Mainely Outdoors … Opening day blues doesn’t get angler down

Open water fishing season in Maine begins each spring on April Fool’s Day. Now it’s been a really long winter, we have endured a pile of snow and I’m suffering from severe cabin fever, but as devout an angler as I am, I wasn’t fool enough to go out casting April 1 when you need hip boots to wade through the snow rather than water, it’s too soon to fish. Anytime a sportsman has to cast downhill from a high streamside snowdrift, you’re probably better off at home.
There are a lot of weather and water circumstances, which can make fishing a bit uncomfortable, but that outing can still be fun. Current snow, ice and stream conditions are neither inviting nor enjoyable. I’ve set my sights on mid-month for a first outing, and I am keeping sane in the meantime by sorting, upgrading, refurbishing and replacing my angling accessories. If you haven’t checked over your rods, reels, lines and baits since they were stored away last year, perhaps now is a good time, while we wait for the snow to slowly shrink away.
I’ve done a fair amount of fly tying over the winter, enough to fill in the empty spots in my fly boxes and streamer wallets. Just recently I’ve been sorting over my stock of feathered baits and doing fix-up chores. A couple of strokes with a small file to sharpen the hook points of well-used patterns, and in several cases a dab of fresh head cement to bind fraying thread. I steam cleaned over two dozen streamers, dry and wet flies that were drab and matted from much casting and catching.
Using a set of needle-nosed pliers or long forceps meant for hook removal, turn and rotate the fly through the column of steam from a boiling tea kettle. Rinse the fly in cool water flowing from a faucet, gently preening the feathers with your fingers, then once more into the steam for 30 seconds. Once clean, lay the fly on a paper towel to dry, for patterns with long wings be sure to shape and position the feathers while still wet and they will maintain form once dry. Be very careful working with the steam, it can burn you quickly.
I spent one entire evening building tapered leaders to be used casting and trolling for several species of fish under every imaginable water condition. Trout leaders for dry fly casting, spring trolling leaders for tandem streamers, salt water leaders for striper fishing along the coast, and Atlantic salmon leaders for spring and summer conditions are a few of the types constructed. When the fish are taking and time is short, why waste minutes making leaders when you can have them all prepared and ready to attach in seconds. It’s an easy task to accomplish during commercials while watching television.
Since I was replacing leaders on my fly reels anyway, I stripped out my fly lines and gave each a thorough cleaning, as well as a coat of floatant on the floating lines. While I was at it I checked each line for excessive wear and tested each knot or loop end for security, making changes when in doubt. I also looked over my monofilament line on spinning and bait casting reels. I use a small tag taped on each reel seat to record the date a line was first used, any over two years are automatically replaced regardless of wear or amount of use.
As for my assorted reels, each gets a personal bath and some new makeup. I mix mild dish detergent with warm water in a mug by the sink, and rinse each reel under running tap water, using a soft bristle tooth brush dipped in the soapy mug to remove all grit, dirt and debris. Once dry, a touch of grease goes on the gears and a very light coating of silicone or powdered graphite on other moving parts, but never any lubricant on or near the drag assembly. I’m still using reels my Dad bought 75 years ago thanks to our simple annual maintenance regimen.
While the brush and bubbles are already out, give the spiral reel seat and tightening rings of each rod a quick scrub to remove trapped dirt. Spray some WD40 on a clean rag and rub down the cork grips of that favorite fishing pole, it will make the handle look and feel like new. Finally check fly rod guides for wear and windings for tightness, a misaligned or grooved guide can ruin an expensive fly line in one outing.
Do a little bit each evening and all of your fishing gear will be in tip-top shape and ready for that first outing. It will probably take a week to find, fix and refurbish all the equipment, and perhaps by then we won’t need a snowmobile to reach the river. If there’s still time, check your boots for leaks, your net for tears, and set out a clean set of long johns, even if you don’t need the first two, the third is a must for April fishing in The County!