Why Anglers Need Hair Scrunchies: 3 Unexpected Items You Should Keep in Your Tackle Box

If you see a male angler shopping a store’s health and beauty section, you might find him making a few unexpected, yet completely legitimate purchases. Dispensing with any rude or childish humor, here are three atypical items anglers often repurpose for fishing applications.

1. Baby Wipes
Usually applied to an infant’s business end, these pre-moistened cloths are also handy for cleaning tarnished or scuffed spoons and spinnerbait blades. When the bite’s tough, ensuring maximum flash makes a difference.

2. Hair Bands
Securing the up-do or pulling back a ponytail—that’s the kind of stuff for which these fabric-covered elastic bands were made. Make a few tight wraps and you also have a handy rod binder that simplifies transport from vehicle to vessel.

Ladies, we’ll trust your fashion sense on this one; but fellas, I’d suggest avoiding pink or leopard print scrunchies, unless you enjoy merciless jabs from your buddies.

3. Tampons
No explanation needed here, but for angling purposes, this hygiene staple serves well the competitive concerns of kingfish tournament anglers. It’s common knowledge that fish entered in “kill tournaments” lose body fluid weight in the fish box. You can’t stop the slime and seepage loss, but when ill-placed gaff leaves a bleeding wound, inserting the tampon halts the blood loss and thereby preserves as much of the fish’s natural weight as possible.

I promise I’m not pulling your leg. This is a legitimate tournament tactic. Some use paper towels or tissues, but the tampon is already designed for this job.

More examples, no doubt exist. What unexpected items do you use to catch fish?