-mail - jeb@jebswebsite.com
All of us are trying to find ways to make our fishing experience easier and cheaper. Most fishing magazines have a page or two of money saving tips for anglers. I'd like to share a few of mine with you.
I've found that foam pipe insulation that is sold in home improvement stores for wrapping around water pipes to keep them from freezing to be a great item to use to keep the side rails of my aluminum boat from getting scratch or dinged by placing a piece on the boat's edge rail. The type and size of your edge rail will determine what size pipe insulation you need to buy. You can use it as a bumper at a dock that is higher than the height of your boat, or as a bumper guard when storing it in tight places. I place a piece on both sides. One side protects the boat when moving it into the garage against the wall, and the another when I park my truck next to it and open the door against the side.
I'm on of those anglers that can't stand a dirty boat. Immediately after fishing, I need to clean off my boat before I go home. I use a plastic ice cream bucket that has a snap on lid as a storage box for a sponge and an old shower scrubber (you know that piece of cloth that you use with liquid bath soap). After a day of fishing, use the bucket and fill it with water from your livewell or baitwell as they drain. As you go along the boat to clean it with the sponge, you have the small bucket of water handy to keep the sponge full of clean water. The scrubber is helpful for dried on or tough dirt. You can scrub paint or fiberglass with it without harming the surface like a harsh brush might.
Here is one a buddy pass along. I was trying to buy a new type of weight that used a special tool and rubber to hold the sinker tight to the line. I was able to buy the weights, but the special tool and rubber wasn't available. These were to be used instead of a toothpick. Instead of using a toothpick to peg the weight and pinch the line which sometimes nicked and weakened the line, the rubber was pulled through and held the sinker tight, and still allowed you to adjust it as needed without harming the line. My friend suggested I use regular small rubber bands and a dental floss tool. The dental floss tool can be purchased at any drug store, and you get several in a pack. You can also use rubber from discarded spinnerbaits instead of the rubber bands. I use to make my own spinnerbaits, so I had plenty of extra rubber lying around.
Although this one has been talked about recently and even shown on TV, I've been doing it for several years. I fish a lot with soft plastic baits. One of the most frustrating problems with soft plastics, especially the newer super soft ones, is getting the bait torn up from snagging on wood or weeds, missed strikes, or catching fish. And usually the color and style that is catching fish is the one that you only have a few of. I carry a tube of quick drying glue in my tackle box. After I rig my worm (or any type of soft plastic) on the hook, I put a dab of glue on the nose of the bait. This will keep it from pulling loose every time you get a hang-up or a strike. In a pinch, you can even use the glue to piece a torn bait together.
Every boat owner with carpet on their decks have or will run into the problem of the carpet separating from the floor. Gluing it back down can be very expensive and time consuming from taking up the carpet, and re-gluing a new piece down again. Try one of these two techniques. If you're a live bait fisherman, you are most likely familiar with a worm blower. It's a small (empty) plastic bottle similar to a glue bottle with a narrow metal needle like tube attached to the top. You insert the needle into a worm and fill it with air to make it float. If you have an inkjet printer, and fill your own ink cartridges, you can also use the refill bottles with the needle tips on them. Fill the bottle with a waterproof permanent adhesive. Now wherever your carpet is starting to bubble up, punch the needle through the carpet, fill the bubble partially full of glue, then roll the bubble flat. Lay a piece of wax paper on the carpet, then a flat piece of metal or plastic. Now place a heavy weight on top. Use a brick, paint can or something similar that will keep the carpet flat until the glue dries.
I hope these tips will help save you a little money, and maybe help you catch a few more fish.
"After all they call it fishing, but the goal is catching."