Mess-free bait gets a big leg up over the real thing, when it comes to making fishing easier.
Fishing is a hands-on activity for sure, and many of us don’t necessarily want to make it “easier” than it already is. Heck, overcoming challenge is half the fun. Still there are some things that take a lot of the hassle out of the sport. Before you go fishing again consider adding these three things to your repertoire and I’m betting you won’t regret it.
Mess-free bait gets a big leg up over the real thing, when it comes to making fishing easier.
Artificial “Natural” Bait – Fish love eating squid, but it makes a sticky, inky mess all over the place. Fish like eating fish, but cut it up for bait and you get slime and scales all over the place. Just about every natural bait you’d use in saltwater makes a big mess. These days, however, there are plenty of artificial “natural” baits you can choose from, and many of them work every bit as good as the real thing. See the little orange strip in the picture above? That’s Fishbites clam flavor, and black drum love it. Just about anything can be substituted out from bloodworms to blue crabs, and artificial bait like this doesn’t need to be refrigerated, bought fresh before every trip, or thrown away when it doesn’t get used.
Tethered Snips – How many times have you rifled through the tacklebox looking for clippers or scissors, then resorted to using a knife to cut your line? How many times have you then rifled around looking for the knife? Tethered snips (Boomerangs were the original, but there are plenty of knock-offs around these days, too) work great for snipping line, never get lost, and (quality versions) last for years even with saltwater use. They have a clip on the end of a self-retracting cord so you can hang them from a belt loop or life jacket loop so you always know exactly where they are.
Gorilla Glue – I never leave the dock without a tube of this stuff in a drawer. Use it to secure a soft plastic to the jig head, and stop worrying about the tail getting pulled down over and over again. Save old tails and when one paddle gets bitten off, you can quickly glue another to the back of the body. And when anything that was glued in place (like a hatch gasket, foam pad, or cupholder insert) pulls free you can secure it back in place in seconds.