Hi all,

My fishing history is somewhat long and varied, but this post starts at the beginning. From when I was born until I was thirteen my family had a camp on a lake in Maine. Every weekend from Spring to Fall and at least two weeks in the Summer we were up at camp. I don't know exactly when my dad first put a fishing rod in my hand, but some of my first memories are standing on the end of our dock catching sunnies. I started with a hook and worm. At some point I added a bobber. Then an inline spinner and on to whatever I was given or bought with my allowance. There was a general store on the lake and I would stare at the lures every time we went in and then save up for one.

 Pretty early on my dad showed me how to use a homemade kayak he had made as a kid. It was my ticket to the rest of the lake. One year I graduated to a skiff and a five horse motor. 

 Unfortunately this all came to an end when my family sold the camp. My fishing journey then pivoted to fly fishing, saltwater fishing, back to fresh water and so on, a story for another day.

So, my early fishing tackle ended up in an old tackle box, not opened for decades. Every where I lived I brought it to. I just couldn't stand the idea of throwing out my early memories.

 Some twenty five years now I brought my wife ( second wife LOML) who loves to fish with me back to that lake. We fish it every chance we get, and every time I tell her stories from when I was a kid. The next best gift my dad gave me is the love of woodworking, and as I'm not to bad at it the missus has been telling me I should build something to display all my childhood tackle. And well I finally did. I emptied out the old tackle box, cleaned everything up and built this. Everything from snelled hooks on up. As best as I can remember everything is from 1968 or earlier. Every time I look at it it's a walk down memory lane.

         Thanks for looking- Jim.

here it is on the wall above my desk

Thanks for looking.

I love it, Jim. It makes me want to do something similar with my old lures! 

That’s slick. 

I want to do something exactly like this with all my families PB and notable fish lures that have been retired.  I have always loved the idea of a shadow box with the lure and a picture of the fish caught and a little text blurb with date and time and location of the fish catch.  My plan is to do something exactly like that with the lures I have saved and give it to Jacob someday.

Sweet way to recapture those memories. 

Absolutely beautiful. 

Awesome 

That’s really awesome. I need to do something actually coherent like that. Thanks for the inspiration!

Looking at those lures.

 

Tell us you're old without telling us you're old.

 

LOL

 

Just kidding.

 

Pretty cool!

Thank you for sharing your memories.

Tom

Real nice display 

That is cool.  You did a good job.

With the exception of the frogs, I have owned every one of those lures.  The Arbogast Buzz bait lure, I think it was called a sputterbug, is the only one I didn't catch any fish with.  It was in my box for years, and I don't recall ever tying it on.    

3 hours ago, king fisher said:

I think it was called a sputterbug,

Wow, i think you are right, I hadn't heard that name in years. Thanks.

Thanks for all the kind replies everyone, I really appreciate it.

That is very cool. Thank you for sharing 

All I have in my shadow boxes are shadows.  Nice display!

"...OMG, it even has a watermark....".

Thats awesome and really well done. I used about half of those lures myself learning to fish with my father and my early years. Brings back memories. 

Looking good, Dad ❤️ 

Very nice display.

 

 

 

I wish I could do something like that but all my lures were left in a tree, hung on a log or stuck to a root! Although my brother does still carry the “reminder” of a misplaced treble hook.