BLOG: A case of "tackle psychosis"

IT might not come as a major surprise to those who know me well, but I have a confession to make – I have "fishing tackle psychosis".

What makes this breakthrough so profound has been my inability to notice my condition earlier. While I'd heard friends often quip about my expansive tackle collection, it never really occurred to me. I just thought I was a typical fisho who had amassed a large volume of stuff, not unlike many of you out there, I'm sure.

To give you an insight into my madness, I now own more rods and reels than my wife owns high heels and handbags. To put this into perspective, my wife isn't a run-of-the-mill female shopaholic. She is a bonafide credit card crunching shopping demon who has a taste for anything with a designer label and price tag to match. Which I might add, is one of the things I love about her. She has great style and flair [Hoping to score more fishing time Kev? Ed.].

This discovery came about after an argument over my never-ending requests for more cash to buy new gear. In my mind, adding another 2500-sized reel to my collection of six of the same size seemed a logical necessity. I'd somehow managed to convince myself I needed another one.

In the heat of battle she threw a challenge out to me. If I had less gear than she had outfits I could have the money to buy another reel. If I had more, then she was making a beeline for Louis Vuitton. The only loser here was the bank balance. It was game on!

After the final count was in I lodged a stern protest. Truth was there was no contest, I won hands down ... or lost hands down, depending on how you look at it - I didn't get the reel.

When I sat back and analysed the proceedings a few insights into my condition began to crystallise in my mind. This wasn't solely restricted to rods and reels. This trend has carried through to all components of my tackle. For instance when I buy a new untested lure I don't stop at purchasing one before it proves itself, I buy most of the colour options "in case" I get stuck with the only one that doesn't work. Then I start thinking I need more than one of each colour in case the lure does in fact work and gets lost in a hot bite...

This whole song and dance forces me to buy numerous lures when I set out to buy one. Multiply this scenario by hundreds of different lures over a period of a decade and you get an idea of how many lures I own. Only a few days ago I went out to replenish a packet of Gulps that ran out and I ended up buying 20 packets of the same size and colour so I wouldn't find myself in that position again. If fish are only taking that particular lure I needed to know I had ample supply. Now are you getting the picture?

Then we get to peripheral equipment. I can't buy one pair of scissors or pliers, I need "back ups". Then there are trebles, jigheads, leaders, scales, fish grips, bungs for the boat, split rings, every conceivable hook pattern. It's never ending.

The by-product of all of this is I've ended up with a load of gear, that (A), I will probably never use, and (B), don't have the time to use. While I have an extensive collection of lures, I surmise I only use roughly 10 per cent of them on a consistent basis. Reckon I can offload the stuff I don't use? I probably won't honour that question with a response. You already know the answer.

The truth is I love it. I love being prepared and covering all bases. I love playing around with new toys and crazy new gadgets. It keeps me entertained when I'm not actually fishing. Then again, maybe I'm just in denial.

Finally, there is a saying which I absolutely love that I think sums up my situation perfectly - "He who dies with the most fishing gear, wins".

Do you have a fishing tackle collecting obsession?