By Dick Braun
Well, the blind squirrel found one! I received a phone call from a gentleman who said he had an old tackle box full of lures that had been in the attic for over 40 years and just wanted it gone to someone who might appreciate what was in it. I ask if it was for sale and the answer back was, yes. He just wanted a fair price for it. We sat a time to meet, as he and I were in different cities, made the date and I drove to the meeting hoping it wasn’t a wild goose chase. Most of these are just that, a wild goose chase! But it turned out to be a pretty good trip as the tackle box was small but full of lures in the box and most, even though dirty, from 40+ years of just sitting there not catching fish were in surprisingly very good shape. There were 4 old casting reels and two split bamboo rods, one was a 2pc. Casting rod and the other was a 3/2 nine-foot fly rod, both rods weren’t very good, as the 2pc. had been redone with no name on it anymore and the 3/2 was missing about 3 snake guides.
Oh well, so much for the rods, no real value. Of the 4 casting reels, 3 of which were in their orig. box, 2 were in real nice shape, the other one would make a nice parts reel. The 4th reel was a small bait caster Ocean City model 2000 which looked really good. Now back to the lures, I looked through what was there looking for missing paint, cracks in the paint, bad hardware, etc. Some good some bad, some had no real value and I just skipped over those. There were some old wood Heddon, Creek Chub, Paw Paw and others. Well, I hemmed & hawed trying to make a fair offer and then spit it out and he put out his hand to shake on the deal and I then knew it was mine and the trip was worth it. I knew from past dealings that some of the items would at least pay me back what I had spent so now it was time to start cleaning 40+ years of dirt and grime off of the finds. In doing some additional research, it became apparent that I did make a good buy and maybe a very good buy in the long run. See the 3 pictures attached: 1st is a Paw Paw frog, 2nd a Heddon Pumpkinseed that will show good on 1 side only, 3rd I’m still trying to figure out who made this one. So, the hunt continues!
The last bit of info is there is going to be a regional FATC (Florida Antique Tackle Show) in Punta Gorda 8-9 June at the Punta Gorda Waterfront Hotel & Suites. Come see us, there will be approx. 60 8ft tables full of vintage tackle for show and 4 sale!
Florida Antique Tackle Collectors, Inc. is a non-profit, member supported organization registered in the State of Florida. The purposes of the Club are to enhance and promote the collection, preservation and knowledge of old antique angling memorabilia and the history of tackle produced in Florida. FATC sponsors three exhibitions each year throughout the State of Florida. Club Members bring historical displays from their collections of old fishing tackle and also bring old tackle to trade among themselves. The public is invited to attend these exhibitions and encouraged to bring their own old tackle for free appraisals by Club Members.