PREPARATION IS THE KEY.....

A good few years ago i was diagnosed as having Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in both my hands and also something similar in my elbows. Over the coarse of 2 years i had operations to relieve the symptoms and fortunately they have mostly worked now, but i still have problems with holding small objects and working with fiddly things. None too good when your an avid angler and every rig you tie takes ages and sometimes quite painful. Now tying rigs on the bank is an awkward thing to do at the best of times but couple that with Carpal Tunnel and it can be damn near impossible, especially when its wet and cold. I now overcome this problem by preparing all my rigs before i go fishing. I,m pretty lucky in that i store my tackle at my warehouse so have dedicated a room solely for fishing and its next door to my office, so whenever i feel the need i grab a little bit of kit and sit in the office listening to music, watching fishing online and tying up various rigs for future trips.

 Today i started of by tying up some sea fishing rigs for a couple of trips i have planned over the next couple of weeks. I,m looking at having a bash for some rays and bass at a couple of local marks as the reports are that they are showing fairly regularly. I sat down for an hour making some single hook rigs for the bass and pennells for the thornbacks. As you can see from the picture i use a small tool box to store all the swivels, crimps, beads etc and an old floppy disc box for all my hooks. Once i,ve tied my rig i then put it in a resealable plastic bag and then it goes into a hook wallet in the tackle bag. I,ve been doing this for the past year now and its a great way of storing your rigs as they don,t get all tackled up and the hooks don,t go rusty as they are sealed away from any water.

After tying my sea rigs i then decided to tie some chod rigs as i plan on having a little dangle for carp on a local park lake soon.
These are right fiddly little blighters to make as they are only a couple of inches long so this makes it really tricky for me. But sitting comfortable at a desk with a mug of Latte next to me makes it seem all the easier.

I also make up my pike and perch rigs in the office and have a big tool box full of the necessary wire, crimps, swivels treble hooks and all the other bits and pieces like side cutters and crimping pliers nicely stored within. It makes life so much easier and is a nice way to spend an hour when i,m bored at work.

I started off making rigs this way to make my fishing a more pleasurable experience, but now i,ve been doing it for a few years i can honestly say that 99 percent of my rigs are now tied in advance of a fishing trip. I,ve also noticed that as long as i keep them stocked up it makes it easier to just grab a bit of tackle, for whatever species i,m aiming for, and set off on short notice trips. Especially if just going for a couple of hours. Its definitely worth giving it a go.

PREPARATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS THEY SAY.....