It is hard to believe that Christmas is only a little more than a couple weeks away! Now is a good time to take inventory of what you need or want for your ice or open water fishing, and make your list for others. We, as anglers, are always easy for others to gift buy for the holidays, as we are always expanding our tackle selection or upgrading equipment. We are also pretty good at getting gifts for the other anglers in our life, as we know what they would probably like. Make a list for that angler in your life.
Think specific if it comes to your bigger ticket items like underwater cameras, flashers, GPS/sonar units, potable fish houses, trolling motors, augers, etc., as you probably have specific taste. Brand name and model numbers help others meet your wants. Be specific with the smaller items like terminal tackle also. We all have particular likes and dislikes when it comes to lines, hooks, jigs (types/colors/sizes), swivels, bobbers, and anything else we may use. If buying for others, make sure you know what make or model they want.
I think that a gift certificate to a bait or tackle store is never an impersonal gift when buying for the angler in your life. They can get for themselves what they really want or like, and your sensitivity of knowing that fishing is a priority shows consideration. With all the new items that are available now, they may get to the store with one item in mind and go another direction entirely when they shop for themselves with the gift certificate.
This can be a time where you can buy something, or get something for someone else that they wouldn’t get for themselves. This is a time you can put some things on a wish list that would be nice to have, but you haven’t justified buying one for yourself.
Some examples: You have a fillet knife you have used for years, but, boy that portable electric fillet knife would be really nice to have some day! You would like to do more fishing with crank baits, but at $5-7 each, you just haven’t taken the risk. You have the same lifejackets I have had in my boat for ten years, they work, but it would be nice to upgrade to some of the newer nicer, lighter, more comfortable ones on the market now.
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If finances are a problem this holiday season, think outside the box. A certificate for boat detailing, a fishing outing for someone that rarely gets to fish, an invite for the in-laws to a home cooked walleye dinner…you get the idea.
Fishing can be an expensive hobby, but it doesn’t have to be. Live within your budget, buy for others within your budget. Buying used can be a great way to get something that you may not otherwise be able to afford. It doesn’t make much sense to have the expensive new boat or fish house, the expensive new truck to pull it with, and then not go fishing because you can’t afford the gas, bait, or expenses for the trip.
(Laabs runs Brad Laabs’ Guide Service in Detroit Lakes.)
