Although I like to think that I’m up for just about any outdoor challenge, the truth is I’m getting pickier with the passing of time. For example, I’ve dealt with ice and snow in a variety of venues, including sleeping on the ground in heater-less tents with the zippers frozen shut. These days I’d rather not be that cold, even if I once thought it was fun. True, outdoors is still where I like to be most of the time. However, I now prefer days when the sun shines at least once in awhile, and the chipmunks aren’t wearing earmuffs.

When the weather keeps me inside, which seems to be the case most of the time this winter, one sensible thing I do is spend some time organizing my fishing gear. That way it will be handy and ready for action when spring rolls around. In the hide-and-seek process of finding all my stuff in the first place--you understand it isn’t always where it’s supposed to be--I’ve made a couple of surprise discoveries.

One wintery day, while groping behind a rack full of hunting clothes in a closet, I felt the lower half of a fishing rod standing in a dark corner. Exposing it to the light, I recognized it as part of the first fly rod I ever owned. I bought that 7-1/2 foot fiberglass rod when I was 17. That was in the 1950’s! Like a typical old codger, I sometimes forget what I did ten minutes ago, but I still remember where, when and how I caught my first trout with that very rod.

I was fishing in the Owens River Gorge, a short distance downstream from Crowley Lake in Mono County, and catching nothing at all. It was evening, and I was with the late Jim Kirkwood, a gent 23 years my senior, and the guy who sold me the rod in the first place. I think it cost five bucks from my weekly gas station wages at nearby Tom’s Place, a resort established in 1917.

Anyway, my casts were less than poetic and the brown trout, though numerous and hungry, didn’t manage to grab my dry fly. Several times I saw the flash of fish that missed my offering, but I didn’t hook one until Jim came along and gave me some helpful advice.

“Hey kid,” he yelled from across the stream, “it looks like you’re pulling the fly out of the water too fast. Let it drift a little longer so the fish can catch up to it.”

Doing it his way, I caught a 10 inch brown trout on the very next cast.

And before I retired that rod (I probably broke the tip, which is why I can’t find it) it accounted for dozens, if not hundreds, of trout. Turns out, even half a rod brings back some pretty fair memories from the distant past.

But long lost fishing rods aren’t the only things I’ve discovered. For example, in a three-tiered metal tackle box, that I found tucked away on a storage shed shelf, there are dozens of lures for trout fishing that I overlooked for many years. Some of the spinners and spoons have definitely seen better days, but at least a few of them will be coming out of retirement shortly. In addition, there are lots of top water and diving plugs for bass fishing, not to mention jigs of various sizes and plastic worms. Despite the passage of time, some of those lures are finally going to go swimming again.

An even better discovery is the shirt pocket size aluminum fly box that was hiding among a bunch of other odds and ends. Although some of the fly hooks are dull and bent, and the feathers tattered, the memories are still fresh. It seems like only yesterday when I went fishing for trout on a number of off-the-beaten-track streams with only the wet and dry flies in that small container.

Besides renewing memories of the past, this is, as I suggested earlier, the perfect time to perform the necessary maintenance on your tackle. Dirty reels can be serviced and their spools reloaded with fresh line. Rod handles and reel seats can be cleaned and any repairs necessary can be made to loose or grooved guides. And, rather than wait until the last minute, now’s the time to replace stuff that’s completely worn out or buy some things you’ve always wanted, or, better yet, need.

I don’t know about you, but these days I have separate tackle boxes for different applications, such as trout, bass and steelhead fishing. Naturally, all of them were a mess when I put them away. They all need to be wiped clean and restocked with untangled lures. Other items, such as hooks, weights, leader material and whatever else, will also be sorted out and put away neatly.

In addition to the hours well spent on tackle maintenance, this is a good time of year to look ahead and begin making plans for future angling forays. But don’t get me wrong. In these tough economic times I’m not suggesting elaborate or exotic adventures in far away places.

In fact, I recommend quite the opposite. There’s a wide variety of low cost fishing opportunities right here in the Golden State. In northern California most of us live within easy driving distance of lakes and streams with a variety of game fish and fishing circumstances to choose from. Whenever I can, I fish for bass and trout on Shasta and Trinity lakes and for kokanee on Whiskeytown. And, when flows are right, I head for places like the Upper Sacramento River and Burney Creek for a little stream fishing. There’s more, but you get the picture I’m sure. The idea is to get your tackle together and take advantage of whatever type of fishing you like to do whenever it becomes available to you. Just think, if you do your homework, and pick the right spot, perhaps a place you remember from the past and want to visit again, all that tackle you just refurbished will be put to very good use.

Then, you have an excuse to do it all over again next year!