Do I Have a New Tackle Shop Problem?

I’ve always been a tackle store junkie. Whether I’m in California or Deep South Texas or the Northwoods of Minnesota, I like to stop in at the local shops and see what’s going on. That’s never going to change, I hope, but like many things, the local shop ain’t what it once was. 

I’ve been on the road or in the sky more than half of 2026. I’ve driven to Illinois, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina. I’ve flown to Mississippi and Texas. At each stop I’ve tried to hit a local shop – not a Dick’s or Academy or Bass Pro (although I’ve visited some of them, too), but a traditional regional store that might hold something I’ve never seen before.

It has always been my policy at these stopovers to make a small purchase. Let’s get one thing straight: I don’t need any more tackle. My schedule hasn’t allowed me to fish much so far this year, and I have more gear than I can use in three lifetimes. Still, I try to buy something because I want to support the little guy. I want to help make running a local shop viable. I recognize that their margins are small. I understand that the online and big box competition is brutal. I also know that my $6 spinnerbait purchase of $20 in soft plastics isn’t going to be the difference between their survival and getting flushed down the bowl. Nevertheless, I think it’s important to at least show that level of solidarity. 

So why have I only made two or three small purchases so far? It’s mostly because I haven’t seen anything new or exciting. You can blame FFS or Tackle Warehouse if you want, but going to a local store and seeing Rat-L-Traps and Senkos doesn’t move my excitement needle. I already have plenty of those. I want to see the offbeat stuff hand-crafted in someone’s garage. I want to find some crankbaits that were discontinued in 1982 that I’ve been hunting for a while. I want pegs full of spinnerbait with their skirts rotting off from sunlight. I want lures that have pro endorsements from the likes of Guy Eaker and Ken Cook.

I’m not finding that local stuff or that old stuff. Maybe it’s been cleaned out by wholesalers or ebayers. Maybe it just got trashed. But I suppose I’ll keep on searching. At some point I’m going to see something really cool and tax my credit card a little bit harder. It’s the least I can do.