The Great Sticker Conundrum

Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash

It was a long, long time ago. I’m thinking around 1984. But who knows!

Continuing on that theme. A long time ago, I was an avid fisherman. I lived across the street from the beach, so I would go over everyday after school to go surf fishing. I would march carefully across the street. Traffic would whiz by at lightning speed. When school was not in session, you’d find me over there all the time. I would spend countless hours enjoying the sights and sounds. People would be walking by on the beach and it was a nice time to talk with people. Early morning was the best time to fish. I think I was over there between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. Obviously after school around 3 p.m. I would go to check out the beach and find out if the waves were small enough for me to fish.

The pathway to the beach was a small dirt path surrounded by palmetto plants. As I descended the stairs, I searched out the best spot to fish. It had to be away from people. I didn’t want to block their view of the ocean. Most times, I set up north of the stairs. You wanted to be so far back from the surf coming up onto the beach. There you would stick your rod holder into the sand and place your rod into it. I only remember setting up south of the stairs twice. There must have been people on the beach to the north.

When I wasn’t at the beach fishing, I rode my bicycle up to the local fishing pier. It was at the end of the famous Ocean Avenue in Melbourne Beach. This pier allowed anglers to fish in the river. There were all kinds of species to catch, everything from sea trout to flounder.

Then once I moved two miles south, I was across from the beach again. I had more days fishing at the beach. The townhouse community I lived in had their own fishing pier on the river. So you would find me down there all the time.

So how do stickers make their way into this story, you say?

When I first started fishing, I had a basic setup: fishing pole, accessories, and tackle box.

As I started progressing in the sport, I accumulated more advanced gear. I got an advanced fishing reel and rod. I got more hooks and weights. I needed a bigger tackle box.

I phoned for catalogs to be sent to me to look at the various products for sale. Companies would send me their catalogs and I would have fun perusing all the different kinds of tackle. One catalog was over 500 pages long. Imagine the excitement on my face as I looked through all of that merchandise.

I came across a tackle box from the Plano Molding Company. They are a top company who produces fishing storage solutions. This includes hard tackle boxes, waterproof storage cases, and backpacks. Back then, all they had were the hard tackle boxes.

In those days, I shopped for fishing gear at Kmart, Sears, and a local tackle shop. I saw a tackle box in a very dark green color in one of the stores. I liked everything about it. It had two sides, one on the top and one on the bottom for your gear. I decided to buy it.

To access the compartments, you placed the tackle box down and opened the one side. Then when you wanted to access the other compartment, you flipped it over and opened that section. So then the other side was closed now.

After I got it home, I loaded all of my gear in it. I had fishing lures of different colors, weights, hooks, pre-strung fishing lines with hooks, bobbers, other floats, and pliers.

All Plano tackle boxes of this type came with stickers. I had seen an amber-colored tackle box just like the one I bought with stickers. You would apply the stickers to the box areas where your lures were. Then you could better find what you were looking for with the appropriate color sticker on each section.

Mine did not come with the stickers. I was sad.

I wanted to call the company but I didn’t have a phone number.

I dialed 411 to get a number.

Here’s the conversation:

411 operator: How may I help you?

Me: Could I please get the number for Plano Molding Company?

I think she connected me directly. I don’t remember writing a number down.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Man on phone: Plano Molding Company, how can I help you?

Me: Yes, I just bought one of your tackle boxes and the stickers weren’t in there. I was wondering if you’d be able to send me the stickers?

Man on phone: I’m sorry but this is the Plano Molding Company. We mold teeth.

Conclusion

LOL! And that was the end of my trek to get the stickers.

I only knew the company as Plano Molding Company, to which they are still called today. I just didn’t get the correct Plano Molding Company.

Until next time, happy reading!

-Matt