Let's face it: Changing out the hooks on all of your hardbaits isn't the most exciting thing you'll do this winter. But it can sure pay off come spring.

Bassmaster Elite Series pro Dean Rojas of Arizona never carries a hook of any sort over from one season to the next. When he begins to prepare his tackle for a new campaign, hooks are the first order of business.

"We take a lot of bumpy boat rides, and with all those hooks packed in there together, just the jarring will dull them," he said. "It's worth it to spend that little bit of extra money and take the time to replace them.

"It's just part of the process of trying to put all the advantages in your favor so that when you get that key bite, your equipment isn't going to fail you."

Working up the motivation to replace every single hook in your arsenal can be problematic, though. Several hours in a chilly garage laboring at a dull, repetitive task isn't most people's idea of winter fun.

Boob Tube to the Rescue

Rojas has a way to make the annual hook-replacement ordeal more palatable. A vintage car buff, he does the work in his living room while tuned into the Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction, which is held in Scottsdale, Ariz. each January and televised throughout the region.

"It's a guy thing, and it actually makes it kind of fun," he said. "If you try to sit there in your garage and do it, it can be very monotonous. You start feeling like you've been at it all day, when in reality it's only been 45 minutes."

The task doesn't require a great deal of concentration, so it can be accomplished with most of your attention focused on the TV.

"When I'm watching the car auction, I can go on for hours. I'll go through a couple hundred baits."

That New-Reel Smell

From there, Rojas moves on to his rods and reels. As a well-sponsored pro (Quantum in this instance), he has the luxury of acquiring a brand new repertoire each year.

"I very rarely use the rods I used last year, but if I have a favorite or two, I'll bring them back again," he said. "The bottom line is that I make a living with my equipment, and I use it so much during a season that it's susceptible to damage.

"There might be one that got stepped on one time or got a locker lid shut on it but didn't break. Again, I'm trying to make sure that everything's at 100% efficiency."

As for new reels, he pairs them up with their respective rods and adjusts them to the proper settings before they go into the locker – a practice that saves him time down the road.

"I love a new reel that's right out of the box – it's almost like getting a new car."

Lots of Line Needed

Rojas employs a large plastic bin to carry all of his line to each tour stop and back. It contains close to two dozen 3,000-yard spools of Izorline – two types of monofilament in pound-test from 6 through 25, fluorocarbon (6- through 20-pound) and braid (30-, 50- and 65-pound).

Like most tour pros, he changes his line out after each competition day. And not just the first 50 or 60 yards, but the entire spool.

"I do it even if I've only fished it for a half-hour or so," he said. "You can be just fishing along and you make a cast and get a backlash – yes, that happens to us, too – and when you're pulling it out the line's under stress, and the next day you might break off a fish.

"It's actually faster for me to peel it all off and then reel the new stuff on. If you only change out the first part, and the next day you get hung up and break off 10 or 15 feet, you can start getting real close to where you tied that knot. If that happens, you'll be glad you have that extra line on your spool."

Another precaution he takes is to have backup rods rigged up for both his primary and secondary patterns.

"I might carry 15 to 18 rods, but half of those are backups. I spend more time tying backup stuff than just about anything else.

"When stuff fails – and it does – I want to be prepared for it. As an angler, you want to think about all of the variables you can control so that when you hit that no-wake buoy, whether it's a tournament or weekend trip, you can have all the advantages going your way."

Notable

> Rojas donates much of the previous year's equipment to youth and high school fishing programs, and attendees at his outdoor show seminars also get a crack at some of it. "I use last year's rods for the demonstrations, and when they're over I'll autograph them and give them away," he said.

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