Tackle Box Essentials For Fishing Beginners
Fishing is a great activity for when you want to spend a day in nature, enjoying the movement of the water under you. It’s also a great way to put food on the table and save some cash. While it’s a great spring and summer pastime, it does require that you put in some preparation before you head out. You don’t want your fishing boat to reach the middle of a lake to realize you left important items back at home!
To help you keep a well-stocked tackle box, we at Collins Marine have compiled this list of essential items. If you’re looking for fishing boats for sale in Tonawanda, NY, get in touch with our sales department and we’ll show you our wide selection. We’re proud to be the preferred fishing boat dealer for our friends from Buffalo!
Lures
There are a lot of different kinds of lures that are designed to catch different kinds of fish. You should have different lures including minnow imitations, top-water lures, spinners and spoons aboard your fishing boat. Over time and practice, you’ll soon have your favorite lures but it’s always good to experiment to see which lures work better in different circumstances.
Bobbers
Bobbers are also called floaters, and these lightweight tools let you know when you’ve hooked a fish. If the bobber sinks, you know there’s a fish at the end of the line. Round red-and-white bobbers are common but restrict how deep you can cast your line. Slip bobbers slide up and down lines, letting you get your hook deeper in the water. In a pinch, a piece of cork with a stick can also get the job done.
Sinkers
Hook and worm lures are too light to sink deep into the water so they need a tool called a sinker to help them out. You need to keep some extra sinkers in your tackle box because these heavy, small devices are easy to lose on your fishing boat. Keep in mind that lead sinkers are now outlawed in many places because of its negative impact on the environment. Nowadays sinkers are also made of steel, bismuth, tungsten and brass.
Needle-Nose Pliers
This small tool can be a very useful addition to your tackle box. These pliers come in handy when you want to remove hooks from fish once you’ve pulled them onto your fishing boat. They’re also used to bend wires or remove other items that may be causing you problems. A pair of pliers is pretty universally handy for a lot of reasons, so make sure you have some available.
Extra Line
With a little more experience, you’ll realize that extra line is indispensable for anglers of all stripes. It’s easy for lines to get tangled up or even break while fishing, whether it catches on something in the water or some big fish snaps it. If your fishing boat is on rough waters, you should have some extra heavy-duty line on hand. Thin and clear lines work better for inland waters.
Spare Hooks
You never know what kind of fish you might encounter in some places, so it’s a good idea to have some extra hooks on hand. If you keep a variety of different hooks, including J-hooks and French hooks, along with different sizes of hooks, in your tackle box, you’ll be ready for every size and type of fish you might encounter.
First-Aid Kit
When you head out into nature for long hours, you should be prepared to handle any minor injuries or illnesses. Your first-aid kit should be stocked with all the essentials and kept safely in your tackle box. Items that we recommend include bandages of many sizes, gauze, waterproof medical tape, tweezers, ointment, antiseptic cream, sunscreen, bug spray, nail clippers, petroleum jelly, painkillers, antacids and anything else you think you might need.
Line Cutter
If you end up with a line that is so hopelessly snagged and tangled that you can’t deal with it, then you’ll need to cut it. Have some kind of blade to cut your line in a pinch. A pair of nail clippers like the set in your first-aid kit are excellent for this purpose because they’re compact, sharp and quick to use. But you should also have a small pocket knife or multi-tool with you.
We hope you find this guide useful in preparing for your future fishing trips! If you’d like more information or are looking for fishing boats for sale in Tonawanda, NY, get in touch with us at Collins Marine and have a chat with one of our expert staff. We welcome all our patrons from Buffalo!