Tackling My Tackle - 2010

I have been spending some quality time with my tackle in the past week. Although there is still snow laying on the ground and the temperature has barely risen above the 30's, I have been sitting in my garage with a tiny space heater turned on sifting through my new and used tackle. Boy, do I have a lot of it!

I can't help thinking about a statement I heard made several years ago at a BASS Fishing Techniques workshop that 90% of all bought tackle would never touch water. Well, I thought that just can't be said about my tackle. Ahem... maybe that statement is correct after what I just saw this week in my garage.

I have every known natural color of plastic tubes known to mankind. Green pumpkin dominates, but I have every "flake" added to a green pumpkin tube that's imaginable.

I have so many varieties of tubes that it would make even a manufacturer's head spin like Linda Blair's in the Exorcist!

Not only do I have a "Ton of Tubes", I also have just as many Case Magic Sticks in a variety of "needed" colors.

Since I no longer fish as often for largemouth as I had back in the 90's while doing Pa. BASS Federation tournaments, my largemouth tackle isn't as large as my smallmouth tackle. Not to say that I do not have way too much Lgmouth "stuff"' because I definitely do.

My hard bait collection is filled with so many spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and jigs that I'll never use half of them in my lifetime. That's why I plan to never die until I use up all of them. Sort of like Mr. Magorium's (Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium) comfortable shoes. He knew it was time to pass on when he was wearing his last pair!

I have a plan to help me better organize my plastics. I am going to buy a lot of cheap "Tupperware-like" containers with the snap on lids. Each separate color tube will be placed in it's own container and then stored in a larger storage bin in my garage. These separate containers will be marked with the color and size plastic lure that it contains. This will give me instant access to whatever color and type of plastic I am looking for.

I will also be buying a lot more hangers for my garage pegboard wall. I have a lot of tackle that I can place on that wall for easy access. I call that my "Wall of Fame" or only lures that I have found successful during my years of fishing on the Susquehanna River.

In my mind, I know exactly how I would like it all to look and work. We'll see if it turns out that way or not.

Stay tuned in the next few weeks as I take on Step 2 of the "Tackling My Tackle" task!

dadTB