The holiday season is now upon us. And, as usual, our fishing activities will be greatly curtailed by festive parties, dinners and family get-togethers. However, just because our schedules are full during the holidays, it doesn’t mean we have to forget about fishing – or our young, fishing buddies.
Believe it or not, trash generated from the holidays can go a long way toward making your next fishing season a fun one for both you and your little fishing partner. Over the next few weeks, revelers will generate tons of trash that most of us will simply toss into the garbage can. Yet, some of this trash can be recycled to improve your fishing experiences come springtime. How is this possible? Here are just a few interesting activities you and your children can do this holiday season to turn trash into fishing treasure.
Gift wrapping waste
Torn wrapping paper will invariably fill trash bins everywhere this holiday season. However, while the paper is normally not recycled, other gift-wrapping decorations can be quite useful to anglers. Many gifts are decorated with brightly colored yarn. While this might not seem like a very valuable commodity for a fisherman, you can collect the yarn scraps for your winter tackle box and put it to use almost immediately. Here’s how.
As most of us know, fish strikes in the cold weather are very light and almost undetectable. However, your young fisher can overcome this problem with a “strike indicator.” You can make an excellent strike indicator from a tiny piece of gift-wrapping yarn. When you take your youngster fishing in the cold weather, tie a yarn scrap on the line several feet above the bait or lure. The yarn “strike indicator” will float on or near the surface. When a fish picks up the bait, the yarn will bounce around, signaling the strike. Additionally, the flexible yarn does not interfere with casting.
Ice-fishing anglers can use the yarn similarly. Drop your lure down to the desired depth and then tie a piece of yarn around the line just above the water. The yarn serves two purposes. It acts as a strike indicator for those sensitive bites. The yarn also marks the depth. After you reel up a fish, you can return the lure back to the correct depth by lowering the lure until the yarn marker reappears from the reel spool. This depth marker will help your youngster keep their bait in the fish zone.
Yarn and Christmas tree tinsel make inexpensive jigs and flies as well. These scraps are ideal materials for teaching youngsters how to make their own lures. Instead of using expensive fly tying feathers, use the tinsel as a shiny jig tail. Wrap the yarn around the hook shank to make a colorful and fluffy body.
Cardboard wrapping-paper tubes also make an ideal, winter fishing project. By sliding a tube over your rod to protect the guides, dust and cobwebs won’t be able to build up on the rod guides during winter storage. In short, the tubes make great, inexpensive rod covers. The tube is also a great storage box for keeping two-piece rods together.
Put both rod parts into the same tube. Cap the open end of the tube with aluminum foil and then wrap the reel and butt end in a plastic shopping bag. Come spring, your rod and reel will be clean and in useable condition. This is a good project for both kids and adults.
Christmas tree waste
Throughout January, the streets are lined with old Christmas trees usually slated for the woodchipper or public landfill. But, the trees can benefit fishermen as well. Instead of tossing your tree on the curb, take it to your favorite lake and help increase available fish habitats.
We all know submerged trees attract fish. Underwater trees serve as protection for insects, minnows and game fish fry. Large game fish visit these trees frequently in their quest for easy meals. However, during the fishing season, finding a submerged tree is a matter of chance. If you do locate one, it will undoubtedly hold plenty of fish. But savvy anglers leave nothing to chance. They take old trees to their favorite lake and sink them in secluded areas, making their own “honey hole.”
Winter is a great time to sink trees because discarded Christmas trees are readily available. You and your young buddy can drag these trees out onto the ice and then tie them to cement blocks or rocks. When the ice melts in the spring, the trees sink to the bottom. The ideal places to sink these old Christmas trees are along break-line edges, at the tips of long points, on bottom humps and in areas devoid of other cover. Remember to explain to your fishing student that you are not polluting the lake, but rather enhancing the fisheries.
Be sure to sink the trees in deep water to keep them away from passing boat traffic. Besides, sunken trees perform best in water between 10 and 15 feet deep. Never put trees in river systems. The moving water can push the trees into navigation channels. Sinking trees is also prohibited in certain townships. Contact local authorities before undertaking such a project.
Holiday candles double as waterproofing agent
Save used holiday candles as the wax will come in handy around the sportsman’s workbench. Have your youngster rub the candle over fishing boot laces. Waxed laces are less apt to snag burrs and briars while walking along the stream or lake bank. The wax also prevents the laces from coming untied.
Ice anglers should rub wax on their tip-up lines as the wax will prevent water from penetrating the line fibers and keep the line from freezing to the tip-up spool. Dab some wax onto the threads of the tip-up set-screws to keep them rust-free. These are all winter projects you can work on with the youngsters.
Finally, recycling is mandatory in most, if not all, states. Remember to put newspapers, cans, glass bottles and plastic jugs into the pre-approved recycle bins. By recycling, we can help keep the environment free of litter and landfills.