Part II of the fishing prep relates to the prefix “re- “, which means “back or again.” And I am definitely ready to get back on the water again. Read on for the rest of the pre-season preparation.

Restock
After completing tackle inventory as noted in the previous post, I had my wish list. Basically, it was just some backups to make sure that I had spares of a couple of my current favorite baits. There’s little that stinks more than losing a productive lure and not having an extra in the tackle bag. In mid-February I made my annual visit to the QCCA Outdoor Show and purchased a mere three lures. After forty plus years of amassing tackle, I really don’t need more lures, but you can’t go to a fishing show and not buy something.

I’ve got to be a mono man

I highly recommend a spooling station

Respool
Another important task is stripping the old line off my reels and filling them back up with fresh line. I am an old school monofilament man, so I picked up my regular batch of clear Berkley Trilene. For my casting reels, I spool up with 12-pound test while my spinning reels get 10-pound line. The exception to using mono is my frog combo which gets spooled up with various brands of braided line. Many years ago, I was gifted a line spooling station and that thing is a winner with a line stripper to boot.

Frog line for solid hooksets and strength to drag those bass out of the slop

Spare scale and batteries just in case

Charged up with formatted SD cards ready to go

Recharge
I’ve long been a stat guy and more recently a sort of videographer, both of which mean that you must have your batteries ready to go. I bring along a pair of scales and extra batteries to make sure I don’t wind up in a spot where I can’t weigh a fish. In addition, I make sure to have my GoPro batteries charged so I can capture a day on the water. As far as recharging my own battery, a winter away from the water leaves me with a full tank and ready to start casting.

Don’t forget a new license before the end of the month if you are an Illinois angler

Renew
For Illinois anglers, the time has arrived to get a new fishing license with the 2025 issue expiring on March 31. While you can get this task done online, I still like the tradition of heading to a local tackle shop or fishing aisle to get it done. The end of the month is also the deadline for getting my annual dues paid for Little John Conservation Club. Mission accomplished as I have my membership cards and vehicle stickers ready to go for my thirty-first year as a member (fished for quite a few years prior on Dad’s family membership).

Thirty-first year as a member and nearly forty years of fishing at Little John

Blank spreadsheet all ready to go

Record
Being a stat guy, a new year means a blank log, spreadsheet, and database queries ready for the latest catches. 2026 represents the thirtieth consecutive year of logging every bass that I catch. While I have data dating back to 1985, there are some gaps prior to 1997 when I joined the computer age and took logging to a new level.

So, I am ready to go. I just need the weekend to take work out of the equation and hope for some decent weather to coincide. During a texting conversation with my friend, John Kirkemo, back on January 25, I indicated that my target date to land my first bass was March 7. Stay tuned. Talk to you later. Troy