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5 Tips - Getting Back into Fishing

By Robbie Wells

After some time away from fishing, renovating to sell, moving north and getting re-established, adventure angler and Tackle Tactics Pro Angler Robbie Wells wanted to share with us his thought process and preparation for getting back on the road, on the water and into the fish.

Most of you would probably agree that there is a fair bit of confidence that goes into fishing to make you a successfully angler. Whether that be fishing at your local secret spot or out there finding new ground to fish, confidence in yourself and your gear fuels you. It’s what gives you the commitment to keep you casting and casting, waiting for that one bite that you’ve invested all that time into. Confidence gained from the time you have put into researching the right rod and reel combo, lures, time of day, location, tides, and other factors to maximise your chances of success on that target species.

With the current crazy and unprecedented times, bringing with them changing priorities, some of us have somehow drifted away from being able to pursue our passion for fishing. Unfortunately, this happened to me recently… well for five months and one week to be precise!

Now, it would be really easy to just grab that tacklebox of gear and combo (already pre-rigged from that long ago last session of course) and go fishing. You can almost guarantee that Murphy’s Law would come into play, you would be hooked up to a cracker and start thinking is your gear up to scratch after such a hiatus from fishing. So many things can go wrong or fail from personal induced gear failure… basically just being a bit lazy thinking I’m just going for a quick fish.

I started thinking about my gear and couldn’t really remember the last reel service or sounder download, and even if my reels were full of line, are my batteries full to avoid potential problems on that first mission back out there.

Below are 5 tips, elements or steps that I went through to ensure that everything ran smooth when I was back on the water after such a lengthy break away from fishing.

Rods / Reels

When did you service your reels last? It’s time to consider whether they need a rinse and a lube. It’s also a great idea to service your reels if you know that you will be having a break from fishing, ensuring that they will be in better working order when it’s time to fish again. This may even be the case for reels that you use for a particular type of seasonal fishing. Check your rods for cracked guides or tips, along with checking the reel mounts and any other fittings.

Line / Leader

Are your reels fully loaded with line and depending on where you last fished and your target species, how dirty or worn is your line. You may want to strip some line off if it is badly impacted. After the length of time that I was off the water, I also took the opportunity to replace and retie leaders on all rods. This gives me the confidence to cast and fish hard, knowing that I have a solid connection to the lure and the fish.

Lures / Terminal Tackle

Firstly, are your hooks rusty or blunt on your jigheads, jigs, hardbodies and other lures. Do they need sharpening or replacing? Do you have the right hook size and jighead weight combo for the target species? How’s your kit of gear looking? Do you have the right profile and sizes of plastics, the correct jigheads and a few spares just in case? You’re gearing up to get back into the game, so it’s important that you have the right gear for your chosen adventure.

Tackle Bag

This is also a great time reorganise those tackle trays and restock them in size, weights, profiles and so forth, ensuring that you have it and that you can find it in the frenzy of a hot bite. It’s also worth checking tools such as pliers and scissors to ensue they are functioning effectively or need to be oiled or replaced. I also ensured that my Pro-Cure Scent and leader was stocked up ready to go.

Boat / Trailer

I then also spent some time on my boat as those who follow my adventures may know, I often travel into some extreme environments, a long way from support.

When was the last service done on the boat?

I took the time to check and charge batteries, check trailer lights, check and service wheel bearings and check the trailer brakes. I also ran the motor on the muffs and checked the steering, throttle and other moving elements of the motor, power and steering setup.

Finally, I gave the sounder setup a once over and downloaded the latest maps and software.

I hope that the above helps you on your next mission as I’m sure that if I didn’t go through this list that my first trip back after five months could very easily have ended in disappointment. I was fortunate enough to hook a solid golden trevally on fairly light gear, while chasing some bludgers. So, I’m happy I made the effort to be ready and stoked with my first fish back and first fish of 2022… hopefully I haven’t peaked too early. 😉

How Good’s Australia
Robbie Wells