Sag Harbor - If the fishing this spring is going to be anything like it was last year, it's time to start thinking about getting your gear in order, although exactly when and where the fish show up is an imperfect science, you'll want to be prepared when they do.

According to Ken Morse, owner of Tight Lines Tackle at the Sag Harbor Yacht Yard, last year the Bluefish appeared in force two weeks earlier than normal. "Last year by the second week of April you had all the Bluefish you wanted; the entire Peconic was filled with Blues that had followed schools of Bunker into the bays and there were some things going on at Long Beach that looked like the Discovery Channel on steroids," Morse recalled. "You could literally walk to the edge of the water, without even getting your feet wet, reach down pick up an adult Bunker, throw it back out into the bay and 10 Bluefish would race towards it to rip it to pieces. It was ridiculous but every year is different so it's hard to say what this year will be like."

Josephine DeVincenzi lands a good-sized blue along Long Beach last spring.

If your previous spring maintenance routine for your tackle has merely been to pull it out of the garage or basement, knock the dust off it and go, you can be sure that you're overdue for a tune-up. While mid-April may still seem far enough away not to have to worry about the state of your gear just yet, Morse explains that now is the best time to bring your rod and reel in for a check-up. "What happens is that come May you're going to get the mad rush and everybody wants to know how quickly they can get their tackle but when 40 people in a day come in, it can push service from one to two weeks, or two to four weeks so the sooner you get your equipment in the sooner you get it back. Maintenance is a huge factor of fishing and if you're not going to take care of your equipment your equipment is not going to be right for you when you need it."

The first thing on your list should be servicing your reel, which considering its importance is something that is surprisingly often overlooked. "It's really important to get your reel serviced, especially nowadays with the higher end pieces of machinery that are made with lots and lots of small parts. They try to make them with very light gauge metals and aluminums but unfortunately they're very susceptible to corrosion. The reel is really the heart of the rod. If you think about it, it's like the engine of your car. It doesn't matter what the outside of your car looks like, you might not pick up many girls, but it's the engine that gets you from point A to point B. It's the reel that does the real work."

The mullet run is expected to bring the blues close to shore in early spring sportfishing.

Reel servicing is fairly straight forward, but it can be a daunting task for someone who's never done it before. Basically it consists of opening the reel up, checking and cleaning all the parts, replacing anything that's worn, re-lubricating the main gear, checking the drag mechanism and then sealing it all back up.

Maintaining your fishing tackle involves servicing your reel, replacing broken or cracked guides, and putting on new line.

Even if you rinse your reel in fresh water regularly to keep it clean, Morse adds that's often not enough on its own. "Rinsing your reel is good, but lubricating it is better because you're creating a barrier between the metal and the salt water. For all the customers who come in here and tell me that they rinse their reel off, well that's great, but it's only a part of it. What you do outside is nice, but again it's like washing your car all the time, but never changing the oil. From the moment you start using a reel, the oil on the main gear starts breaking down, and just like maintaining anything else, it's important not to wait until the last minute."

Another aspect of rod maintenance is taking good care of your guides, especially ones with porcelain inserts, making sure they aren't cracked or chipped. While porcelain inserts are great for reducing friction on the line, when they get chipped they become razor sharp and can easily cut your line. "All you have to do is hit it once and it's enough to put a crack or a chip in it and then the whole guide needs to come off, which means you have to remove all the wrap, put a new guide on and epoxy over the whole thing. The whole process is very involved because if you cut into the rod too much taking the wrap off, you'll create a weak spot in the rod and it becomes ruined. So we really take our quality of service to a higher level than other places and we always stand behind our work."

Before the season is upon us, take some time and head out to wherever you keep your rod and tackle either give it a once over, or take it to a tackle shop and have them take a look, since they might notice something you've missed. "Between checking the guides, making sure your reel is good and having new line on it is important to keep your tackle in good shape," Morse said while helping some customers with their gear. "When in doubt change it and don't ever cut a corner when you service your rod from one season to the next. We also check and change the hardware on the lures, making sure you have fresh hooks, and split rings that are appropriate for whatever you're using it for. I would generally recommend having your reel serviced at least once a year or at least bringing it into a tackle shop to have them look at it and then go from there."

Before the season is upon us, take some time and head out to wherever you keep your rod and tackle and either give it a once over, or take it to a tackle shop and have them take a look, since they might notice something you've missed.

So while maintaining your tackle is a relatively straightforward procedure, it's incredibly important to prevent a good day of fishing from being ruined by something like a cracked guide, old line, or poorly cared for reel. Not catching fish can be frustrating, but not nearly as frustrating as knowing the fish are hitting like crazy but you're stuck with busted equipment. In the end, Morse says that "too many adults have forgotten about how great fishing is and there aren't enough kids on bicycles with buckets and fishing poles. So go fishing, take your kids and have fun." It's hard to argue with that.