JT (Jeros) tackle

[littlebookworm]

Does anyone use JT tackle? I was there when this company first started growing from a little "made-in-a-garage" company to a large manufacturer and distributor. The owners were friends of my father. Back in the 1950s they bought a closed school building in Brooklyn, NY, and turned it into a factory. We used to get all our hooks and rods and reels from them for free. My father and I were their unofficial testers of new tackle. We tested the fluke rig which had a length of surgical tubing with a coiled leader inside. The tubing acted like a shock absorber to help snag the fish. We also pilot-tested the two-hook fluke rig, the one with a miniature hook up on the shank of the main hook. It was for catching large fluke. In those days landing 100 decent-sized fish between two people was typical. We had to clean them all to give most of them away! We made our own sinkers too. That was a winter project. Another of my father's friends owned a printing business. He would give us the worn-out lead type. We melted it in a cast iron pot on my mother's kitchen stove. We then poured the molten lead into molds we had preheated in her oven. Who knew from the dangers of lead fumes in those days! My job was to clear off the excess lead around the edges and in the holes. Now I buy my tackle and catch few fish. I do still have the surf-casting rod I got for my 13th birthday. It needs new eyes, but I can't throw it away. Think spring. Hy