WILLMAR -- By now, if you're on the ball, the biggest Christmas presents have been purchased. Or at least, you know what to get.
What's left are the small presents to either fill the stockings or to put around the big presents under or near the Christmas tree.
But what can you get for an outdoors person?
Each year, we focus on one particular group of gifts for people interested in hunting, fishing or general outdoors activities. This year, we'll look at the stocking stuffers. The prices indicated are the manufacturers' suggested prices or online store prices from the manufacturer. They do not reflect any local prices or special sales.
Now that we've gotten through the disclaimer ...
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Small gifts
When it comes to clothes, women can accessorize and men can't. Men -- and a few women -- can mix and match when it comes to ice fishing.
"I get women in the store looking for something different for their husbands," said Brad Foshaug of Brad's 71 Bait and Sports north of Willmar. "Something that he doesn't have."
There are hundreds upon hundreds of lures available for ice fishing. But for under the water, in a dark enclosure, nothing beats a glowing lure.
One of the biggest names in fishing tackle, Lindy, has an assortment of jigs, spinners, crankbaits, etc., with glow-in-the-dark capabilities. Individual lures retail in the range of $.82 to $2.00 each with a variety of colors.
But those luminous lures are nothing if they don't glow, so a light source is needed. A popular, handy gift would be the Glo-Buster from Northland Tackle. It's a miniature LED light on a key chain that charges the lures in seconds. It retails for $8.95.
The glow lights that charge the lures are very popular this year," said Jabran Mustafa of J's Bait and Sport in Willmar. "Most electronics, lures and lights are popular."
Speaking of light, there's usually never enough in a fish house and small lights are a necessity. Vexilar has its popular L-200 flexlight, similar to an adjustable desk lamp, but more streamlined. It plugs into any Vexilar product, like a depth finder, and sells for about $24.99.
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Rods and reels will fit into a really big stocking, but for smaller stockings try some fishing line. Although glowing lures attract fish, glowing line does not. For ice fishing, the more it disappears in the water, the better.
Berkley has a number of choices when it comes to ice fishing lines. Its Trilene brand of line, most notable the Fireline series, is extremely popular and sells for about $16.49. The Vanish series is a fluorocarbon line made specifically to disappear in the water. A 250-yard spool retails for $11.45-$13.45 depending upon the line strength.
Then there's the standard gifts, tip-ups, bait containers, rod holders; the list goes on and on.
Big gifts
Let's say the stocking is huge, or more precisely, you're like most other people and have put off your main Christmas shopping until now. What do you do?
As mentioned above, rods and reels are always a great gift, especially for a novice angler.
Of course, to really be remembered this holiday, you can't go wrong with a gadget.
Vexilar again has the answer with their FL-20 depth/fish finder. It has the largest three-color display of any of the company's products. With extras, it sells for around $549.99. The smaller FL-18 sells for $489.99.
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Then there are portable ice houses and chairs for those shelters, ice augers, auger stands and many other accessories that go along with them.
If all else fails
If you're still stuck on what to get, try something out of the ordinary.
"As usual, we sell the Ron Schara outdoors calendar. That's number one each year," said Jim Dahlvang of DJ's Sporting Goods and Champion Auto of Montevideo.
The calendar sells for approximately $9.95 and has Minnesota or Wisconsin versions.
