Story by Hunter Baughman | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
I hope everyone’s Christmas and New Year were great. It’s been nice to relax a little. Life is back in full swing starting this week for most everyone. For me, that means it’s time to start working on the fishing season.
I’d like to say I had my new boat wrapped and all sponsor contracts finished up. But as it always seems to happen in this fishing gig, that’s not the case. There are still some sponsorship agreements I need to finish up, and the boat is definitely not wrapped. In fact, the boat is still being built. And there are some big changes coming for this season’s boat. But for now, you’ll just have to wait and enjoy the suspense. I promise I’ll let you in on the changes as soon as I can.
While I’m waiting on everything to finish up, this will be inventory week. This will be a very cold week here in Arkansas—a very good week to stay inside. My plans are to get all my rods, reels and tackle and bring it all inside. Seems simple enough but it turns into controlled chaos very quickly. Forty or 50 rods and reels plus a boat and truck bed full of tackle is a lot to go through at one time. It’s usually a long process but it’s very rewarding after I’m done.
I look at every hard bait, bag of plastics and terminal tackle I own and make a list of which items I’m low on or missing. After this list is compiled, I take the schedule for the year to see which lake-specific baits I might need as well. Then I make a large order to stock back up.
But that’s not all! Then I take all the new stuff back in the office and restock everything. I’m a big fan of EWG-type treble hooks on any hard baits. All my Ark Fishing baits come straight out of the package ready to go. But any baits that have old or rusted hooks from last year, I go ahead and change them out.
Then it’s time to work on all the bags of plastics. For me, the best way to store plastics is in Ziploc bags. I use gallon bags and fill them with different categories of plastics, such as “craws,” “big worms,” “finesse worms,” and so on. Usually there are 20-30 different categories. Then I take orange duct tape and put it on the front of each bag and write the category with a permanent marker. The orange tape makes the labels very visible and easy to sort through during a tournament day. I usually replace all the bags each year to keep everything clean.
Then, after all the craziness, it’s finally done and goes back in the boat. Whatever excess I’ve got goes in the truck. While the process is tedious, it pays off during the season. I’ve got everything I need for the year and it’s organized. In this fishing game, time is money, and having an organized boat makes a day on the water more efficient.
If January gets too cold where you live, I encourage you to do your own fishing inventory!
Hunter Baughman – Angler Profile
