You're either a Tackle Junky...or Not.

[The_Natural]

There is no in-between. It's hard for a Tackle Junky like myself to imagine someone not getting super-excited about an equipment purchase, or even just planning an equipment purchase. I keep several catalogs in the crapper...and even though I've memorized them, I still look through them on every trip to the bathroom. I think it all started when I was 12 and saved up for a Berkley Lightning Rod. I was so proud of that darn thing....and nearly slept with it. I think Tackle Junkies represent the minority though, judging by the numerous tournaments I've fished and Bass Clubs I have been a part of. Putting on reel covers and carefully placing your setups so they don't bang together on a run seems natural for me, but I've never seen a partner I was paired with do this. I was born this way I guess....after getting a pair of shoes I thought were awesome in 1st grade....my mom said I just kept staring at them on the way home. I proceeded to tell her that 'I had the same feeling that I got when we went to the Circus'. True story. So who here is a Tackle Junky? If you aren't a Tackle Junky....do you get excited about any purchases? I even get excited when I need to shop for a new electric toothbrush or Razor. How about you?

[CODbasser]

im a tackle junky, but i dont use reel covers...i just through my stuff down and go...but then again i fish alot faster than most....haha...when my stuff is a few months old it looks like its a few years old lol...

[pa mountain man]

I am not a junkie...I'm a collector of fine sporting goods.

When I moved into my house, I had a room, no wait...a Man Cave devoted to my love of the outdoors, one wall devoted to fishing, another to archery, and one lined with gun cabinets. As time marched on, I acquired more "collectibles", and needed to expand.

Three years ago, I finished my attic, and is now where I spend alot of nights refining my understanding of nature. My wife would frequently ask me to have a yard sale! Imagine that! My life's work being auctioned off to the lowest bidder. :'( "How many guns do you need" she would ask, "each has a purpose" I'd say, "How many fishing poles do you need?, how many arrows?" ect. ect.

Now that my house looks like it was built by Cabela's, some of it has rubbed off on her, I guess I'll need to expand again for her "collectibles"...Life's looking good.

[cart7t]

....... I even get excited when I need to shop for a new electric toothbrush or Razor. How about you?

The Doctor Phil types have a syndrome named for folks like this.  Can't remember what it is.  The purchase has less to do with need but more about fulfillment of a desire to own and the rush one receives when actually making the purchase.

Ultimately, once the initial purchase thrill is gone,  the item winds up on a pile with all the other previous purchases.  Sometimes much of it never gets used.

After 40 + years of fishing, I look at all tackle as tools and I evaluate new stuff as to how it might fill a niche in what I already have or how it might work better than what I have in various fishing conditions.

But hey, the tackle industry needs guys like you to survive.  

[Grey Wolf]

Thank God I'm out of that stage . I just buy what is needed now.

[aarogb]

    I also get excited about getting anything new, whether it is fishing related or not.

[DINK WHISPERER]

After every purchase i tell myself that's it, no more. I am going to finish all the gear i have before i buy more. Then, a few days later i am either at the tackle shop again or hitting the PAY NOW button online!!!!  ;D

I need rehab.......................

[Fishing Rhino]

Life experience, and Murhpy's law both teach that the thing you don't have is the thing you'll need.

Ever have something hanging around for years.  You look at it, decide you'll never need it, and toss it.  Within a few days, guaranteed you'll need it.

The exception to the above rule are the coffee cans and/or boxes full of nails, nuts, and bolts.  Trying to find the right one is looking for the needle in the haystack.

Spend ten dollars worth of your time, twenty dollars worth of aggravation and frustration trying to find a two or ten cent item.  Been there done that.

Toss 'em.  Easier and cheaper to make the five or ten minute run to the hardware store and buy a new one.

Back to the topic at hand.

I rarely buy one of anything, except for a pack of plastics that contains several baits.

When I find a particular bait works very well, I may buy two or three backups.  

Even in the plastics, I'll buy a couple of packages of a particular item.  Murphy's law again.  When I need to replenish, the local tackle stores will invariably not have that particular item in the particular size and color I want.

Backups are my security blankie.  I get uneasy when my stock of an item is running low.

[Muddy]

Not me! I have made purchases of stuff I regret, and once I had them I wondered why I got them inm the first place.

I have my stuff narrowed down to what works for me, I buy the most ecopnomical stuff I can and I concentrate on finding them now

Catts Rule: It.s not whats in your wallet, it's whats between your ears

[flechero]

Ultimately, once the initial purchase thrill is gone, the item winds up on a pile with all the other previous purchases. Sometimes much of it never gets used.

I think this is the difference between a tackle junkie and a hoarder... true tackle junkies, myself included, use it all... and appreciate it's every use.

Catts Rule: It's not whats in your wallet, it's whats between your ears

I agree 100% with Catt's rule but that's not what this is about. Being a tackle enthusiast and a good stick are completely independent of one another. I'll fish head to head with a mid 80's lightning rod and a second hand $30 abu reel... and still hang with most worm fishermen here. But the enjoyment I get out of a perfectly balanced, featherlight custom rod/50 MG combo is an experience in itself.  

