When asked to contribute to the new Tackle Tour Blog site, I was not even sure what BLOG stood for. So, not being a total cyberspace idiot, I looked it up on Wikipedia, and learned “A blog (a contraction of the term weblog) is a website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.” My first reaction was why isn’t it called a WEOG? And further, why is this one called a TOG?

My next reaction was sure, I can do that. I’ve got lots of commentary and events to describe and I love to take pictures. This should be quite an experience for someone who doesn’t even have a cell phone.

For those of you of the younger generations, just don’t expect to read articles written in shorthand, or full of abbreviations. I do know who MJ and KVD are, but that’s about where I quit. I’m still trying to figure out why Loomis calls a 6’8”MH rod an 80MH and forces me to figure out how many feet and inches there are in 80.

So, let’s go blogging about how Nothin’s New.

After more than three decades of collecting old fishing stuff, writing several books, parts of two others and hundreds of articles about old fishing tackle, I began to notice how history keeps repeating itself. In the 1880s bass fishermen started using rods specifically made for black bass fishing. They were long, with straight grips. In the 1880s fishermen also had rubber worms and creatures in their tackle boxes. Fishermen were using buzz baits in the 1870s. Fishing tackle that also has a long and ancient history are spinner baits, low profile reels, braided lines, lipless crank baits, guides with linings, flipping, and lots of other techniques and tackle. The list goes on and on.

In this age of instant communication we are immediately aware of some hot new lure when a tournament bass pro uses it to weigh in a large bag. The Chatter Bait’s explosion on the bass fishing scene is an example. Fishermen went from never hearing of the bait in January to buying out the company in a few short months. Most of these “new” lures, or rods or reels are just recycled ideas from years, decades, or even centuries ago. Little is truly new in our sport; we just have new materials with which to produce better tackle. In fact many of the older lures produce extremely well today. They produce different vibrations and have different movements in the water than their modern counterparts.

I hope that all readers of this blog will enjoy learning the history behind some of the reels, lures, and rods that we are using today. Today we are fortunate to have the finest tackle ever manufactured, but if we don’t learn some of the history of our sport and its tackle, we can’t truly appreciate it.

In most states a prospective young hunter must take a course in hunter education before getting his first license. Included in most courses is a bit of the history of the sport of hunting. It seems to me that we need to establish the same type of restrictions for applicants for their first fishing license. I realize that 70 MPH bass boats and side imaging sonar units are cool, but when a young man in one of those beauties cuts me off when I’m pleasure fishing I can’t help but wonder if anyone taught him about fishing and the pleasures you can derive from the sport. Fishing is not break dancing and yelling “that’s what I’m talking about!”

If you read this blog in the future you will have the opportunity to learn of a few of the ideas that led to our wonderful tackle and the sport we enjoy today. Just remember…

Nothin’s New and Everything Cycles.