John F's DIY: Small Tips & Tricks

[PH]

Great Carlos! Will try that with the hatch in the kayak! Always smells of old bait.

[FishStyx]

Those stinking booties...

Diving or fishing booties, Rocky sandals, or any fishing footware can be a source of major problems with the missus due to its distinctive odor after a day's fishing. Here's a tip from Capt. Ken Roy. Put a couple of charcoal briquettes inside. No stinky boots the next day.

Don't braai with the briquettes afterwards... 

[John F]

Great Carlos! Will try that with the hatch in the kayak! Always smells of old bait.

FAIL! 

[PH]

Great Carlos! Will try that with the hatch in the kayak! Always smells of old bait.

FAIL! 

Sincere apologie Marcos!!!!!
 Not quite awake yet it seems.

[John F]

Lol, no worries Pierre!

[dodger]

Although I store my tackle in plastic tupperwares I find that fishing from a kayak the salt water still gets in and its not too long before the hooks and trace wire start to rust. Also with limited space, traces that are jammed together in the containers start to tangle. To prevent all this I seal each trace/plastic lure individually in plastic using one of those old Magic Line heat sealers and plastic bags. When I want to change the lure or trace, I place the lure/trace that has been used in the salt water into another container and when I get home, I wash them off in fresh water, dry them and re-seal them.

For my Tigger fish  traces etc I use ordinary plastic bank bags

[Styx]

My anchor hatch is an akward shape and I could not fit a plastic crate inside to prevent the anchor from scratching up the inside.

I got a punctured tractor tube from a tyre repair shop and cut a section from it. This left me with a piece of tube that was open on both ends. I "stitched" one end closed with cable ties and this gave me what is essentially a huge oversized sock made of rubber. Then I turned it inside out so that the cable ties is now on the inside and not able to scratch anything. Also I punched a few smallish holes through the rubber to allow drainage. Pop in your anchor with cable and rope attached and Bob's you uncle.

As I have to travel a minimum of 400 kms to the coast to fish its a comfort to know that there is a layer of rubber between the steel and fibreglass.

[Homie]

Great Carlos! Will try that with the hatch in the kayak! Always smells of old bait.

FAIL! 

WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!!!!!!!!

We can see whats on Pierre's mind !

 

[Chigger]

Although I store my tackle in plastic tupperwares I find that fishing from a kayak the salt water still gets in and its not too long before the hooks and trace wire start to rust. Also with limited space, traces that are jammed together in the containers start to tangle. To prevent all this I seal each trace/plastic lure individually in plastic using one of those old Magic Line heat sealers and plastic bags. When I want to change the lure or trace, I place the lure/trace that has been used in the salt water into another container and when I get home, I wash them off in fresh water, dry them and re-seal them.

For my Tigger fish  traces etc I use ordinary plastic bank bags

  All the lures and traces I use get put in my bait cooler box once I take them of the line (the bonus is if I need them again they've got a bait smell), once I get home the whole cooler box and contents (less bait of course) gets a warm water bath in the outside basin and hung up to dry.

"Clippy" Tupperware = fisherman's friend!!

[John F]

Keep your live bait frisky

When using live bait (especially in the summer or when drifting or on anchor), put a frozen 500 ml plastic bottle of coke or an ice pack inside the tank. Cold water has a higher amount of dissolved oxygen and will cool the water. This will help maintain the bait alive and frisky for longer.

[John F]

Maintaining lure squirts

Lure squirts these days are mostly made of some sort of plastic (PVC, nylon, etc.) and impregnated with oils and additives. With the exposure to the elements (saltwater, UV radiation, etc.), they may start losing their brightness and elasticity and start getting brittle or deform. To help maintain my expensive lures, I follow this advice from Peter Pakula: once washed with fresh water (never use detergents!) and thoroughly dry, I spray them with a good silicon spray. This keeps them shiny and flexible for a long time.

[John F]

Tape-measure dispenser

These days, a tape-measure is a must in any angler's tackle box, be it offshore, R & S or even freshwater. Sometimes the scales are not so handy to weight a nice fish or for some other reason Mr. Murphy decides the fish must not be weighted. In most of the occasions, the tape-measure must be close by and simple enough to store and operate so a fish can be measured quickly and returned to the water. I've been carrying on the boat, a taylor's tape-measure for a while now. It had a metal part on the tip, which I have removed because it was rusting, but the tape itself is made of plastic. So, it will not rust and it is flexible, thus it's easy to use and store. Here's a little trick to easily store these tapes. Saw it on the Saltwatersportsman mag and decided to give it a try. Small pieces of velcro were super-glued to an old spool of appropriate width and to the extremities of the tape, keeping it tightly wraped. It works great and keeps the tackle box tidy and organized.

[FishStyx]

Cool. I've always used the fabric tapes but it's such a mission to keep tidy.

[SAfish]

Cool. I've always used the fabric tapes but it's such a mission to keep tidy.

I have the same problem, great tip, Marcos! 

[Glider]

Great thread, thanks Marcos.

[Hang Bal]

Keeping your tackle dry
Humidity is a killer for tackle (both reels, terminal tackle and tools) and once the basic washing is done (and the tackle looks dry) I bet everybody just packs their tackle and stores it away. The reels will still be damp inside for a week or so and there will always be a bit of humidity in your tackle box. Here's a trick to help keep things a bit dryer - Silica bags. Every electrical/electronic appliance (and even shoes!) come with silica bags these days. When packing your reels with the neoprene covers, keep at least one or two inside the reel covers. Put a lot more in your tackle box. Every now and then take the bags out and put then in the oven for about 30 minutes at 60o to extract the humidity. This will surely help maintain your tackle.

Take one charcoal bricket and put it in a old sock, make a knot and put in your tackle box. Charcoal does the same as Silica bags, just last much longer. Just my 2c

[John F]

Take one charcoal bricket and put it in a old sock, make a knot and put in your tackle box. Charcoal does the same as Silica bags, just last much longer. Just my 2c

 

[John F]

Storing and transporting sabikis

All those that use sabikis to catch live bait have to go through a bit of suffering to transport and store them. The tinny, sharp hooks and fine diameter monofilament turn sabikis into tangling artifacts that can drive anyone crazy, especially when fishing! I've been making and using my own sabikis for a few years now and have been using a system that makes it easy to transport and keep them neatly stored on the boat. I use +/- 5cm sections of pool noodles, with a slit along it. The weight is snugged in the slit and the monofilament is wrapped around the noodle. Each hook is stuck into the noodle. I store them either separately or in small groups of 3 inside ziplock bags. All these go into a large plastic ice-cream container and into the tackle hatch on the boat. Once these are used, they get stored and everybody's happy!   

[Charles]

Great idea John! That tip is worth a 

[John F]

The cork-pin: Unblocking the cooling-water pilot hole

Every now and then, the motor's cooling-water pilot hole will be clogged up. Be it, salt crystals or sand/mud particles sometimes it happens after a launch and one is faced with a jammed pilot hole. Most of the times it is quite simple to unblock. A thin, long and hardy object is enough to clean it. However, such objects are rarely kept on the boat. Here's my solution. A 8-9 cm long piece of 1.5 mm s/s wire and a wine cork. The wire is inserted into the cork and about 5 cm is left sticking out. I keep two on the boat. It floats, so there's a small chance of loosing it if falls overboard and I painted it in red (other good colors are scuba-yellow or pink). If needed a safety lanyard can also be used.