Looking for a decades-old lure from the South Bend Bait Co. or a new handmade turkey caller?

The Alle-Kiski Valley’s oldest and, perhaps only, fishing and sports flea market is set for January at the Arnold No. 2 Volunteer Fire Department social hall.

The 15th annual Tri-County Trout Club Sports Show and Flea Market will feature a bevy of new, used and collectible fishing, camping and hunting items, excluding firearms and ammunition.

The event is set for Saturday, Jan. 18.

The popular sportsmen show benefits the Burrell Lake Park Kids’ Fishing Derby, an annual outing for 100 to 150 local kids who learn how to fish for free with prizes, use of fishing gear, bait, a lunch and more.

Besides helping a good cause, more anglers keep showing up for the fishing and sports flea market because of the eclectic selection.

Event organizer Steve Hegedus of Lower Burrell is always surprised by what he finds.

“This flea market is unique because there’s a mixture of new, used and collectible items,” said Hegedus, who is president of the Tri-Country Trout Club. “You can find a collector’s lure or an inexpensive one.”

Hegedus remembers one year when one man brought in $4,000 — and then called his wife to bring more money.

Another year, a widow of an avid angler showed up selling high-end bamboo fishing rods that cost thousands of dollars. She sold a few, he said.

But Hegedus has also seen a young angler with $20 of his parents’ money buy a large amount of fishing supplies.

Andy Rapach of Harrison City is a collector of vintage fishing and other outdoor sports books. He plans to sell and buy antique books on fishing.

“Everything old is new again,” said Rapach of the interest in, say, fly fishing pamphlets published before the 1960s.

“A lot of new things people are writing about today were actually done 25 to 75 years ago,” he said. Why not go to the original sources with interesting artwork?

Hegedus said the same is true about lures.

Today’s lures are made of plastic or high-tech metals that are produced to be highly accurate in depicting bait fish.

“The older wooden ones are more artistic,” he noted.

“You’re trying to trick a fish,” Hegedus said about the usefulness of old fishing lures. “It’s all about color and movement more than anything else.”

The first flea markets started as small events geared toward Trout Club members to sell their unwanted hunting, fishing and other outdoor equipment.

After a change in dates and venues, the event now attracts several hundred visitors with vendors and club members using up about 60 tables.

“It’s just the right size,” Hegedus said. “I don’t think we want to get any bigger.”

Coming up

What: Tri-County Trout Club Sports Show and Flea Market

When: Saturday, Jan. 18 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Arnold No. 2 Volunteer Fire Department Training and Social Center, 1702 Fifth Avenue, Arnold

Details: Admission is $3, kids under 12 years of age get in for free. Vendors’ tables are $15. For more information on renting a table, send an email to tctcnews@gmail.com or call 412-298-0964.

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