What's your "gear" routine, when you return home from fishing?

[afishinado]

Chaz wrote:
The first thing I always do when done fishing for the day is put the rod in the case, then I take care of everything else. I never put equipment on top of any vehicle, that's a sure way to lose stuff.

Good advice. The last thing you should do when gearing up is take your rod out of the case and string it up, and as Chaz said, the first thing you should do when getting back your vehicle is to put the rod back in it's case. Losing or breaking a rod is not fun.

 

[AndyP]

I must be lazy. I through everything in the bed of my truck. Drive home take a nap, wake and realize everything is in the truck bed. Run outside and throw it into the garage. I have rods that I not broken down in years. Just hang them on the wall. Everything works.

 

[just_jon]

First thing I do is wipe down my bamboo rod with a dry cotton cloth and put it in the tube (top open). I wipe my reel down and put it in my reel case while contains a dessicant pack. As for the rest of my stuff, it just gets tossed in my gear bag. Never take it out of the bag until my next day of fishing. My buddies tell me I'm shortening the life of my waders, but I've been fishing the same Orvis Giude chest waders for 10 years without a single leak. Should add that I put more time on the water than both of them combined, Should probably state the I use rubber soled boots, so cleaning is not a real concern.

When I get home, I take the rod bag from the tube and hang it from a hook in the hall closet for a day or two. If I'm going out the next day, I just bring the tube inside and let the top open.

 

[tomb]

When im finished fishing for the day my #1 priority is storing the rod safely in its case.Usually your biggest investment and it deserves special attention. When home ,waders are hung inside out to dry,then next morningthey are reversed and hung to dry again.Care of these will increase longevity.

 

[krayfish]

See photo

 

[McSneek]

Krayfish - The only potential problem I see with your routine is the cooler looks hard to reach and some of the rods are in the way. Makes it hard to access the contents.

 

[krayfish]

I see your point. The good news is that isn't MY cooler. It belongs to the guy in the boat towing vehicle. Sucks for him. LOL. Mine is riding shotgun.

The rods get put together in mid April and remain that way on the recliner in the LR....just in case I get the chance / urge to head out. Unfortunately this year limited me to 3 or 4 outings and they are getting quite dusty. Over the winter, back into storage tubes. I didn't ge the waders completely dry after my super fantastic steelhead trip last November and when I cracked open the rubbermaid tub in April..... holy sh*t. I had all kinds of stuff growing on them and the stink was unreal. Noted and won't happen again. 5 days on the D and the front pocket on my waders was grey and fuzzy. The stink lasted most of the trip and I got a terrible cold that I assume was from breathing in the mold.

 

[SBecker]

I see my two rods in that picture, my cooler, and I sat shotgun after that picture was taken lol.