Still time to shop for outdoor enthusiasts

It’s the last week to finish up your Christmas shopping for outdoor enthusiasts. Hopefully, a couple of my hints will help.

Clothes of all kinds are always appreciated by people of the outdoor world. Whether the item is to help keep you warm or to keep you dry, weather resistant clothing is great. I think everybody should own a balaclava. Actually, I really just love to say the word.

For winter wear, balaclavas pull over your head and cover everything other than your eyes and nose. They keep you warm and protect you from the sun. Fifteen bucks will get you a good one.

There is a lot of great clothing available for sunny day wear. The incidence of skin cancer is climbing at an amazing rate. You can buy great stuff to protect your bare skin while not making you feel hot and sweaty.

The sunny day cousin of the balaclava is a gaiter. More and more pro fishing enthusiasts are covering their heads with gaiters. I see a lot of people on the water who are missing pieces of their ears. That’s from skin cancer, my friends. Don’t let it happen to you. There are shirts you can wear in high temps and bright sunlight that are very comfortable. Check them out.

I think one of the greatest inventions of all time is the Thermacell Mosquito Repeller. They sell these babies at almost every outdoor store, big-box store, tackle shop, almost everywhere. The basic model of the Thermacell costs under 25 bucks. It’s tiny but is a powerhouse.

I have never seen anything that keeps mosquitoes away like a Thermacell. It runs on a simple battery and is fueled by tiny sealed canisters of Thermacell repellent. There is no flame, but a heat source is generated by the fuel. It is non-toxic.

The Thermacell runs for four hours on a fuel cell and a battery. That is cheap. Get this, the Thermacell keeps working and keeps away the mosquitoes in a 15 x 15 square foot area. I know, it almost sounds too good to be true.

I think every relative and friend I know has been the recipient of a Thermacell from me. I guarantee you’ll have tons of thanks heaped on you if you give these as gifts.

Fishing lures are excellent stocking stuffers. If you haven’t shopped for lures lately, get ready for a surprise. A lot of fishing lures can put a real dent in a shopper’s budget.

Walk down the musky aisle at the local Bass Pro and scope out the prices of the big lures that can be over a foot long. Wow! The most expensive lure I have found at Bass Pro costs more than sixty bucks. I’ve seen handmade lures at the musky show that cost over two hundred bucks a pop. Too rich for my blood.

If the person getting lures for a gift is a local fishing enthusiast, you are safe buying basic bass-sized lures. You know they like to say “lures are made to catch fishermen, not fish.” I don’t think that is always true, but I try to keep my options simple.

I had a famous angler tell me there shouldn’t be any other lures except those in black, white. silver, gold and fire-tiger color. That guy was trying to kill the lure business, but I don’t think he was totally wrong.

Some lure brands and models that work well in these parts are the Mepp’s Spinner, the Rat-L-Trap, the Floating Rapala, Rebel-Pop-R, Z-Man Chatterbait, and the Worden’s Roostertail. Fill those stockings, my friends.