THE REAL VALUE OF VINTAGE TACKLE

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

[dick tabbert]

That's some old shakespere equipment. I don't have any my old rods I gave most to the kids a sorry to say a couple did make it to the garbage, shame on me.

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

YEP DICK it's old to be certain , but they've been around along time and if taken care of properly may be around another 50+ years .

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

I GUESS the real value of vintage tackle is not the monetary value of it , least ways not to me . It's real value is that it a time machine to the past.
  Here's how it works: EEEEEEVERY TIME I PICK UP ONE OF MY OLD FLY RODS it takes me back to the first wonderod I ever bought from Bruce Ace Hardware in La Salle Illinois. I certainly wish Mr. Stein was still alive for me to share all my thoughts and minor achievement with . He was my inspiration to do the things I did and gave me my first words of encouragement . Thank you Mr. Stein.

  Every time I tie on an old Jitterbug, Rapala , or any other bass lure I have had for 30+ years I think of when and were I got it and how many fish It's caught.
  EEEEEEEEVERY TIME WITH OUT EXCEPTION when I put on one of my own bugs I think back to when I first started making em and all the fun I've had relating the fish stories , BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY , the stories of others using my tackle . Doesn't make any difference if it's  a bug I made or a Rod I worked on . ULTIMATE SATISFACTION TO ME !
 Now lets hear some stories from Leo and Jeff, and Dick!

[John Sheehan]

Yup ,fond memories !

[Vince Fusco]

It is that way with me as well, David. I am looking for a Zebco Jr. It was my very first spincast rod. I got it in 1958, and would love to find another one. I have no idea what happened to that old rod. I do remember dad getting on me for laying it in the sand and having so much sand in it that it wouldn't hardly reel. He took it to work and cleaned it out with an air hose and oiled it up again for me. I was 8 at the time. I have looked on e-bay but none were listed the times I looked, although for me the search is fun. I know one day when I least expect it I will find one. 

[JBplusThuy]

One of the great bummers of my childhood is that when I was still quite young (age in the single digits and low double digits), my mom sold off her dad's old shotgun (side by side 12 guage), his tackle box and bamboo baitcasting rod with black braided line on it, and his marble collection, which was in a cloth sack about the size of a 10 pound sugar bag.

He died long before my parents met, so I never knew him except through stories and pictures of him and his brother and their buddies with lots of big fish, raccoons they'd shot, etc., and somehow, through that stuff. To this day, I'm the only fisherman in the family and I had to teach myself.

Among the losses is that old metal tackle box were a mint condition Creek Chub Pikie Minnow in original box with a Creek Chub mini-catalog or something, and a few other lures of that era, plus various vintage hooks and things. The lures must have dated from the thirties and forties, I think. His bamboo rod may have been older than that.

The shotgun was probably older, as well.

And the marbles, my goodness. Every single marble in that box was of the highly rare varieties that any boy in my schoolyard would have died for.

The value of all that, none of which I would ever sell, is truly not its monetary value. To this day, I still wish she hadn't sold it. I know it's just stuff, but it's stuff that I would have passed down to my own kids. At least they'll get my stuff some day :)

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

HEY JB,

 I REALLY ENJOYED YOUR POST !!! WHEN my Dad passed away 10+ years ago now, he had an old Nickel Steel marked barrel , on his old MODEL 12 WINCHESTER SHOTGUN. iT WAS not in his house when my Mom and brother looked for it and to this day we don't know were it went. I can remember him using it when we were kids for rabbit and bird hunting . WIsh we had it but it's gone .

   My Kids are both fisherman and hunters now with families of their own and accumulating stuff they like , which of course will be passed on too.
    I personally will pass on some old wonderods cause they are important to me and I respect them for what they are .
     As you mentioned it's  all just stuff: the stuff isn't important but the memories are and I guess that's what makes it priceless to us . Stuff, money, items we use everyday are , all eventually make it to someone else hopefully. Then they can appreciate it for what it is , or was and that the old man used it and loved the rods, lures, pocket knives, etc.

   Good post buddy and keep em coming.

   TOOTY

[JBplusThuy]

Tooty, I have a great postscript to this story.

I just got back last night from San Diego, where I was helping out my dad while my mom was in the hospital for a few days, and after she came home. While searching in her closet for an bell she had so that she could ring it if she needed some assistance, I ran across a shoe box labeled "old fish stuff."

And would you believe what was in there?! Yes! The Pikie Minnow and his other lures. Not everything I remember from the tackle box, but the most important stuff. Apparently she kept it and forgot it was in that shoe box in her closet. There was also one I'd forgotten about entirely. It looks like it was either handmade or commerically produced in the late 19th or very early 20th century. It's a topwater propeller-type bait with a big oblong body and a smaller head, both on a central shaft. It's kind of rough-surfaced (maybe toothmarks, not sure) and is big enough to have been used for northerns, maybe muskies, or large bass. I've never seen a picture of him with a muskie, but I think there may have been some northerns in some of the old photos.  Gotta check next time I'm back down there and a little less busy than this time.

Anyway, I'm happy to post a happy ending to this tackle tale, woohoo! :-)

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

Great one JB !!!!! You going to post some pics of the old stuff JB? I"m sure all in this group would like to see em!

[JBplusThuy]

I will at some to-be-determined future point. We're planning on moving there to help my parents , so anything I brought back now would be something else I'd have to carry back in that direction, so I left them. Right now, I'm just working on paring down what we have.

After our move, I'll get some pics up, but it'll probably take me until after Thanksgiving. Sorry for the "tackle tease" with no pics :p

Jonathan

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

HEY LEO,

  IF ANY ONE CAN STAND MORE PICS you wait till next week Leo when the next batch of old stuff comes to TROY GROVE! Old buddy you'll need to take medication before viewing em all! Maybe I'll put a disclaimer on the photos , If you view this you may go insane, your hair my fall out, you could have dinor rea and constipation all at the same time, you could go blind, you could suffer hearing loss, you may have flushing skin syndrome, hives, shingles, and a long list of others to boot!!!!

  Can't remember but I believe there are 8 or 9 fly rods and a couple spinning thrown in for balance.

[dick tabbert]

Not to mention Antismileites.