Hello everybody, here in pennsylvania, there are about 5 inches of snow outside, so I was wondering if anyone knows any ways to practice fishing inside? I usually go outside and cast into a hula hoop, but with the snow, I am restricted to the indoors. Any advice? 

You can still practice outside.

Just wear boots & a hat . . .

A-Jay

If you have a garage or a large space, you can practice pitching or flipping. If you want to get fancy you can move a couple chairs and practice pitching and swinging under the chairs (like you would a dock). I have done it a lot, this would be a good time to really fine tune your flipping and pitching stick reels.

Get yourself an empty coffee can and practice pitching into it. Start close and move farther and farther away. Challenge your friends and make a game of it.

You can still practice outside.

Just wear boots & a hat . . .

A-Jay

This will actually improve your overall abilities and versatility. And if you ever plan on taking advantage of the great Steelhead fishin you have up there, you might as well get used to the conditions.

Tackle tuning time. Cleaning and tuning reels, you can do the basics or depending on skills perform more detailed cleaning., or send out to a good reel service technician. Clean the rods, handles, inspect guides, etc.

Sharpen hooks; practice honing until every hook point is as sharp as possible. Most anglers today believe their hooks are sharp enough, every hook that has been fished needs resharpening and most new hooks can use a little fine honing.

Re organize the tackle and reintroduce yourself to tackle you have forgotten about. Nothing brings back fishing memories then touching and feeling lures. Cleaning lures, touching up paint chips, doctoring lures with red gill slits, painting rear treble hooks on crankbaits, leave the paint off from the barb to the tips. Lots of things to do to get ready for good weather during winter.

Tom

I use old small Bass Pro/ Orvis boxes that I receive from all the stuff I order from there. They're perfect for practicing my pitching inside.

Tackle tuning time. Cleaning and tuning reels, you can do the basics or depending on skills perform more detailed cleaning., or send out to a good reel service technician. Clean the rods, handles, inspect guides, etc.

Sharpen hooks; practice honing until every hook point is as sharp as possible. Most anglers today believe their hooks are sharp enough, every hook that has been fished needs resharpening and most new hooks can use a little fine honing.

Re organize the tackle and reintroduce yourself to tackle you have forgotten about. Nothing brings back fishing memories then touching and feeling lures. Cleaning lures, touching up paint chips, doctoring lures with red gill slits, painting rear treble hooks on crankbaits, leave the paint off from the barb to the tips. Lots of things to do to get ready for good weather during winter.

Tom

X2 always a good idea to keep your tackle up to par.

And if you ever plan on taking advantage of the great Steelhead fishin you have up there, you might as well get used to the conditions.

Hes about as far away from the tribs as you can get in PA. Thats a good 5.5 hour run for him minimum

All I got from his post was PA...Still not too far a distance. I've driven as far as Oak Orchard for those fish! They are some seriously addicting targets...

If you have pets it's always a fun time to pitch and flip a small toy for them to chase after (works better with cats and small dogs, big dogs not so much).  I had a buddy of mine tie a tennis ball to his fishing line last winter and play with his dog so he could learn how to cast a bait caster and he was set as soon as the water thawed.  I live in NW Wisconsin and I feel your pain when it comes to cold weather.  Think outside the box and you will come up with something fun.

If you have pets it's always a fun time to pitch and flip a small toy for them to chase after (works better with cats and small dogs, big dogs not so much).  I had a buddy of mine tie a tennis ball to his fishing line last winter and play with his dog so he could learn how to cast a bait caster and he was set as soon as the water thawed.  I live in NW Wisconsin and I feel your pain when it comes to cold weather.  Think outside the box and you will come up with something fun.

I spend a lot of time sitting on the couch casting a small knotted piece of rope on a 5 1/2 foot pistol grip with a 6500 C3 to our dog in the living room. I don't know that it's the best practice for real life fishing but it is a good way to pass the time and good exercise for our dog.

Go drill a hole in the ice on the local pond and practice pitching into that............it won't look silly at all.............at least untill someone see's you.

You could practice some flipping, but now is a great time to tinker with your gear.  I'm polishing the drag washers and installing CarbonTex's on my Shimano Corvalus'. Next up is a cleaning of all my reels. Then it's on to checking and changing out hooks on baits and before you know it, the power plant lakes will be opening, so it'll be time to get the boat ready.  Ten weeks.......I wonder if I'll get it all done in time

If you have pets it's always a fun time to pitch and flip a small toy for them to chase after (works better with cats and small dogs, big dogs not so much).  I had a buddy of mine tie a tennis ball to his fishing line last winter and play with his dog so he could learn how to cast a bait caster and he was set as soon as the water thawed.  I live in NW Wisconsin and I feel your pain when it comes to cold weather.  Think outside the box and you will come up with something fun.

 

My dog loves chasing the practice weights from BPS. Great tip!

I flip and pitch all winter long in my garage. set up a few coffee cans and your ready to go

My indoor rig includes an 1/8 bullet wait tied onto a paper clip.  I add a plastic worm (for show I guess and a little extra weight) from a bag that I'll never use fishing. 

Wow, great tips everybody!  I hadn't even thought of gear maintenance as a way to keep me busy.  Is there a good sticky in the forums here or elsewhere on best methods especially rod/reel maintenance?  I recently bought my first bait caster and could probably be practicing with that now also.

 

Thanks in advance.

Wow, great tips everybody!  I hadn't even thought of gear maintenance as a way to keep me busy.  Is there a good sticky in the forums here or elsewhere on best methods especially rod/reel maintenance?  I recently bought my first bait caster and could probably be practicing with that now also.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

This should get you started.