Planning for the End
Yes, there’s fatality in the air. We all know the season is winding down. The bite is hot right now, and there will still be a few good days. But the traditional weather this time of year is increasingly cold with wind and rain followed by more rain, then more wind. Then the holidays will be on us, so it’s not too early to begin tidying up.
If you’re like me, you’ve used a lot of lures and terminal tackle over the last few months. Now is a good time to take inventory. For one, you’ll find you have more unproductive lures than you do good ones.
When I was going through my perch spinner baits, I saw this very imbalance. As I tried to assess my supply of Super Rooster Tail baits, I collected all I could find from the various bags and boxes I had been using.
I expected to have at least a half-dozen of the Clown Coach Dog pattern, my favorite, plus a healthy count of the chartreuse types and an even better quantity of Captain Bert’s Pounders. I try to have a lot on hand. Big white perch have the habit of sitting tight in wood and stone structures, which takes its share of lures, leading to a lot of snagged lures and break-offs.
I found very few of those lures, except in colors that had never worked. I am going to have to restock, using the coming holiday sales to minimize the impact on my meager angling budget.