Hey, Don't Throw That Away!

[sinker man]

Here is a tip I got from paying attention to my non-fishing grandmother. She raised 9 kids on my grandfather's cotton mill paycheck. She was raised up to be thrifty which meant not throwing away anything useful. One of the things she saved were lightly used ziplock bags. They got used one time for food and if they were not greasy or bloody lots of times she would wash them out while she was washing dishes and let them air dry. One day I got a little concerned about what she was using them for and asked one of my aunts who got a kick out of it. She showed me my grandmothers considerable collection in one of the drawers of an old cupboard in the back room and then opened the doors to the top where I could see a whole shelf full of odds and ends such as buttons,safety pins, pincushions full of pins and needles, drawer pulls, Paper clips, staples, screws, nails and etc. If she had it, she knew right where to look for it. It took me awhile longer but I finally figured out that them ziplocks would keep your leaders tangle free. Then I took a tip from the pros and started putting carboard in them ziplocks. Next came the line winder shape complete with line holding 1/2" long cuts snipped in the end of them and holes punched out to accept the hooks and finally cut up coffee stirrers to cover hook points. Most of the cardboard I use is cut from cereal boxes.