First Tackle Box

 

While working on some way-past-due fishing basement sorting this evening, I came across an old brown tackle box that I hadn’t given thought to since one of my boys took on my basement mess more than a decade ago. It was my original tackle box, which I probably got when I was about 10 years old, meaning it has been around a half a century or so.

It’s empty now, and while both trays are still in it, the brackets that attached them are broken. I’ll clean it up soon, and when things are more how I want them in the basement, it’ll serve a decorative role.

I believe the old, brown tackle box held every hook, weight, bobber and lure I owned for three or four years before I got a fancier 6-tray green Plano box that had trays on both sides. Initially everything moved to the new box because I didn’t own enough stuff to fill it.

A few years later, the old brown box got a new life. The new box contained most of my lures and some hooks, weights and bobbers. The old brown one became my “saltwater box” and was filled with stuff like leaders, egg weights, nickel hooks, foam popping corks, pliers and a bait knife. Plus, a few MirrOlures and packets of Loves Lures, I’m sure.

I don’t recall when the box went out of service. I’ve used stowable trays in various tackle bags and backpacks for decades. I’m still glad I have both it and the green one, though, and glad the green one still contains some of the lures I enjoyed using in my teens.

I look forward to getting them both cleaned up and finding the best places for them.

Walleye Shad Lure for Cool-Water Bass

 

The Bandit Walleye Shad was created primarily for targeting walleye, which is evident by its name. That said, I’m convinced that this relatively new crankbait has diverse value for a variety of fish species and fishing situations. Most notably, I expect the Walleye Shad to excel as a bass crankbait from late fall through early spring.

The Walleye Shad has all the characteristics of an excellent winter bass crankbait. Flat sides create a narrow profile that make it look like an easy meal, and a very tight wiggle suggests the movements of winter chilled forage.

Another feature that provides huge winter appeal — and one that is uncommon in crankbaits — is that the Walleye Shad was designed to suspend when it’s not in motion. Like with a suspended jerkbait, you can pause it at any point in a retrieve, and it will hold irresistibly in the zone.

Winter chilled bass won’t waste calories chasing, and baitfish naturally hold in place when the water is cold, so the having the capacity to pause a crankbait in key areas provides a huge advantage for winter bass fishing.

The Walleye Shad cones in four sizes, meeting a big range of situations, and a good mix of colors. A handful are the ultra-bright colors that walleye trollers favor and that I don’t really see as bass colors. However, about half the colors are natural forage imitations that I’d consider very good options for bass fishing.

I haven’t been in the right setting to prove my Walleye Shad theory yet, but I have little doubt that I’ll do so again and again. Maybe once I’ve tallied that real experience, I’ll post a fresh blog that shares models, colors, locations and presentations that have worked best for me.

Kind of makes me want to go fishing!

New Stuff Season

If you're a fisherman, the end of June and the first half of July can be a pretty fun time of the year. Not because of some hot bite, although I'm certainly not denying that those exist. Right about now is when word starts trickling out about cool new fishing products that will be released in two weeks at the ICAST show. Put on by the American Sportfishing Association, ICAST is a huge trade show and the place where fishing tackle manufacturers introduce the next year's product releases to retail and wholesale buyers and to the fishing media. This year's show is July 14-17 in Orlando.

Rods, apparel, lures, kayaks, reels, terminal tackle... you name it. If it is sport fishing gear, several companies that make it probably will be at ICAST, and some will have new products to show.

Many products aren't revealed until the media and buyer preview reception of the New Product Showcase, which takes place the evening before the main show floor opens. That said, many companies favor a PR and sales head start over the surprise factor, so a couple of weeks before the show they begin trickling out information about products and select samples. With today's electronic media and especially social media sites, word of anything noteworthy pretty well spreads immediately.

Because I attend the show and write about products in magazines and on websites, I get a lot of emails alerting me about cool new stuff, along with a few packages containing things to field test. In fact, I'll share some of the stuff that looks extra cool to me between now and the end of the show. I got information just today about the Plano A-Series QuickTop Tackle Bag (pictured above). I'll write more soon about this really cool hybrid box, which has some feature that make it stand out from anything before it.

In truth, though, if you pay attention to fishing news website or follow pro anglers or guides or fishing tackle manufacturers on Facebook, Twitter or other social media sites, you've likely heard about several new products in recent days. That will grow dramatically over the next couple of weeks.

Most stuff won't actually be in full production and in stores for several months. Now is just when the products get announced and the companies start trying to build interest so they can fill store shelves once the products do hit production. For me, it's a really fun time of the year.

ICAST Prep

This page has been way too quiet, which I don't like. Days have been filled with catch-up efforts on magazine work from so many days on the road this summer, and I just haven't found my way here to post updates. Not a good excuse, especially right now, as I get word about so much cool fishing stuff coming out next year, but still the way the week has gone.

This weekend I transition from catch-up mode to get-ready-again mode because on Monday I'll be driving to Florida for the ICAST show in Orlando. If you look at many fishing websites, you probably see the name ICAST quite a bit. It's the fishing industry's primary trade show and the place where much of the new stuff for the following model year gets revealed to tackle distributors and retailers, and to the outdoors media. Lures, rods, reels, fishing kayaks, clothes, electronics, lines, rigs... You name it, it's there. You've likely seen quite a few peeks at stuff already.

I go to ICAST both to learn about and report on the new stuff and to catch up with folks from the industry, including other writers, editors and various folks who represent fishing tackle manufacturers. For me, it's three days of walking a big show floor, looking at stuff, taking photos, asking questions and talking fishing. This year, I'll also be doing a lot of on-the-spot writing because I'll be reporting about new fishing line and rod introductions for FLW's website and magazine, along with other stuff I'll report here, on the Jeff Samsel Fishing facebook page, on Twitter and on Instagram.

So priorities today are gathering notes, clearing camera cards, charging batteries, packing and generally doing stuff at home that's good to take care of before returning to the road. I suppose I'd better get to it.

Watch here for updates on cool new stuff!

The Fishing Basement Project

If you didn't see my fishing basement a month or so ago, it would be hard for you to imagine what great work Nathaniel, my 14-year-old son, has done with the basement-sorting project he decided to tackle. A month ago, it was hard to just step inside the fishing basement, let alone try to gather stuff needed to go fishing.

Beginning with junk that crowded the floor in front of the door, Nathaniel began sorting tackle into purposeful piles, untangling line webs and throwing away stuff, all the while assessing just what was there and where it might go. He started with stuff on the floor, moved to some larger re-organization projects that helped him claim basic order and then started more macro projects like emptying miscellaneous tackle boxes and sorting them by lure type. Once most things were in some sort of a place he was able to start thinking about more logical locations, about shelving that was only taking up space and about the very best places for everything.

The basement remains a work in process, and we both have the challenge of putting stuff away after each trip to keep things in order. As it is now, though, I could easily go downstairs and find almost any lure I need for a picture or gather the specific stuff I need for a day of fishing.

Thank you, Nathaniel!