I was fortunate enough to have some time to myself last week.  We were visiting family and friends in NY and on tuesday I had several hours to visit old fishing holes, and tackle shops.

It was great fun.  I met people at each of my old spots.  We talked about the conditions and exchanged tales of great catches and the big ones that got away.

I went to one tackle shop that I haven't visited in over 10 years.

Same owner and I swear, it looked exactly the same.

I picked up this lure.  I don't know when it was last made but the packaging looks pretty dated.

It's called a Balsa King and made by Strike King.  It's no longer in their catalogue.

It was a fun day.

Can't wait to try this lure.  I didn't even know strike king made balsa lures.

LOL!

But seriously though, there is something SOOOOO much cooler about a little mom and pop bait shop than a big box store. Specially when they are fully stocked with the newest, baddest, most relevant baits on your water!

yeah it is a shame that so many of those places are getting closed down by the big boys.  dont get me wrong i love the convenience of a bass pro or cabelas but i still always try to give my money to the little guys.  not only that but you can actually go in and talk fishing which i always appreciate.

matt

I've always liked finding the smaller tackle shops that are jam-packed with things that the "cookie-cutter" stores DON'T have (Wallyworld, etc).  Unfortunately, they're getting real hard to find these days.  It seems like most of them all stock the same stuff, i.e. Zoom, Strike King, et al.  Not that there's anything wrong with those products, but I'm more likely to grab something on impulse if I haven't seen it hanging in  every other store in the country.  

There's a small store near me on the way to Ky Lake.  They have a small tackle selection and some gear odds and ends, but I'm more likely to find something I can use there, than at the Super Wallyworld in town.  As an added attraction, they're a BPS dealer that will order anything from the BPS catalog for you and you save shipping.  A few more miles in Dover, TN, is a US Bass shop.  It doesn't set along the main highway and if I hadn't seen his ad I'd have never known it was there.  Great little store with lots of stuff, and the owner is super nice.  I do the majority of my gear shopping at these two places.