[ghost]

Went to work last night and a co worker told me he had some supplies for me. After work I walked out to his truck and boy was I pleased.

He had numerous boxes full of spinner blades in all shapes, colors, and sizes. There must be close to 500 of them.
Hooks in all kinds and sizes well over 1000 of them.
Beads galore, feathers, bucktails, thread, 20 2oz. jars of powder paint and about 50lbs. of sinkers.

Some lady with a house on the lake was selling all her husbands fishing stuff ( I suspect divorce) for practically nothing.

He said he got 4 rods, 6 reels, 2 ice augers and all the above mentioned for $50.

Anybody else ever find deals like this?

[LedHed]

I've got some really awesome deals off of ebay - and the again got some real bombs. The deals still out weigh the bombs.

Find some treasures at the local swap meets.

Sounds like you got a royal deal - you better take care of your buddy....

[ghost]

Yeah I always make sure he is well stocked in lead for making his bullets.

[Tony Maxwell]

We to an auction 3 weeks ago. Got 2 5 ft 6 in. pistol grip graphite casting rods, a Shimano Black Magnum 100 UL reel, in the box, and a "Brand new" Shimano Bantam Mag Plus 250X SG reel for $77.50. I started using baitcasters before "thumbbars" and still use the older style reels. I think I got a good deal.

[braveviper]

A couple years ago a fellow firefighter asked me to come down to his house near the beach to pick up some "fishin stuff".Turns out his neighbor passed away and was a big time surf/freshwater fisherman.My buddy who does not fish told me i was welcome to any fishing related item in the house.My buddy was friends with the mans daughter and pemission was given to clean the house out.I walked through each room and found a lifetime of fishing treasures.Dozens of rods and reels,depthfinders,lures,line,tools etc.It was sad in a way knowing when you die, your favorite lure could end up in the tacklebox of a total stranger.At least the stuff is still catching fish I say to myself,It could have ended up on E-bay or in the trash.I learned of the man by looking at his(my) possesions,He was a navy veteran,lived alone with his trusty yellow lab and his enitials were JB.He marked nearly all his rods and reels and tools with JB.I filled the bed of my pick-up almost to the top with the stuff and drove home wondering who this guy was and what was the last fish he caught.So JB....If your up there....Thank you...I'll try to get a big one for ya.

[King Bait Co.]

When my friends neighbor pass we got all of his fishing gear to split between the three of us. He had kids but they never came around. Honestly the few years I got to fish with him he never said a word about his kids. Later we found out they only called when they wanted money but he always said he didn't have any. He had a mint in which was donated to diffrent chairtys. Any ways he had maked every lure and fish gear he had not to mention all his tools. I think it must be a Navy thing my father in law does the same thing he also was in the Navy. I belive when people who fish pass on they would want their prized fishing gear passed on to someone else who loves fishing as they did. No matter if it was handed down or sold at a yard sale. It become that new guys treasure. The best deals are at the yard sale's and auctions but their even better if you know the history of them.

[diemai]

@ King Bait co. and @ bravepiper

Quite touching stories about the fellow fishermen passed away , but it is to honour their memory to have their tackle into appreciative hands , for sure !

Last year I made a nice hit on a fleamarket in Hamburg , usually you don't find a lot of fishing-related stuff on such fleamarkets , except those low-quality stuff from Asia or Eastern Europe .
But It happened to be , that even late in the day I found six different "Rapala Original Floating" cranks , all unused(without boxes) , a "Damler"(version of a "Swim Whizz") and a "Nils Master Invincible" , both little used , and finally four or five in-lines and small spinnerbaits , alltogether I payed 20 € for that batch(a single "Rapala" of that kind would cost between 8 € and 13 € in a shop over here , depending on its size) .

On another fleamarket I even found an old "Burmek" for only 3 € , still in good condition , unused with only little rust on its hooks .
God knows how it got to Germany , since this model is offered in Germany only for a few years now , and this one is definately older , since the front section differs in two details from the recent models(got two of these) .
Its molded-in eyes are smaller and it does not have this little notch on the rear part to limit the swing of the tail section .

These ocassions make all those fleamarket visits worthwile , though I don't always like it too much , when my wife takes me there , I'd rather be fishing !

Greetz , diemai

[smirkplug]

I love going to garage sales and finding old tackle, rods, reels, lures. I find alot of old 50-70's fiberglass rods that are rusted , corroded, and well worn, recently i found 4 pre Browning Silaflex rods with rotten varnish and paid only 2 dollars each, now they are restored and revarnished and im having a ball fooling around fishing with them . I also payed 5 bucks for 4 mitchell 300's and a dam quick, all in very good clean used condition, 20 bucks for a small near mint pezon and michell luxor reel, and 8 bucks each for 3 blue mitchell high speed 410, 401, and 401. Even more fun is catching alot of fish on old tackle. I really believe most of that old gear wants to go fishing again. Its always about the fun of it all !!

[pete s.]

craigs list!! ........just bought like new curado cu200 for $50.00. local free ads. town near you. pete