Fishing tackle

I hope there's a fishing shop near me!

I'm sure my tackle box is eating my terminal tackle. I grab a handful of new fishing gear, go fishing once, don't loose any and yet next time I look it's gone! I've figured it out though, I think it's a cycle of natural attrition. The hooks from two trips ago are now rusty and dead. The treble hooks on the lures have a red patina and although they will do another trip, they get replaced. Twenty meters of line is also missing in action. The spool on my reel is down 8mm. That's a worry, will it have enough remaining line? It gets replaced. Fishing is a stressful business. The things that let you down, you saw coming. "I should have..." you mutter as you regret a lost fish because the hook broke, the line snapped or the clip opened up. Again and again. Fishing with old, rusty, worn tackle is like driving a car with no brakes:you can't stop 'em and it will come to a crashing finish. Broken stuff, no fish. WOF fail. Best practice: on a quiet afternoon get the lot out. Rods, reels and terminal tackle. Put it all on a table and take a knife, split-ring pliers and lay waste to all the old rusty, dodgy stuff. Ditch lures you never use, clear it all up, throw it out. Rip any suspect line off your reels and check their operation, particularly the line rollers on spinning reels. Now, with all in order you'll be able to concentrate on technique rather than mechanics. The fish when they bite will stay on. If you believe the old saying that saying that ten percent of anglers catch 90 percent of the fish (I don't), take care of your gear and you'll up your percentage