Word of the Day

Sharetrek - Generic Star Trek-style science fiction that comes as close as it can to Star Trek without infringing any copyrights.

My sister, my brother and I all met over at my folks' place today. My Mom set out boxes and boxes of fishing tackle that used to belong to my Grandfather...my Mom's Dad. I remember fishing with Grandpa when I was little. Mostly, he'd take us out in the boat with Grandma. We'd fish with cane poles. Bamboo canes that were rigged for fishing. Grandpa and Grandma would use Fiberglas poles called zip poles. Panfishing. Grandpa would always tell me that I didn't have enough worm on my hook to catch anything big. That's OK. I caught plenty. "You fish your way Grandpa, I'll fish mine." We get back to shore with a fish basket full of panfish which we'd clean up and Grandma would fry for supper. Nothing tastes quite like the fish that Grandma would cook for us. Salt, pepper, flour and fried in a mixture of fat that she had sitting in a can by the stove. I don't know what kind of fat it was but the fish were absolutely wonderful. I doubt I'd ever be able to duplicate the taste. Bacon fat, pork, lard, shortening, butter? Those fish were absolutely delicious.

So...we were all at my folks' place, standing in awe and wonder. There was so much stuff. Unfortunately, he went through a phase where he felt he had to glue glitter to many of his lures or I'm sure there would have been even more collectible items in the boxes. There were Flatfish, Crazy Ikes, Rooster Tails, Dare Devils of every size and color, Red-Eyes....just to name a few. It amazed me to see things that probably never left his tackle box. Original boxes...price tags. Some of these lures are old standbys. You can still purchase them today in any bait shop. A Mepps back then is the same as a Mepps today. Dare Devils look the about the same. He even had a collection of tear drops which look like what I use for panfishing. Some lures...well...they just don't make 'em like that anymore...for a reason. My brother got the one that looked like a mouse. I got some that look like plastic bugs. I'm going to have to wash some white gunk off of some of these just to see what lies beneath the years of grime. I can't wait to try some of these out. I too have bought a lures for the very reason that I'm positive that it'll catch loads of fish. Some of Grandpa's lures REALLY deserve a try. There's no way I'm going to be able to resist trying some of these out.

And then, today, I discovered that my Grandfather was a Bobber Miser. I can't tell you how many times my Grandfather would make us "make do" with plastic bobbers that didn't actually float anymore because they became waterlogged. We were taught how to un-waterlog bobbers. This only works if the bobber doesn't have an actual hole in it. Or...how about an old cork that he rigged as a bobber for us. There was quite a collection of those in the box as well as sticks for rigging. I remember my Grandfather would row half-way around the lake to retrieve a bobber that some weekender had lost or left up in a tree with half his line. Come to think of it...my Mom used to do the same. Anyway, what to my wondering eyes should I see today? Bobbers! Lots and lots of bobbers. Brand-new bobbers. The price tags still intact. Amazing. I've never seen so many different types of bobbers. Every size, shape, material, color. There was even a porcupine needle bobber that he'd repaired. Even splitting the cache three ways, my sister, brother and I have enough bobbers to last us three lifetimes. Of course, some of these bobbers are true antiques. But, they were never used. For years I felt guilty about throwing away a bobber that wouldn't float anymore.

I have quite a collection now. I'm going to put some of my new found tackle into a shadow box to hang on the wall. Some of my new tackle I'll add to my own tackle box. I wonder if someday my children will gather their grandchildren around them to sort through my tackle box. I wonder which of my favorite lures will become most collectible. I know I have quite a few that have never seen action. I wonder who will stand in awe and wonder over my bobber collection. Oh well...at least I know where I learned to become a Bobber Miser.

Murphyism of the Day

Rule of the Open Mind

People who are resistant to change cannot resist change for the worse.