Fresh Water Fishing Tackle
How to get rid of the smell in the tackle box?
My mother hated the fish smell, so she had to clean everything in there with a sanitary wipe and lysol…Anti bacterial fresh linen smelling lysol…
And i know for a Fact that fish will never bite a leader, sinker, or hook with that kind of smell on it. No matter what bait or lure i put on. I its gonna be summer soon and im probably gonna go fishing in a few months.
So what should i do?
Buy a dead fish and smear its guts over everything in the tackle box?
Or can i hose it down with water?
I’m not certain what the make-up of your tackle box is, so making a definite decision on the clean-up can only come down to two possible options instead of the one I would have probably suggested. My first thought was to turn the box upside down in the lower tray unit of Mom’s dishwasher and run it through a complete cycle or two. However, if your box is plastic, you will NOT want to allow it in the washer during the normal drying cycle as the intense heat WILL rearrange the shape of the box into something far less than you will be happy with. To avoid that chance, consider running the box through the machine ONLY until the drying cycle begins. Then remove the box and allow the dishwasher to finish and turn itself off before starting a second wash if one is actually needed. The alternative is to take the box to your local car-wash and use the high-pressure wash with hot and soapy water to give the box a good hosing out and off. If you can still smell the cleansers Mom used on your box after one wash-cycle, start again and repeat the process. The second one should remove all traces of the Lysol, etc. As a final thought, consider a VERY LIGHT “dusting” of WD-40 over the trays, drawers, hinges, etc. The water-displacement product is also a GREAT fish attractant in addition to keeping hooks and metal lures from rusting and corroding. (Wipe out any excess with a paper towel or clean rag.) Its pleasant odor will be a LOT more appealing to you AND the fish. Don’t even ask Mom what her preferences are. ;o) If your tackle also went through the Motherly TLC process, lay out an old piece of window screen…arrange the lures, hooks, sinkers, etc. across the surface of the screen and then fold a second lay over the top of the tackle. Roll the screen into a bundle and run it through the same washing process as you use for the box. The screen will allow the hot, soapy water to penetrate everything you wrapped in the screen without allowing the pressure washer or machine washer to cast the small parts and pieces to the four winds in the car-wash or farthest inaccessible recesses of the dishwasher. You can blow off most of the moisture from the tackle-box and the loose tackle with an air hose on your air-compressor or with a hair-drier. To be sure you have everything totally dry, do not put it all back together and close the box for a warm day or two after you have given it all the bath. From then on, it should all be good as new (or old)….unless Mom finds where you’ll be keeping it hidden from now on.
Basic Freshwater Fishing Tackle: Rod, Reel & Line