Reeling in   the Years

Tucked amid the brick-faced row houses only a mile or so from the high-rises of downtown Baltimore is a tackle shop that’s blissfully out of context. The building that houses it is unassuming, though a red and green neon sign with a jumping 6-foot largemouth bass on it hangs out front. Across the electrified fish is the word tackle, and beneath it, in block letters, is the name Tochterman.

Most people would go out of their way to avoid the scene outside — impatient drivers, nearly impossible parking, the sounds of the city and the pungent diesel fumes of delivery trucks making their rounds — but thousands of anglers from as far away as North Carolina and New Jersey make repeated pilgrimages here to buy bait and tackle, get advice and shoot the breeze with like-minded souls. Tochterman’s has been in business for more than 100 years and is the oldest tackle shop in the country operating continuously from a single location. And it’s thriving in today’s world of big-box fishing stores