Rusty hooks

[Ryan Berger]

I just went through my Ice fishing tackle box and found some of the hooks to be rusty, thus causing the box to have rust on it.. Is there anything you guys use to get rust off or do you just toss them and buy new ones? any preventive measures I should take?

[buzbunni]

At this point it would be wise to exchange the rusted hooks for new ones.

I know there is a product that you can purchase that will absorb the moisture and help to prevent rust from forming on hooks/lures, but I can't recall what it is.

I simply open my tackle box after a days fishing(or a weekend trip); this seems to be adequate for me, and I have had no problems with rust since I started doing this.

[delmuts]

we hashed this problem over before. opening the box in the house (in the winter) so things can dry will help. i have tried the rust inhibitor pro. and wasn't real impressed. i have a few of the silicon pks.( that you get with some elect. prod. or cameras) seem to work ok.i would think just a good cleaning of the box should take care of any residue. for the cheaper items i would toss them. i have this some times with my muskie lures.( especially my bucktails) there i take a brass wire brush( a little golf brush works well) clean the rust off and then coat the hook with cooking oil. this won't cure all of the problem , but certainly slows it down.

[slick814]

If the rust is really bad, I'll just replace the hooks if possible. If it's just spotty, I'll take a small brush of some sort, (preferably brass) and clean them up. Never tried Delmuts' cooking oil thing, but it sounds plausible to me.

One thing you can do is the silica packs from a shoe box, or even from some jerky packages works fine too. Keeps the moisture down when the box is closed.

The only way to totally prevent it is to make sure that things are as dry as possible before you close that tackle box.

[The Grebe]

Yes, there are preventive measures you can take...after you buy the lures, dip each one of them in cosmolene, then pack each of the little compartments full of the stuff. You can get the tubes of cosmolene from the Army Surplus store. You know the old saying, " A penny saved is a penny earned!"

It's a little messy cleaning them up to use for fishing, but nothing that a little solvent, or gasoline won't fix!

I have been know to get a lure ready for fishing in under 20 minutes! You know the old saying, " Nothing thats good comes easy"!

A big fluffy terry cloth towel and rubber gloves are recommended, because the solvent will leech all the oil out of your skin. You know the old saying, "A stitch in time saves nine!"

Don't worry about the little multicolored ring that appears when you lower the bait into the water, it will go away after a week or so of heavy use. You know the old saying,

" Wish not, want not!"

There is one draw back to this Cosmolene method...you will have to tie a super knot about an inch long as this stuff is kind of slippery and the knots untie themselves. You know the old saying, " He who laughs first, laughs last!"

Seriously, the only thing that will cause the rust is moisture and if you pay attention to not leaving the tackle box open if it is snowing, misting, or whatever, it should be fine.

Occassionally opening the box in the house to let any condensation dry out is'nt a bad idea either. If you have a cat or a dog, use caution.

[pj4]

i have found that if you microwave or place in oven, those litte packets of dryers can be reused. they absorb moister vary quickly and need to be dried out.

[SteveWilson]

The solvent specifically designed for removing Cosmoline is Kerosene. I use the stuff all the time for removing cosmoline from woodworking equipment. Kerosene works better than WD40, gasoline, MEK, acetone, and other solvents. After using the kerosene a quick wipe with lightler fluid, alcohol, or WD40 will clean up any residue.

[The Grebe]

Ahhh, I was just kidding...Another method for keeping them from rusting is to leave them in the package and put them in the bottom drawer of the dresser...kinda that kind of kidding.

[CRAPPIEBAIT]

Here is a real cheap fix FMER's.

How many times have you got a bag of jerky OR even a new pair of shoes and tossed that little white moister absorbing pack in the trash.Well,I keep these and store them in a zip lock.I'll keep atleast 2 in every tackle box (depends on size of box).

Nothing better than free and easy.Hope this helps.

[CRAPPIEBAIT]

OOOOOPPPSSS !

Guess I should read the whole thread before I start replying