Not the Retiring Kind

I’m almost certain that I have more Senkos than you do. 

I have crates full of bags and bulk packs, especially in my core colors, but even some in those “what if” or “once in a lifetime” shades. I’m prepared in case I run out of money, Tackle Warehouse goes out of business (would merit a national day of mourning or the folks at GSM put my picture behind the cash register with a sign that says “Do not sell to this guy.”

And yet I’m still pretty stingy with them.

Of course, the softness of the plastic is a big part of what makes them so great, but it also makes them fragile. When a fish jumps and sends one into orbit, that’s a likely loss, but when they’re just a little bit ripped I tend to milk ‘em for all they’re worth.

But eventually I swap one out for a fresh one. I don’t hesitate to put a new one on for just a few casts at the end of the day if I think it’s necessary and appropriate. And I’ll admit that I take a certain perverse pleasure in seeing how far I’ve depleted a once-full big bag at the end of the day. 

If Justice Potter Stewart had been an angler, and been asked when to retire a Senko, he would’ve said “I know it when I see it.”

Accordingly, I don’t mourn the demise of any one Senko, or even a bag of them. I’m proud when I see one that died for the cause lying on the floor of the boat.

But hats are a tougher story. I get a lot of new ones over the course of an average year, end up relying on only a few, and then obsess about whether they’re worth keeping or discarding. 

Even hats of the same style (for example, Richardson 112) can have a different feel and different mojo, and while I’m generally not superstitious (just kinda stitious), I just fish better in some. I don’t believe they make a difference in my mechanics, but maybe it’s the comfort factor, or the fact that they don’t get in the way that makes one better.

I have several hats that I like with the logo of our website, Half Past First Cast – but there’s one with an engraved leather patch with the outline of a tuna that I simply can’t quit. I bought it perhaps five years ago. It’s faded, sweat-stained, and may still have some tuna blood embedded on it. It doesn’t match everything that I wear while fishing, and I typically only fish for tuna once a year. It’s a prime candidate for the trash, or at the very least replacement with a similar model, but I like this hat. I kind of wish there was a more obvious expiration date.