A good way to spend a winter day

As I have mentioned before I'm not one for ice fishing so I tend to spend most of my time during the winter organizing my gear and dreaming of open water. One thing I spend a lot of time doing is organizing and prioritizing my tackle and gear for the upcoming season. I prefer to keep most of my tackle in flat Plano boxes that fit in my tackle storage areas of my boat. I just prefer this method because it is easy to label and find the things I need efficently. I tend to go a little overboard when organizing my gear but it helps me feel more comfortable on the water when I know exactly where things are and how many of them I have. I label all my boxes using a small label maker I purchased at a office supply store for less than $20. I try to keep my tackle sorted by techniques and styles (such as jerkbaits, and crankbaits together and soft plastics sorted by color and type) and I am always verifying that they are well stocked. I also keep a supply of my most popular baits in my tackle room neatly organized on peg board where it is easily found and I can keep an eye on what I am running low on. During the winter months I also go through all my hardbaits checking hooks for sharpness and replace any that looked damaged or rusted. One thing I also do is try to keep certain boxes set-up so they have everything I need to rig a bait properly. An example of this is I keep a creature bait box full of my favorite colors along with 3 or 4 different sized weights along with the hooks I use for that bait. I do this so if I break off I have everything I need to re-rig in one box which means I can get back to fishing quicker which could mean more bites in a day. There is nothing that can fluster you like not being able to find what you need when the time comes. I also spend some time over the winter making a list of things I need to stock up on so that I can look for stuff at the various sportsman shows and retail stores. Some baits or lures are only available at certain retailers so I like to know what exactly I need and this way I can make sure I didn't forget to pick something up once the season starts. Winter is also a good time to go over your rods and reels to check for broken guides or reels that feel rough and get these fixed or replaced before the season starts or worse you lose a fish because of it. You can check your guides using a Q-tip or cotton ball and if any of the cotton stays behind you know you have a cracked guide and you should get it replaced. You should also replace your line with new ,good quality line such as those offered by P-Line, Power Pro or Suffix to name a few. If you use some of these tips over the winter it will help you be better prepared once the season arrives and hopefully it will help you catch more fish.