ad, why do you have so many empty tackle boxes?"
my 8-year-old son, Eli, asked me the other day while
cleaning out the shed.
"Because I haven't found the perfect one for me yet," I
responded, "and I've been looking for 35 years."
It started with a double-sided Plano, I told him, that I
would frequently forget to clasp before overturning a pile
of crankbaits into the bottom of my family's childhood
johnboat.
To combat this issue, I bought a gray over-and-under unit
with lawn-mowing money that resulted in the same issue as
the box before – lures in the bottom of the boat when I got in
a hurry and opened the box before clasping the top trays in
place. Yet this box offered one unique difference from my first
– it had a tinted plastic top that looked really cool.
Following this box, I adopted a multi-tray box that would
amaze family and fellow anglers when I opened it up and
revealed a bevy of crankbaits, spinnerbaits and topwater
lures. Very few anglers are immune to the pause that follows
the opening of one of these boxes, their eyes looking for both
the familiar and exotic. As an aspiring fishermen and seeker
of attention, it was right up my alley.
Until its plastic hinges buckled under the weight of a
teenager's graceful touch.
Next came a series of satchel-style, Indiana Jones-type
totes with plastic trays where I could not only strategically
categorize my tackle so my friends could awe in amazement,
but they could also marvel at the sheer volume of lure
options I had for fish.
This style became my long-time go-to for out-of-town trips
to the Sandhills and beyond, taking up way too much room
in the johnboat and limiting any chance I had for bringing a
lunch along on my trips.
But this particular style did bring forth the advent of
the plastic tray in my life –
a 9-by-14 inch container that is
The
Perfect
Tacklebox
"D
Story and photo by Jeff Kurrus
56 Nebraskaland • July 2020
