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All right! It’s that time of the year again. After months of busting your hump on deck — through good trips and losers — now there’s time to lean back, relax and enjoy spending time with family and friends.

That is as long as the Christmas gift shopping is done. If you’re really organized it’s out of the way; if you’ve slacked off — well you’d better get on it because we’re coming right down to the wire for old Saint Nick.

In either case, I bet there’s one person you’ve forgotten, and that’s you. I know, you had to buy stuff for the significant other, the kids and parents and a few others. But no one knows better than you what you need, and at Christmas it’s perfectly all right to treat yourself.

To help with your personal gift selection, once again I’m providing a few Christmas ideas from National Fisherman’s 2013 Product and At a Glance pages.

For the fishermen working northern waters, the months of December, January and February are especially cold. One place that cold always works its way down to is the feet. With that in mind, it would be hard to turn down the Heated Insoles from Thermacell that are highlighted in this year’s January issue.

Put the insoles in your boots, and a wireless remote control lets you adjust the heat level. Can’t be a simpler way than that to keep your feet warm.

Speaking of boots, in the April issue is Bogs’ Highliner Pro, a boot that was designed especially for commercial fisherman. It features a Bio Grip outsole that has plenty of contact area with the deck, so it’s slip resistant as well as being chemical resistant. And the boots have a wide steel shank for good support. Match the Highliner Pro with the Thermacell Heated Insole, and you should be very comfortable on those wet, cold, crappy winter nights.

Since we are on the subject of personal comfort, how about Grundens Weather-Boss jackets and pants? They have a heavy-duty nylon liner, coated on the inside with a waterproof, breathable barrier that prevents you from getting sweaty or cold. The pant legs come with a bottom zipper, letting you pull them on or take them off without removing the boots.

If things go south when you are on the grounds and you end up ditching the boat, you need a way to ensure that you make it back for the next Christmas. The Ocean signal RescueMe PLB in the March issue just might be what you need.

It’s said to be 30 percent smaller than other PLBs, can be operated with one hand and has a well-designed antenna that transmits your position with its 66-channel GPS. At the same time a strobe light goes off.

Now get out there, splurge on yourself and have a Merry Christmas.

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Jessica Hathaway is the former editor in chief of National Fisherman.

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