Some people call it 'cabin fever'. I call it Musky Fishing Withdrawl (MFW). MFW also has another meaning, I won't give you the first two words, but W stands for winter--use your imagination :-)

The only good thing with winter is it allows us to restock, fix, analyze and get everything ready for another year. After all of the hooks are sharpened, reels are cleaned/lubed/respooled and everything else is taken care of, it's time for arts and crafts! Here are a couple of simple ideas that will take up hours of your time and keep you sane (maybe) through the heart of winter.

Get yourself a bunch of Sharpie markers. Black, red, blue, green--get them all! They're cheap and you'll be amazed at all of their uses. They work on just about everything. In this first Winter Workshop, we'll use them on hair. Year's ago I started decorating M&G Spinnerbaits. By taking a black marker to them, you give them a TON of contrast--plus, they look 'cool'. Chart-gold/brass becomes bumblebee, green-chart-orange/flame becomes firetiger, brown-yellow/brass becomes smallmouth bass, grey-white/nickel becomes crappie (or if you're really creative you can make it into northern pike) and red-yellow/flame becomes firebelly

Stop sniffing the markers!
Brett Erickson