It’s been my experience that, along with the usual romantic significance, Valentine’s Day generally connotes the midpoint of winter in northern Maine. The early-season enthusiasm for ice fishing and snowshoe hare hunting has begun to wane, so there’s a need for an indoor pastime to thwart cabin fever and the winter blahs.
So far, this winter’s weather has been particularly hindersome with minimal snow cover and brutally cold weather week after week.
One of my friends is restoring an aging canoe in his heated basement, while another is trying his hand at carving and painting duck decoys. Some sportsmen wile away cold winter nights woodworking canoe paddles and fishing net frames or building fly rods from kits or individual components. These pastimes all keep our minds and bodies occupied and help us stay connected to favorite warm-weather outdoor adventures despite the true conditions.
So far this winter I’ve repaired damaged flies and tied new patterns to replace those lost or ruined last season. Some time at my reloading bench has my rifle, shotgun and handgun ammo supply adequate for another season. A few afternoon and evening hours I’ve enjoyed doing some fly rod and spinning rod repair, reel maintenance and even replaced a couple of aging lines, leaders and backings. These are all things you don’t need to be doing when it’s actually time to go afield or afloat.
Reading can also be a great cabin fever reliever, and I received several cast- and blast-related books that I highly recommend for any season, but especially for winter. Each Christmas, a friend or family member gives me the annual editions of The Shooters Bible and Gun Digest. There’s info on all new firearms, ammunition, optics and accessories as well as extensive ballistic tables in The Shooters Bible. Gun Digest is a fount of knowledge; hunting stories, historical firearm insight, equipment reviews and articles on personal defense, marksmanship, gunsmithing and gun collecting are just a few topics.
My cousin Steve got me an out-of-print, rare copy of “Advanced Fly Tying” by master fly tyer A. K. Best. A faithful reader of my articles, attorney Lenny Ackerman of Palm Beach, Florida, who owns a frequently visited cabin on East Grand lake, sent along a copy of his newest book, “Fishing to Home Waters.” It’s a wonderful set of stories that took me from winter nights to a canoe and fly rod on a summer evening.
Another angling book offered diverse insight regarding hobbies, pastimes, and arts and crafts related to fresh and salt water fishing. I’ve tied thousands of flies, built more than 100 rods of all types and crafted plenty of lines and leader combinations, but the chapters on creating and constructing your own lures and spoons really caught my attention. It was a whole new concept to me.
Less than a week after reading the book I was online locating websites for lure-making components and ordering diverse items to begin my new hobby.
A wide variety of single, double and treble hooks, metal blades, leafs and spoons, body wires and metal shafts as well as metal and plastic beads of several colors began arriving within three days. I had great fun; this was like when I got an erector set or Lincoln Logs for Christmas as a kid. The best part was the anticipation of actually being able to use my creations to catch game fish as soon as open-water season arrives.
Lure building is not really a difficult skill to learn, but there are tricks of the trade to master and a wide variety of sizes, shapes and types of lures and spoons to create. As well as trolling and casting lures, it’s possible to build spinners for bait-casting rigs and jigs for ice fishing.
From books and online tutorials, I’ve learned that there are even kits and separate components available to make plastic or rubber bass baits such as worms, lizards and crayfish. Also available for more advanced builders are wooden and plastic top water plug building kits. These signal more fun in the future for anyone building your own baits. There’s also the added satisfaction of catching fish on one of your own creations.
Everyone copes with winter in their own way, but it’s a fact that options are limited for folks used to having multiple rod and gun seasons.
Perhaps some of my ideas will help, but I have to reiterate how this discovery of lure building has perked up my disposition. It’s far better than watching the snow plows or waiting for the oil truck, which seems to be at my house weekly.
Daylight hours are increasing and an early spring will let me try my new lineup of lures. How about you?
