The Float Tube Fishing Forum Vol: 1 Issue: 3 | Page 6

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What do you do when the weather won't allow you out to fish?

I consider myself to be one of the luckiest people in the face of the earth. I have enjoyed fishing ever sense I was a little kid and now I get to run a forum and a magazine dedicated to what I feel is one of the best ways to fish, Float Tubing. Of course the other reason I feel so luck is that I was born and raised in Southern California, and here fishing is possible all year long. Now I might have just lost a few readers but for those of you that are still reading, I am curious when the water ice’s over, or maybe the air just gets so cold that you cannot risk injury to try and fish, what do you do. What do you do to keep the passion alive in you while you wait for the warmer months to return giving you a chance to get back out on the water and feed your addiction once again?

To start I did say that we can fish year round out here in Southern California, but that is not to say that we will fish year round. Our wonderful amazing weather can through us a curve ball some time. So now I am sure there are a few readers saying “you wimp 50 degrees Fahrenheit and rainy is not a storm”, but I rather stay in on those days. On these days I would opt to maybe re-wrap an old fishing pole. I would take an old fishing pole that needs some repairs or just needs a face lift and spend some time

restoring it to its glory and

ready for my return to the water. There are times I will spend my day’s tying flies or feather jigs. I really enjoy trying to come up with a new fly design or prefect a tiny 1/80 oz. jig I have tied before. I should mention my fly tying kit was an anniversary gift from my wife, she asked me I will get it for you if will use it. I agreed and after about the first year and plenty of hook in the carpet, I said well are you happy you got me this fly tying kit. Believe it or not she was very happy that I was using it.

Sometime if I am really needing a fishing fix I will head out to the garage and rummage through all my tackle. I find it very satisfying to take the time to look over all the tackle I have accumulated throughout the year, which can be a lot. By doing this I have a chance to review my lures and hooks, reminisce on what was caught over the last trips to the water, as well as figure out what I need to replace. I can now clean my tackle boxes up and get them all set up for my next trip when the weather changes. Of course this also does mean a trip to the tackle shop because I will need to do some restocking.

Still another idea to pass the time and keep you fish minded is to pour your own baits. This is something I

recently got into and I have to

say it is every bit as addicting as all the others hobbies you might have. To pour your own baits in the off seasons is a great way to pass the time as well as a great money saver in the long run as well. And who knows you might accidently develop the new Plastic Bait rage that everyone need to have in there tackle box.

These are just some of the ways I will pass the days when the weather is less then cooperative, it helps to keep my mind fish ready which can help with the fishing addiction we have. Of course I am sure that if the weather is poor for a long period of time this might cause some withdrawals to pop up. So be careful not to overdo the off season hobbies, you want to stay fish minded not fishing crazy.

Finally I would like to say while you are in your house wishing for some warmer weather, know that I might be out fishing, but that you will be better prepared for the up and coming season of fishing than I will. Yep I just lost the last cold weather reader.

By: J Bernier

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