Sunday 18 March 2012

Chaos - fishing tackle organiser required, apply within!

I've spent the best part of today attempting to make some sense of my tackle room, the trouble is that I go through the same process several times a year. I get it as tidy as it can possibly be considering the amount of stuff crammed in there but gradually the clutter re-appears and before long I'm once again tip toeing between things to get to my wardrobe which is at the back of the room, I've got my priorities right you see!

The crux of the problem is the switch from one species to another, as a rule the amount of kit I use at one time is minimal, in fact keeping my kit compact and as lightweight as possible has been a mission of mine for years and its rare that I carry something that isn't needed. Its only relatively recently that I've started to take a cooker on night sessions and then only when I'm away for a couple of nights or more or if its really cold. The highlight of my year in relation to tackle is when I can put the winter sleeping bag away, that virtually halves the volume of kit carried. No its the tackle sitting in waiting that takes up the room, every time I have a tidy I get rid of a few bits that don't get used but mostly its all essential, though in some cases an item may only see daylight for a few hours a year, sometimes not even yearly, if I didn't have it I would be left wanting sooner or later. I'm a sucker for bags, carryalls and rucksacks and the ones that are no longer used tend to get kept for spares storage.

And then there's bait, I've got a small freezer in the tackle room thats full of boilie, paste, partical and sometimes dead baits. Then a box full of boilie hookbaits of various types and liquid additives and a big wooden chest crammed with pellet and groundbait along with more liquid additives in five litre containers. The corner, i'm sure there's a corner there somewhere, contains bulk sacks of partiblend, maple peas, pellet and dog biscuit along with a number of buckets with different pellets in. Another box holds a load of shelflife boilie I won, 10kg odd I believe, and several bags of raw ingredients that I use in groundbaits and stick mixes, chilli flakes, garlic granules, fishmeals, belachan, spices etc.

The long and short of it is that I need an assistant, an angling PA to keep my life in order, I would nominate 'er indoors but I'm not sure that I would survive the conversation. I can't deny that the wife puts up with a lot, at the moment there's a bulk spool of line, a baiting needle, couple of packets of hooks and a marker float next to me on the table next to the sofa. The dining room is currently sporting a nice line in groundsheets with something lying beneath too, I'm not exactly sure what's beneath to be honest as the groundsheet has been resident for a while. The kitchen worktop collects tackle too, usually a headtorch or two along with anything that happens to be in my pockets when I come in from a session, feeders, leads, hook packets, spools of line etc. There's a ball of tangled up leadcore leaders next to the pc upstairs, not really sure why as I haven't used them since last June, and the patio sports buckets in abundance, in fact I've been building myself up for several weeks to open one particular bucket which is getting riper by the day, quite possibly hemp in a past life, cerainly not far from toxic waste in its current state if the smell which even permeates a sealed lid is anything to go by.

I'm not sure that I dare even mention reading material. The bookshelf became full a few years back, not all fishing books by a long way I should say but they certainly contribute, the upshot is that there now resides an overflow pile on the floor. The bathroom always has a good stock of reading material, only place you get any peace isn't it! The pile of magazines, catalogues and books tends to grow steadily until it reaches the point of collapse and I have to take action. The action usually is usually a short trip next door into the bedroom where there's a bit of a magazine mountain, I just can't bear to throw them out.

Life was so much easier when I only carp fished, one rod bag, one rucksack, one bedchair and one freezer full of bait. I think I'll stick to the chaos thank you very much.

10 comments:

  1. Rob if you're anything like me you may have items that get bought in advance when a bargain is spotted, to be put to good use at times when needed and then you gradually end up building a bit of a collection.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's sounds just like my shed, garage and even the garden right down to the buckets of fermenting hemp sludge.

    Although she doesn't like tackle in the house now after she found a size 6 barbed under the dining table whilst vaccuming one day (Guilty as charged your honor!).

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mark, I've got enough braided hooklink to last me several lifetimes I'm sure, not far behind with hooks in the larger sizes either, and then leads, tons of em. I do my best not to buy bits that I've already got in stock but it doesn't always happen. Then there's planning ahead that doesn't work out as expected, for example I bought loads of Drennan grippa stops in for this winters roaching, I believe I've used 6!

    I couldn't sleep if my kit was in the shed, I keep the nets, mats and waders that I'm not using in there but otherwise it stays close at hand.

    Tell you what, anything I may have mentioned above is NOTHING compared to my van, anyone breaks into that they'll be lucky to get out alive. Once or twive a year I partly clean it out, that usually involves filling a couple of bin bags and thats just from the front, rubbish that gets rammed under the seats mostly but the passenger footwell is normally level with the seat too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ill vouch for the state of that van of yours bud! David attenborough could make a documentry on some of the things that must be living in there by now!

    ReplyDelete
  5. If only it could turn a penny, our girls wouldn't give a ...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Its au naturel Leo, at one with the world lol!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Rob did you see the sad news about cemex angling selling off their waters/ land? Quite a sad affair.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Mark
    Yes mate been watching the threads on Cemtex. I'm in two minds on it at the moment, I don't think the waters are that well run at the moment and if they continue to exist as fisheries there's scope for improvement, but there's also the risk that they will be lost to angling of course, not good.

    Have you fished any Cemex waters mate? I've been to Sandhurst a few times when we've booked the lake out on socials and the same on the North for a weekend just before they made it syndicate. The North was heavenly but I'm told that its been attacked with the chainsaw since then

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes I did one season on yateley (night ticket) and mainly fished the Nursery lake, that was back when my father was more regularly fishing with me, we fell in love with that little water, packed with features and never fished by too many people. That was back when the Copse lake (I think) was heavily pruned or as some put it "napalmed".
    I also fished Theale on and off over a season and spring ticket, lovely couple of waters, especially if you enjoy some good Tenching.

    Have to agree with you that things may improve if the waters get broken up/or various clubs buy them, although property developers might be the ones to buy a few and perhaps Natural england/RSPB for some others? Feel sorry for the staff who will be made redundant, poeople like Sue who was always very helpful and most amicable.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yes I agree Mark, I should clarify that when I say not run well I mean at company level, Cemex aren't really that interested in fishing are they

    ReplyDelete