Five tools for fixing your fishing gear on the fly
Don’t let a gear snafu send you home early—or empty-handed.
You will break something on your next fishing trip. The laws of the outdoors all but guarantee it. You’d be wise, then, to outfit yourself with some tools to make quick repairs while on the water. We’ve rounded up five top-rated products—from multi-tools to tape—that will help prevent a gear blunder from sending you home.
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A tool can’t help you on the water if you leave it in the truck or, worse yet, at home. And the bulkier the tool, the less likely you are to bring it. That won’t be the case with this Rapala multi-tool. It weighs just 2.4 ounces and has a built-in carabiner clip, so you really have no excuse not to have it on your person at all times.
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This five-piece set aims to be a complete fishing toolkit, and it’s hard to argue that includes just about everything budding anglers need to repair fishing gear or tackle: A 25-in-1 multi-tool, including long-nose pliers, standard pliers, wire strippers, lure-tuning tools, a crimper, a wire cutter, a serrated blade, a knife, a phillips screwdriver, and a slotted screwdriver. The kit also comes with two plastic waterproof tackle cases, along with a Croakie-like sunglass head-strap thing.
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When all else fails, turn to tape. The peel-and-stick Gear Aid Tenacious Tape, in particular, affords a sew-free fix to rips or tears in fishing waders, tents, tarps, and sleeping bags. (It’ll surely secure a busted rod guide, too.) It’s widely praised for its durability, weather resistance, and multi-purpose function.
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Gear Aid also makes a great wader-repair kit, which includes .25-ounces of Aquaseal FD and two 3-inch Tenacious tape patches.
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One struggles to imagine a fishing-gear debacle that this 9.6-ounce, 18-tool stainless steel gadget couldn’t help get you out of. It includes pliers, a wire stripper, a wire crimper, screwdriver, and a belt clip for easy carrying. Fishermen will appreciate that its black oxide finish is out-of-box coated in wax and oil, to prevent corrosion.
