WHY DON`T THEY MAKE A SPINNERBAIT BOX? SHELLGAME

Sportsman's
Notebook
SHELLGAME
K e e pr u s ft r o mr u i n i nygo u ra m m o
I Oneof the
commonproblemswith shotgun
shells,particularlyfor waterfowlers,is that
theyget wet and
eventuallyrust,
Onetime I hedged
my bets,thinking
that someof the
basesof my shells
weren'ttoo rusty,
but I wasproved
wrong;an easy
triple on brant
geesewasspoiled
when I killedthe
first birdandthen
couldn'tejectthe
shellfrom the
chamber.Keeping
shellsfrom getting rustywill
keepyoufrom
wantingto wrap
yourgunningiron
arounda tree.
_TOM KEER
WHY DON'T THEY MAKE
A SPINNERBAITBOX?
A simple
trickforstoring
theselures
s i t ha r u s ti n h i b i t o r
t l l W i p et h eb a s eos f t h es h e l l w
suchas KnightOilbeforeyouheadoutfora hunt.The
oil repelsthe moisture
soyourshellsdon'tcorrode
beforeyouusethem.Drythemoutaftereveryhuntand
relubewithoil to keepthe bases
smooth.
ammobox.Whenhuntt2l Ona boat,usea waterproof
plastic
ingbyfoot,tossyourshellsintoa zip-sealed
bagto keepthemdryfromrainor if youwadetoo
deeplywhensettingyourdekes.
to all
t3l lf youdogetrustonthebases(whichhappens
serious
waterfowl
hunters),
drythem,thenwrapa
smallpieceof fine-grain
sandpaper
aroundthe brass
andtwisttheshellseveral
times.Mostof therustwill
falloff.Youwon'tneedto discard
theshellorworry
t h a ti t ' l l j a mw h e nt h ed u c k sa r ep o u r i nign .
I Most of the newly popularsoft-sidedtacklebagsaredesignedto hold severalinexpensive,flat tackleboxes(PlanoNo. 36oo,for example).The boxes
themselveshold every type of bass lure imaginable-except those allimportantspinnerbaitsand buzzbaits.The wire armsof suchlures
aretoo wide to fit in the narrow
box compartments.
BURll,BABY,
BURI{Strategies
for lightingwetwoodinanemergency
Use a knife or Dremel-type
Duct
tape
A
f
rst-sire
bail
uf
lc*sely
wnddfld
ducttapeiseasy
tnlight
cutter to cut a seriesof shallow
andwilihurnlcngenu*gh
tc
dry
out
kind!ing.
iinder
and
'/,
slotsor veesspacedabout inch
I n n e r t uTbher e e - i nsut rhi pcsrs q u a r 0
u sfh i c y r l n n et ru h *b u r n
apartalongthe top of one of the
with
a
:'ank,
sn:flky
f
laiite
hci
enough
to
drlrsmallkindling.
i\obike?
tacklebox dividers. Your wireTry
the
ruhber
$qilnr€s
in
a
wader-pnt*h
kit
{crget
thn
f lamidnn't
basedspinnerbaitscan now nespatch
glue)
mable
ur* slicefr*ma bcutrrusule.
tle tangle-free in a row like
gas0nrJet
Aluminum
canandgasPouring
results
ws*drarely
inm0r€
fanned-outplaying cards, easy
than
a
flare".up.
Inste*d,
cut
top
a
the
uff
snft
rlrink
can,
hury
i{
snthai
to see and reach as they span
therirnextends
ailinchabove
tilesrouild,
andadd4 cunces
cf
sas.
two compartments
with the wires
Stack
a tepee
ofwethrr'dling
fhecan.andlight
ci/er
thegas.0r."pounil
passing through the divider
4 ounces
u{gasandplace
thecailCIn
itssidewiththecpen
tabnntcp.
-IOHNMERWTN
slots.
6 O F I E L I I & S T R E A I T S E P T E I V I B E R2 O O 4