"joe" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Lisa" wrote:

ou gave a lot of really great suggestions but I think since, as you say,
the budget is tight, let's see if we can back it up just a bit.

What are the absolute must-haves for ANY tackle box? What is the
standard
size hook? Would a small knife be useful, or perhaps small scissors?
Would a
spool of line be useful or not? Are those little red and white plastic
bobbers worth having?

Pretend you're buying your child's first tackle box and you want to
cover
all areas in a very general fashion, allowing him/her to choose what
he/she
wants to upgrade to.

Seriously, right now he has nothing, so I really just need the basics
that
all fishing folk must have.

My suggestions for the lures as opposed to the basics are because they
will be something that last (till some trophy fish makes an angler part
with them anyway). It is kind of like if he were buying some items for
the house. A nice picture that will be viewed and treasured is better
than getting the doodads to hang the picture. That is not a great
example but maybe it helps.

I consider hooks and line as expendables. I hate to lose any lure I
have. Even more if it was a gift from someone important. The line and
other items are things that he will pick up as needed.

While you can get an entry level rod and reel for about $20 or so taking
up angling more seriously that will be a limit to enjoyment. I still
suggest get him a few nice items that are flexible enough to use in
fresh or sal****er and for varied species and he will add the sundry
items along the way.

Also, the size hooks you use are completely different for nearly every
kind of angling. Line is dependent on the fishing outfit and again the
type of fishing. I am not well to do and neither are most of the folks I
fish with. However, I have probably spent a few thousand dollars on my
fishing hobby (A couple of fly outfits for salt, another for trout,
fresh water spinning outfits, 7 or 8 various sal****er outfits for flats
fish from a few pounds to over 100 pounds, TOO much tackle; Bass Pro is
on my way home). I don't even own a power boat!

That is the best I can do as a suggestion.

Good luck!

Atlanta Joe

I stayed away from this thread initially, but I think Joe is right on the
money. It is awfully hard to make any decisions with the limit you gave. I
might suggest spending all of the money on a good tackle system, and if you
feel up for it give your honey permission to spend soem mney of his own on
filling it up without too much guilt.

Most of my fishing reels cost more than your budget, and with out knowing
what kind of fishign he is doing I would find it very difficult to spend the
few dollars remaining after buying a decent tackle system on something that
would certainly be usefult o him.

For instance. I fish for bass in tournaments. That means that I would
certainly have days when I will throw a spinner bait, but where I live only
on days when conditions are ideal. In addition I pretty much only use
Secret Weapon Lures spinner baits. I would be very happy if somebody gave
me some Gambler or Ninja Spin spinner baits, but I would probably not use
them more than a token cast or two.

Seriously, I think if you spent your entire $40 on something like this and
let him populate it himself you would both get the most from your gift.

http://tinyurl.com/zl5i

This is a link to a tackle bag with removable boxes that fits in your price
range. If you decide to go a little extra you might put a gift certificate
to Cabelas in the box.


--
Bob La Londe
Yuma, Az
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
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