This column is the next in a semi-regular series about Keys places that have stayed mostly the same as things have changed all around them. Now and again it’s good to celebrate some of our islands’ stalwart businesses that have survived and thrived.
Marathon’s early development was concentrated around the west end of Vaca Key, hence the moniker Old Town. The United States Postal Service constructed one of Marathon’s early post offices near the intersection of US 1 and 20th Street; the building still resembles an old post office building today.
When a new post office was built during the Kennedy administration, the Old Town Post Office became Miller’s Bait & Tackle. It quickly became a place where fishermen could get bait and spin stories — something that happens at the site to this very day.
Many locals remember Dave Brown from the years he owned the Tackle Box. Dave sold the business in 2004 to Dave Still, and Dave sold the Tackle Box to his son and daughter-in-law Chris and Robyn Still in 2016 — 13 months before Irma hit the Keys. Even though things have changed, so much has remained the same. Bait, tackle and stories flow freely in the Tackle Box. Chris and Robyn didn’t change much about the shop — after all, why fix it if it works?
People, including a lot of old-timers, rely on the Tackle Box as one of the only full-service bait and tackle stores left in the Keys. Some of them have been coming in for decades, and remember “the way it was” as they get their bait or drop off a reel to repair.
“Where did that door go?” “There was a window there — what happened to it?” These are some of the questions old-timers ask when they come back to the Tackle Box for the first time in years. Some of them remember (fondly, I suppose) the old concrete trough behind the old door where fishermen would rid themselves of their used beer. And there’s a bullet hole in one of the windows that’s been there for years. No one knows when it happened or who might have shot at the place.
Robyn calls the myriad mysteries of the building “treasures.” When a place has been operating as the same basic business for decades, there are always surprises left behind years ago that turn up. Old reel parts, tackle, rod stuff — it keeps the Stills amused by the continual discovery that takes place.
The building has been added on to and modified numerous times throughout the years. Significant parts of it, however, haven’t changed much in the past five decades. And the Tackle Box has proven resilient throughout — Irma mostly spared the old structure the wrath she dealt elsewhere. Other hurricanes have mostly spared the building as well. That’s a really good thing that hasn’t changed.
Another thing that hasn’t changed is the world-famous Triple D Lure. The three D’s stand for Dave’s Dolphin Demon, and fishermen have used them to reel in the big bulls for years. Yes, it’s still available.
Today, the Tackle Box is one of the few (if not the only) full-service bait and tackle stores left in the Keys. They catch their own live baits, and can outfit you with everything you’ll need, from rods and reels to comfortable fishing apparel. They offer rod and reel repair, and can even take you out on a charter if you can’t find one readily available. They can customize rods and other fishing paraphernalia, and will soon have an embroidery machine that will let them make their own custom hats. It’s all part of their mission to ensure that fishermen who come to Marathon have the best possible time and will continue to come back to the Middle Keys.
Needless to say, Robyn and Chris love their community. Robyn is a member of Zonta, and they help out so many worthwhile causes. They are great supporters of Presents In Paradise, and do so much to help out in so many ways that so few know. The community is blessed to have people like Robyn and Chris still as local business owners. And it’s good to see a truly local business continue the traditions that have made the Tackle Box successful for a half-century.
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