
Photo: Joe Byrum
By Dave Ferrell
There’s no one triggering event that turns a big-game fisherman into a lure collector. That is, everyone gets into it in their own way. Certainly, just participating in the sport of big game marlin fishing makes you somewhat of a lure collector right from the get-go. Although the lures you seek may be more for catching than collecting, before long you’ll find all of your onboard storage filled to the brim with skirted lures and un-skirted heads that you’ve acquired from here and there.
You’ll develop favorites and soon have a stash that’s so important to you in one way or another that you’d never put them back in the spread…or only just during tournament time. Lures conjure memories of good times and can seemingly bring friends and experiences back to life. They connect us with each other, and with the most amazing fish in the sea; they are magical to most, and mythical to others.