"4.75/5-Stars

I first heard about Mystery Tackle Box (MTB) fishing lure and tackle grab-bag company through my favorite Youtube video channel for Florida kayak angler Zoffinger, as they are a sponsor, and thought, why not? One can choose from saltwater, bass, walleye or panfish boxes, they cost $15 a month (first month can be had for $4.99 with code on their website and there is also a code for 10% off gift subscriptions, and they are shipped out on the 10th of each month.

The first month I received the following in the bass box: Sebile Flat Belly Walker large topwater jerkbait ($6.99); Fish Hog Punch Jig ($4.99); Reaction Strike Fathead Jr. soft minnow-like swimbait ($5.90); Z-Man Batwingz crawfish-like soft swimbait ($2.75); Evolve Baits Vibragrub fluttering soft swimbait ($2.50); Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp Wide Gap Worm Hook ($1.06); and Mustad Fastach Clip twist-swivel ($1.00), a value of $25.19. Another month I got a 100yd. spool of Vicious copolymer fishing line in addition to half a dozen lures and most recently, I got a microfiber neck gaiter/bandana thrown in along with the lures. So the formula seems to be 5-6 lures and baits, an item of hard tackle like a pack of hooks, swivels or jigheads, and then something else fishing-related.

PROS:

- All products were first-quality, often made in USA items, no cheap, generic-made-in-China or unwanted dust-covered closeout or bargain-bin junk. They appear to be about 2/3 products from newer, smaller, start-up companies trying to get their name out there and 1/3 products from established companies, perhaps new or limited trial run products. All seem like they will work well. My second box contained, among other items, a pair of VMC Wacky Weedless jigheads which is not just a top-notch product I’ve been using successfully with very few snags for the past two years, but I actually intended to go out and buy another pack of them that very week, so it was quite a pleasant surprise.

- Value of all items very clearly exceeds the $15 monthly subscription fee.

- MTB includes both a card listing and showing pictures and prices of everything included in each month's selection (handy to hold on to in case you want to go back and buy more of an item), as well as a monthly pamphlet/newsletter with some good fishing tips. Every box also includes a scratch-off card for a monthly prize contest and an MTB tackle box/bumper sticker.

- If you like something that was in your box this month, you can buy more through the MTB website (quite helpful, as a lot of the smaller brands might not be carried by your local bait and tackle shop or the products from more established and well-known companies might not be readily available yet, even at larger angler supply houses like Cabelas, Bass Pro Shops, or Gander Mountain.

- It's fun, almost like Christmas in June, again in July, then again in August, etc.... Last month I got a crazy LiveTarget clear crankbait with 3 small fish on display inside to represent a small school of baitfish. MSRP on this lure was $16 ! I’d never spend that much on a lure, so it was pretty neat to find it in my MTB box. I've shown it to half a dozen friends and family who fish and all of them had a big, intrigued grin after looking at a totally unique and expensive lure. It's kind of addictive opening up the MTB box each month (but see below under Cons).

CONS:

- As is the case with all such grab bags, it's hit or miss and while most products are very good/hits (in contrast to MTB, I've picked up a few brown paper tackle grab bags from local shops over the years and got mostly dusty old spoons and beaded strings for trolling - kind of useless), there are a couple of misses too (e.g. Z-Man Batwingz softbait melted in my tacklebox in my warm car -no other softbaits melted; Mustad Fastach twist-swivel is tricky/impossible with certain lures). But luckily, the misses seem few and far in-between.

- Other than designating type of fish for your lures, there's no way to specify a preference for a particular type of lure. I placed a big order of worms and swimbaits last year from an online tackle company to get free shipping and don't really need any more softbaits or worms, but this month's box contained 3 different softbaits and worms.

- Unless you're good at discarding lures and baits that aren't productive, you may find that you're accumulating more lures and tackle than you need (or need to get a bigger tackle box) - it's kind of addictive.

- MTB has product reviews for everything that they send out in their boxes and some products seem to have a bit too high of ratings for me to be confident they're all genuine (e.g. there is no way that none of the people posting 5/5 reviews of the Z-Man Batwingz softbait didn't have the same problem I did with the lure outright melting in their tackle box - I'm not the only one who has kept a tackle box in a hot car for a few hours).

CONCLUSION: Overall, I’d highly recommend Mystery Tackle Box.
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