Larry Sundall, Estherville, Iowa found stress relief after suffering open heart bypass surgery at the age of 45.

It was discovered in the 17 tackle boxes in his father’s garage.

“He was not a collector. He was an accumulataor,” Sundall said.

Today, his avocation is a growing vocation; part-time, to be sure. He is the Emmet County, Iowa veterans service officer and planning and zoning administrator, too.

But buying, selling and trading in old fishing tackle — really old — is what “trips my trigger,” Sundall said.

Sundall was a special guest Monday evening at the Austin Chapter No. 10 Izaak Walton League meeting in the Ikes cabin at Todd Park, Austin.

Specifically he collects Wright McGill, frogs, Frog Spots and Kentucky Reels.

He is a member of the National Fishing Lure Collectors Club and has been the subject of fishing industry magazine articles.

Sundall has heard it all. Terrible puns included. He’s hooked on fishing tackle. He found fishing tackle al-lureing. He can reel in anybody when talking tackle.

Sundall doesn’t mind. He’s one of those fortunate souls who loves what he’s doing and does what he loves.

It helps that he lives within a long cast of Iowa’s Great Lakes: Okoboji, Spirit Lake and the rest of the anglers’ paradise.

Thirty-eight years of fishing trips to northern Minnesota’s Leech Lake fostered his fishing interests.

If his wife, Pat, wouldn’t be such a fishing enthusiast and tackle expert herself, Sundall’s hobby might be considered an obsession.

He has over 600 Lazy Ike fishing lures among 6,000 pieces of fishing tackle.

His house is guarded by an electronic security system; no need to risk losing any of his collection, worth something in the six-figure range. To say anymore would be to succumb to a “big fish” story that no one would believe.

He and his wife, Pat, travel to 13 shows a year in search of something to buy, sell or trade. Or, maybe, a Lever reel, a coveted item missing from his collection.

And if it sounds at all like Sundall is bragging — he isn’t, he said — it’s just that what he has in his possession sounds too good to be true unless he allows one to see and examine the items up close.

He did that Monday night at the Austin Ikes meeting.

Reels from the 1800s, rare one-of-a-kind lures, novelty lures including one made from a pool cue and another in the shape of a nun.

In fact, he can open to any page in the collectors’ Bible: The 1 1/2-inch thick “Old Fishing Lure and Tackle Guide” by Carl F. Luckey and give a short presentation on its significance adding the footnote that he has one, once owned own or is looking for one at that very moment.

Others know Willie Mays’ batting average, Hank Aaron’s homerun totals and Warren Spahn’s pitching totals.

Sundall’s knows the story behind the Bite Em Water Mole, circa 1920, Sunfish Sal, circa 1930, and thousands of other lures.

Three-hooks, five-hooks.

The best for freshwater, fly and stillwater fishing.

Sundall is a walking encyclopedia.

Jeff Anderson, an avid fisherman, when not designing one-of-a-kind memorials, was impressed at what Sundall told the Ikes and showed them.

Terry Dorsey brought some lures from his father-in-law’s collection, but they were just “children” compared to what Sundall collects.

“The fishing licenses in the tackle boxes of my father-in-law go back to only 1972 and earlier,” Dorsey said.

Sorry, Berkeley fishing tackle and other modern manufacturers. Your stuff is good, very good, but not the unique, story-behind-it, hand-crafted-not-mass-produced tackle that trips Sundall’s trigger.

“That’s one of the things that has driven people into collecting antique fishing tackle: The quality of the workmanship. People who were mechanical and had engineering skills just totally love the old fashioned fishing tackle and reels. They have … class they call it,”Sundall said.

Some collectors even prefer lures with teeth marks in them to ensure authenticity.

The man and his wife gained fame on the walleye circuit, but they also prowl bait shops at the end of the road or tucked away in the woods near a lake a river far off the beaten track.

They are prospectors.

“I found a piece for my collection once,” he said. “The one I had on a scale of one to 10 was a three, condition-wise. I found a nine and it just thrilled me to death.”

Yes, he has been “burned,” but not enough to deter his zest for collecting.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people are up front and honest,” he said.

He did not spread his hands apart, so it must not have been a big fish kind of story.

Got something in an dusty tackle box in the garage? Who knows? Sundall may have an offer to make.

Call him at (712) 362-5949 or e-mail him at lsundall@ncn.net.