Skate and Bait

For those of you not particularly obsessed with mail-order swimbaits and JDM lures, you might not yet be aware of Carolina Fishing Tackle in Mooresville, NC, close to Lake Norman. Owner Doyle Myrick has not only assembled an incredible selection of hard-to-find gear at reasonable prices, but he also seems to get a lot of the good stuff first. I’ve yet to visit his store, but I inspected his selection at the last Greenville Bassmaster Classic, and I fully intend to make a detour the next time I’m headed down I-77 or I-85.

I’m on their website multiple times a week, and my Facebook algorithm is working overtime to put them in my feed, so I was curious when I found out that the shop was expanding – to include the 5150 Skate Shop, an integrated store specializing in skateboard gear.

I might not have seen the connection, but for the fact that my Facebook feed also repeatedly features a skate and tackle shop in Sendai, Japan called “The Strike.” They may be closer to the source of a lot of the gear, and their retail footprint appears to be smaller, but the overlap in inventory and intent is obvious.

Why skating and tackle together? I really don’t know. As someone who would likely bust his ass into 12 pieces if I hopped on a board, I’ll stick to the tackle side of both operations. I’ve taken a distinctly utilitarian approach to fishing for all of my adult life to date, but as I’ve explored more of swimbait culture, the overlap between fashion and function is clear. What you fish, just like what you wear, can be an expression of who you are. As KVD would say, “it’s all about the attitude.”