Fishing Advent Calendar: What to Do With the 24 Lures After Christmas

What is actually behind the 24 doors

Fishing calendars sold in Canada fall into two families.

Lure calendars hold mostly soft plastics, spoons and a few crankbaits. The selection is built for bass and trout, because that is the North American mass market. Good news in Quebec: those are two of our most fished species.

Tackle calendars mix hooks, swivels, weights, snaps and a few lures. Less spectacular to unwrap, often more useful: these are exactly the small parts that always run out in spring.

Either way, the contents are listed in the product description. It is the only thing that really matters before buying, and it is the thing nobody reads.

The January sort, in three piles

Once all 24 doors are open, lay everything out and make three piles. It takes twenty minutes and decides whether the gift ends up in the tackle box or in a drawer.

The "coming with me" pile. Soft plastics on simple rigs, mid-size inline spinners, jig heads, swivels and snaps. These are generic parts: they work here as well as anywhere, and they wear out. Put them in the tackle box right away, in the compartment where you would go looking for them.

The "worth a try" pile. Lures whose use you do not know, improbable colours, rigs you would never have bought. This is the real value of a calendar: it makes you try what you would not have picked. Keep them together in a small box and force yourself to fish them once in May, on water you know well. You will find out fast.

The "not for here" pile. Some calendars slip in lures built for species we do not fish, or hook sizes that serve no purpose in our waters. That does not make them bad — they are simply not for you. Give them to a young angler starting out, or keep them to help someone out on the dock.

Hooks deserve special treatment

This is the most overlooked point. Hooks supplied in entry-level calendars are rarely the quality of those bought individually, and a poor hook on a good lure means a lost fish.

The habit to build: keep the lures, replace the treble hooks with models you trust before the first outing. It costs a few dollars and changes everything. Soft plastics do not have this problem — what matters there is the rig, and it is bought separately.

When to buy, and why the window is so tight

Advent calendars are annual runs: a manufacturer makes a batch for one season, and when it is gone, it is gone. The most popular models sell out in early December, and what is left by mid-December is rarely what you wanted.

October or November. That is the whole advice. If you are reading this in December and everything is sold out, a boxed lure assortment has exactly the same effect under the tree, minus the daily suspense — and it is available year-round.

Who it suits

For a beginner, clearly yes. They discover twenty-four lure types they did not know existed, and twenty-four chances to wonder what each is for. That is a form of learning, and it beats a single high-end lure they will be afraid to lose.

For an experienced angler, it is less certain. They already have their patterns, colours and sizes. At the same price, a good reel, a quality pair of pliers or a headlamp will please them more. Unless you pick a calendar aimed at their favourite species — then the surprise makes sense again.

In short

A fishing advent calendar is worth what you make of it in January. Read the contents before buying, order early, sort into three piles after the holidays, and replace the hooks. The rest is daily pleasure for twenty-four days — which is no small thing in December.

Our comparison of this year's calendars, with today's prices: fishing advent calendar.