Doc’s Tackle: A Big-Bait Mecca in Upstate New York

I’ve been to a LOT of tackle shops. But I didn’t expect to find one of the best ones I’ve ever visited in Honeoye, New York.

I’ve always been a tackle store junkie, and as I’ve been traveling with the Bassmaster Elite Series this year I’ve made it a point to stop in at as many local shops as I can.

I like supporting them because their path is harder today than ever in the era of online retailers and megastores. So I make it a point to spend money at each one – even if it’s just to buy a t-shirt.

Frankly, even though I have an insatiable thirst for new gear, it’s becoming harder and harder to buy lures from many of them. They rarely have something I need – or, more importantly, something I cannot live without.

Most of them carry the same big brands in the same popular colors and little else.

Then I walked into Doc’s Tackle in Honeoye in between the Open at Erie and the Elite at the St. Lawrence. I’d met Jose Vuitonnet, one of the owners, at the Swimbait Gathering a few years back, but I was absolutely shocked to find that he and his partners had built up a store with tons of JDM and big bait options you cannot find anywhere else.

Frankly, I expect to find solid options at Rayburn or Guntersville or the Cal Delta.

But I had no idea that the Finger Lakes Region of New York would offer such an incredible stopover.

Fortunately, I was able to limit the amount I spent. But I’m sure I’ll be back -- and if I’m left unchaperoned next time, I may spend considerably more.