Taking Control (of your tackle)

I remember the day well. It was near Father's Day years ago and I was salivating over this new tackle box at the local Wal-Mart store. This thing had all of the bells and whistles. The top of the box was large enough to hold back-up reels and spools of line and had racks in there that allowed you to hang your larger lures vertically. The front of the box had a large panel that hid drawers behind it that could hold all kinds of gadgets and the newest and greatest lures on the market. I told my wife that I just had to have that box and my request was granted and it went home with me as my Father's Day gift.

Once home I started cleaning out my old tackle boxes. Throwing away things that I didn't think I could live without when I had bought them and placing the essential items into my new MONSTER box. When I had finished I was amazed at the room that was still left in my new box. I had room for MORE STUFF! So a trip back to the store to acquire the newest and greatest lures and line was necessary and while I was there I figured that I might as well buy some new hooks to replace those on some of my older lures, and then there were those new ball-bearing swivels that I'd wanted and not to mention those new curly tailed Assassins. Before I knew it the new box was full and I was happy and would remain that way until my wife received the next VISA bill anyway.

I was proud. There was almost nothing that I didn't have in that box and it went with me on every fishing trip. One of my friends complained that he didn't have enough room in his boat for that box and I convinced him to leave his box at home since it was by far inferior to mine in size and in quantity. I had it all in that box and what I didn't have we couldn't possibly need. And if by some chance we did manage to find something that we didn't have, well a trip to Academy or Wal-Mart would fix that problem. I still had a tiny bit of room left in that box.

Did you know that it is possible to injure your back with a too heavy tackle box? It's true. A friend of mine grabbed my box to lift up into the boat at the ramp and injured his back. We're still friends and he didn't sue me but I started to think that maybe I had too much stuff in that box. Later I placed my MONSTER tackle box on the scale in my bathroom at home and it weighed in at 73 pounds.

Not long after the incident at the ramp with my friend's back, I had one of my own. The heavy-duty handle on top of the box couldn't handle the weight of the tackle and it broke which caused the box to fall as I was lifting it up into my boat. It hit the concrete and spilled out across my driveway at four in the morning. For the next hour or so I picked up all types of lures, hooks, swivels and split rings. Not long after that happened, I pulled a #4 treble hook out of a tire on my riding lawn mower and to this day I blame every flat that I get on that incident. I had a tackle problem and something had to be done.

I had to lighten the load of that box and as painful as it was, I started taking inventory of the things that I used and of those that I didn't. You'd be surprised at the amount of "stuff" that I'd never tied on a line or that had never been removed from the package. I mean would I ever really use that ACME DOUBLE DUTY SUPER DUPER HALIBUT BOTTOM RIG? Or that special lure that the magazine ad said was a sure thing for catching piranha in the Amazon? Or how about that nifty glow-in-the-dark noise making walk-across-moss rat that I found in there? I'm serious! I don't even know where that came from but the sticker on the package said $12.50, what a deal!

By the time I finished taking out those things I never used, I had only enough lures, leadheads and such to fill a few plastic lure boxes. Can you say pathetic? The stuff that I removed from that MONSTER tackle box was sold at a garage sale to poor souls who hadn't yet admitted to themselves that they have a problem.

With the onset of winter, a lot of fishermen will be trading their rods and reels for rifles and shotguns and taking to the woods, ponds and rice fields. This would be a good time for you to do a little cleaning of your own.

Take a look into your tackle box when you get a chance and make a note of the stuff that you use and of the stuff that you'll never use and then clean house! Get rid of it. Sell it at a garage sale and use the money to "ugh" buy more tackle.

You'll thank me some day and you'll never have to worry about a friend injuring his back and you probably won't ever have to worry about #4 treble hooks causing flats on your riding lawnmower.

On a side note... September 19^th we will celebrate with my Dad his 78^th birthday. My Dad is my hero and is responsible for instilling in me my love for saltwater fishing, my knowledge of our local bay systems, boats, guns and my love for the outdoors in general.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Thank you for always being there for me and for always finding time in your busy schedule to take me fishing and hunting with you.

Be Safe,
Martin