Neither are wrong, just different.

[Muddy]

I never considered it that way. I don't knock any one and how they spend money or what equipment they use, as that's not my business anyway.I just found for me personally when I found things I liked and worked for me, and got out of the upgrade mode, I started to do better. What it amounted to was I needed to learn a whole lot more about bass fishing at this time and spend less time worrying about equipment. I guess that may or may not come later on but at this point I need to be paying a whole lot more attention to the fish.

[Sam]

I am a Connoisseur of bass fishing tackle.

I would not call me a junkie.

My wife would call me a junkie, but I see myself as a Connoisseur.  ;D   ;D   ;D

[Big Mike in Fl]

my name's Mike, and I have a problem...I've been tackle buying free for 2 days ;D ;D

I'm pretty bad,I know the tackle I wanna buy, and I search all over for info on it, reviews, good and bad etc etc, and just dream for the day when I can buy it (I'll be buying a few new revo S reels here soon, so thats now my main goal) with money being so tight, sometimes it takes me a while get what I want, which builds the excitement even more.

I also have the issue of, I find a Bait I like,so I load up on them,and competitor brands to see which is better, for instance, I liked senkos, so I tried dingers, tiki sticks, stickos etc etc, or I started doing real well on horney toads, so I loaded up on different colors to try and find the ones that where catching the best (WE all know how the color debate goes)

I baught the big green okeechobee fats bag about 2 years ago, thinking I would never fill that thing...now its over flowing and I'm trying to figure out how to make everything work.

[SuskyDude]

Put me down for "not". I did have a time back in the day when I felt I needed all of it. Got over that and couldn't be happier.

[Hooked_On_Bass]

Tackle Junky here!

I know exactly how you feel with regards to a new purchase

The_Natural. It's great.

[FishingPirate]

I am a tackle junky but I use what I buy. Ive got my purchases pretty well narrowed down though.

1. Daiwa reels

2. Carrot Sticks

3. Baits that I enjoy fishing, screw fad baits that people rant about.

[Btech]

Oh yeah im a junkie, I know because i havnt eatten anything in the past week trying to get me a new pole!  JK (well mcdonalds dollar menu)

I enjoy the rush of buying anything i think will work just so i can have a good excuse to get to the water.

If you buy a pack of worms lay them out until your wife demands you pick them up, tell her you need them to be put on a hook and in the water to make them go away ... It works for me.

She usualy just gets mad and tells me to go away - Which I do, With my worms and gear.

It all works together!

[Raul]

Tackle junky   .... who ?   me ?   nah.

[fathom]

guilty and not guilty.

not guilty, because the k.i.s.s. principle works for me...learned a long time ago, would rather have 5 or 6 good combos than 40 or so heinz 57's.

guilty, when it comes to what those 5 or 6 combo's are...let's just say the 50mg is my backup reel and let it go at that.

[Fish Chris]

I hardly ever buy new tackle. Okay, so I've had a lot of nice stuff given to me (sponsors) but even before that, I was already scrapping the stuff I never used, and narrowing it WAAY down to just the stuff I actually catch fish with.

What excites me is a sticking a BIG fish ! A new rod or reel will just be dirty in a few trips anyway..... but as long as it still works, I won't hardly ever think twice about it.

To me, getting excited about fishing tackle, is like a carpenter getting all happy goofy, every time he opens his tool box ;-) Fishing gear, and even a fishing boat, are just tools. And as long as they work, theirs no need, or desire to replace them. I spend PLENTY of $ as it is, on gas to get to and from my fishing holes, and day use fees.

The bait monkey would starve if he depended on guys like me.

Peace,

Fish

[SirSnookalot]

I have no budget whatsoever for equipment and tackle, that said my equipment is pretty much moderate in price and I buy little in the way of tackle, as compared to what I see.  My fresh water tackle fits in my pocket and my saltwater stuff I just walk around with 1 lure or spoon on the rod and backup in my pocket.  Me a junkie HAHAH, I'm a fisherman.

What excites me is a sticking a BIG fish

and it happens almost everyday.

[5bass]

Not a junkie.

I will however, find a lure that produces well and buy a dozen or so of them in different colors. This happens right often.

I will also jump on a deal if I spot one. I just cant resist a good deal whether I actually need it or not. This happens all the time.

[Fishing Rhino]

Not a junkie.

I will however, find a lure that produces well and buy a dozen or so of them in different colors. This happens right often.

I will also jump on a deal if I spot one. I just cant resist a good deal whether I actually need it or not. This happens all the time.

Sounds like you are a junkie in denial. Or, like my wife at TJ Maxx.

[Fishing Rhino]

To paraphrase Richard Nixon.  

"I am not a junkie!"  

I can quit anytime I want to.

Haven't any of you ever heard, "He who dies with the most toys wins."?

[grimlin]

I love buying lures.

Problem is i never have enough money to buy them.

;D

I compare buying fishing lures like a heavy scotch drinker likes his liquor.It'll dry your bank account right up.