Capt. Tommy Thompson's Saltwater Angler's Guides

In my ongoing quest to visit as many of the small mom-and-pop fishing tackle shops in North Central Florida as I can this spring, I spent a recent morning at  Alachua Farm and Lumber on NW 145^th Avenue in downtown Alachua, north of Gainesville. There, owners Wayne and Linda Tanner offer an excellent all-around selection of fishing gear.  The “Fishing Department” is lined with racks full of Bass Assassin, Rapala, MirrOlure, Rapala, Live Target and Berkley Gulp! lures.  I was lucky in that Greg MacLean, the salesman from Big Rock Sports. A major tackle distributor, was in the store making his weekly assessment of AFL’s tackle needs and was able to give me a good idea of what lures and tackle are currently popular.  Greg said that while MirrOlure TTs had been popular throughout the cold months, AFL would start selling more Catch 2000s now that the Gulf waters were warming up.  In terms of soft baits, Gulp! 5-inch jerk shads in “Pink Shine” has been a best seller recently (at the incredible low price of 4 bags for $20!), paired up with Bass Assassin jig heads.   In addition to terminal tackle, AFL also sells complete lines of Shimano and Penn reels, Star Rods, and both Yeti and Engel coolers.   And if you’re a fresh water angler, their selection of freshwater gear is equal to that in the saltwater section.

Do you want to know the only problem I have with shopping at AFL for fishing gear?  The simple answer is that I have to pass through the hunting department to get to the fishing department.  That’s a good problem to have!