8 Do-It-Yourself Fishing Gear Mods
Disclaimer: By using some of these tricks, you may no longer be able to blame your outfit when the big one gets away!
1. Tape Your Rod Grip
Cost: $3-$8
Skill Required: Basic
If you’ve ever hooked into a wall-hanger, you know a good grip on your rod can make all the difference. A cheap and easy way to improve grip is to wrap your handle with athletic tape.
To do this, get a roll of cloth athletic tape available at the sporting goods store. Start by making a few wraps at the butt of the rod grip. Unwind about a foot of tape and twist the roll to create a thin, sticky rope. Wrap that rope in inch-wide rolls around the handle up toward the reel. To finish, flatten the tape back out and neatly wrap back down the butt to cover your new grip. This is better to hold and protects against rod slippage in a troll as well.
2. Lubricate Reels
Cost: $8-$12
Skill Required: Basic
It’s an impressive new world for reel lubricants. Readily available products like Xtreme Reel Plus and Reel Saver feature special formulas that allow for extremes of heat and cold. Unlike generic lubricants like silicone, these micro polymer formulas are engineered to be perfect for reducing friction without slowing down gear action or building up gunk inside the reel. Besides lubrication, specialized reel lubricants also increase reel life by protecting against corrosion.
3. Modify Gathering Guide
Cost: $15-$20 DIY, $50-$80 Professional
Skill Required: High
One of the most common mods serious anglers make is widening the gathering guide. Having a wider gathering guide, the one nearest the reel, allows line to come out more smoothly during casting and spool better on the retrieval. A wider gathering guide increases casting accuracy and distance by giving the line more room to peel away during the cast and allows you better to feather the line for control. When reeling the line back in, the wider gathering guide reduces kinking and memory by adding more tension to the line.
Wider gathering guides also allow a lighter rod and reel with a wider spool to be used. This increases your line capacity without limiting line strength or lure weight.
4. Rubberize Your Grip
Cost: $6-$10
Skill Required: Basic
Liquid rubber like Plasti Dip can be a great way to improve your reel grip. You can coat the end of your reel handle with it for better control against rain, sweat, fish slime, and of course, your aggressive spinnerbait moves. For an even stronger grip, pour the liquid rubber into a separate container and mix in a small amount of fine sand before coating your handle.
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