Although it may seem like we’re always trying to talk you out of your money, that’s really not our (only) goal in life.
To prove it, today we offer you three ways you can save money on your fishing gear!
Ways to Save Money on Fishing Gear
- Always label a fly line the instant you take it off a reel or spool. It’s April and you’re pulling off saltwater lines and putting on spey lines. You think to yourself, “I’ll remember that this is an 8 weight bonefish line…I’ll just put it over here…” No, you won’t remember for sure, and then when you’re gearing up next fall you’ll be pretty sure but not sure enough so you’ll buy another one, just to be sure. Here’s how to be sure – label it immediately when you take it off the spool. You could put it in a ziplock with a piece of paper, or you could put it back on the spool it came on, or you could put the little sticker from the spool on it. Just don’t leave it to your memory. Special thanks to the fly line manufacturers who have started printing the line type and weight on the line, eliminating this problem forever!
- Buy cheap fly boxes. Yeah, you can spend $65 on a fly box if you want. We like buying lots of cheap ones, so we can have several for every occasion and still spend less money. Here’s a small one
and here’s a big one
– and here’s some more info about our preferred ‘Mothership’ fly box approach.
- Really really rinse and soak your gear post-salt. You’ve heard this before so maybe we’re just preaching, but after you’ve been fishing in saltwater, do a great job rinsing your gear. Rods and flats boots need to be thoroughly rinsed a couple of times. Reels and lines need to be soaked and then rinsed. Get that salt off and your gear will just last much, much longer.
There is a fly line scale you can get (if Umpqua still makes it) that can tell you what weight your lines are… very, very useful.
Being a gadget junkie I like neat inexpensive things that help all aspects of fishing and hunting. When it comes to changing out lines I used to do like the photo, just coil and stick away. Easy solution # 1 is place the lines in a zip lock bag and mark with a sharpie on the bag as to contents. I have since switched to a REEL-E-GOOD WINDER (I don’t work for these folks, just use their product). They are cheap and they can make life simple when it comes to re-spooling lines as well. They also make extra spools so you can get as many as you need – in my case LOTS!!!! This is all just dandy, but when you have to take a line off of a reel are you sure what that line is? Those stick-on labels that come with lines are ok, but they can get wet and fall apart. I use a Casio label maker with a narrow strip. They aren’t too expensive, and the labels are waterproof. The strip will allow room for all information that you need (wf-7-f) SA Bonefish, etc. The strip is small enough to fit on the underside of the reel seat (Foot) of the reel out of the way and out of site so when you take the reel out of the case there will be no doubt as to what line you have on that reel. I have several Tibor Everglades reels – some loaded with 7wt lines and others with 8wt, and my bifocals sometimes can’t read that small print on the line, but I always know if it is a Chard, SA, Rio, or whatever line on that reel. The Casio labels are also great for labeling fly boxes and rod tubes, and a million other things so the cost is spread out over many prodjects.
Good Fishing!
Great post. Just a thought on rinsing the salt gear, put the reel spools in the back tank of the toilet. Sounds funny but they will be rinsed in fresh water every time it is flushed. It works great.
Great idea Dane – hadn’t heard that one. Thanks for posting it!
The heat shrink label tubes work well for the bigger lines. I coat them with a thin layer of aqua seal after hitting them with a heat gun.