Marty's Drift March 2002

Getting Prepared for the New Season

The new fishing season is just around the corner. Across the nation, days are getting longer and warmer. It won't be long before mayflies, stoneflies and caddis begin to stir and excite trout to feed. Now is the time to get prepared, and avoid streamside frustration.

What exactly needs to be done to get prepared for the coming season? Here is a short list of different things that I try to take care of before my first outing of the season. It seems that at the close of each season I manage to disassemble and put my gear away without any maintenance. One of the most important things to make your fishing effective and enjoyable is to cast a clean fly line.

Modern fly lines can simply be washed with a mild detergent, but I prefer to clean them with a fly line cleaner. You will also want to clean and lube your reels. Fresh reel grease will keep them working smoothly.

Leader material is something else to look at closely before your first trip. If it has been carefully stored (away from heat and light), it is probably fine. If it is in the least way suspect, or if it is getting to be two or more years old, it should be replaced. Fresh, strong leader material is a small price to pay for a secure connection to a nice fish.

Dealing with flies is probably the most time consuming activity in getting prepared for the coming season. Dry flies are often in disrepair. Wings and hackles are often flattened and out of shape. The way to make them once again presentable is to steam them. Set a teapot of water on the range burner and heat it till steam is coming from the pour spout. Clamp your fly in a pair of forceps and rotate it in the steam. You will be amazed at the way wings and hackles pop back into shape. Once the flies have dried you can treat them with fly floatant so they are ready to go straight out of the box.

This is also a good time to reorganize your fly boxes. Somehow over the course of a season flies get totally disorganized. Find a large flat work area and empty all of your fly boxes. Then group the different types of flies together, stonefly nymphs in one group, stonefly adults in another group, caddis nymphs, caddis dries, etc. Once that is done you can replace the flies in your boxes in an order that makes sense for you.

This is also a good time to go over your boat and make sure everything is in proper working order. If you have a ClackaCraft there is probably not much that needs to be done. About the only thing that could need attention are the hinges and latches on the seats and pedestals. If they have been slammed or twisted they might be loose and need minor tightening.

Of more concern is making sure your boat has adequate safety gear. In my boat I always carry the following: A spare oar, I keep a breakdown oar stored under my rower's bench seat. It's like a spare tire in your vehicle, you never want to use it, but you never want to be without it.

An extra oar lock. It's even less likely that you'll ever lose one of these, but if you do, it's impossible to row without one. A spare drain plug. This is one of the less important things to have. When your ClackaCraft is floating the drain holes are above the water line, but there is some security in having the plugs in place.

I always carry 80 to 100 feet of rope. On the rivers I float sometimes I can’t get close enough to load the boat directly on the trailer. With this length of rope I can pull my boat to a spot where I can load it. A length of rope is also good to have should you need to line your boat around some bad water or a tree that has recently fallen across the river.

Many of our rivers in Oregon and Washington have areas of the bottom where an anchor can get caught. Over the years I've lost an anchor or two. Something that can save the day if you lose an anchor is a large mesh bag. Carry it in a storage box and if needed, fill it with rocks for a temporary anchor. The last important thing to have on board is a basic first aid kit. Normally the only thing you'll ever need are Band-Aids, but it doesn't hurt to have a more extensive first aid selection.

Our show season carries on until the end of March. We will display boats at the Michigan Fly Fishing Show March 9 & 10 in Southfield. On March 14 through 17 we will be in Grand Rapids, Salt Lake City and Seattle. On March 22, 23 and 24 we will be at the MORE Show in Billings, Montana. Stop by our display booth and see the latest ClackaCraft models. You can also save some money when you purchase a boat at the shows.

Give Marty a call at: (503) 655-9532

You can also call Idaho Falls at (800) 394-1345.