By John Merwin

I review and report on lots of new fishing tackle over the course of a year. Some reels and rods are inevitably much improved, and I love the technical innovations. But I occasionally think that maybe I’m too enamored of new things. So what about the old stuff?

In pondering this, I decided I could be perfectly happy fishing with the same things I was using 20 years ago. In fact, some of the “old stuff” doesn’t seem old at all and still functions perfectly. Here are some examples:

By John Merwin

Camping plus hunting or fishing go together like peanut butter and jelly, or so I thought, this morning as we camped on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It rained last night. This morning the campground looked like a FEMA forest of blue tarps as campers sought refuge under cheap plastic.

Except for us, of course, as we had a better way. There are lots of better ways when it comes to camping. Everybody, it seems, has their favorite gear and the tricks for using it. The above photo shows our set-up this morning. From within that, here are a few--to us, anyway--essential highlights.

By John Merwin

Very often when I write about various fishing tackle items, some readers comment that they wish the item in question were made in the U.S. They’d be much happier buying a domestic-made product. They’d like to support American jobs in the tackle industry. So this morning I’ll give you a chance to put your money where your mouth is.

American-made fishing tackle is far from dead. To be sure, giant, global-tackle brands such as Daiwa, Shimano, Rapala, and more depend, for the most part, on overseas (usually Asian) factories. But look around a bit, and you’ll find plenty of quality gear that’s made here at home--hook, line and sinker. Here are a few examples.

Fishing lures are the toughest, but there are still notable examples. One is Dardevle spoons (pictured here). Michigan’s Eppinger Manufacturing is in its third generation of family ownership and still stamping out spoons by the millions every year. Want to support American-made? Buy more Dardevles.

By John Merwin

Welcome to the fishing-tackle graveyard, a place where old gear goes to die. The photo shows a shelf in my basement with various reels, long out of service, that I can’t bring myself to throw away. And throwing away is the problem. I can’t do it. So stuff accumulates beyond all reason.

This gets pretty silly as I think of it, but that silliness still won’t take me to the dumpster. Someday I might want or need something from that shelf. Or I might decide to refurbish one of those old reels. A little cleaning, some grease, maybe a few spare parts and any one of them would be fishable again. You never know.