What does T.A.S. Stand For

Hello, my name is Dirk and I’m a TAS sufferer. It’s been 1 hour and 37 minutes since my last delivery!

When I first joined the Kayak Fishing Forum a few years ago, I did not know what those guys were talking about when they mentioned TAS, but I could see it had something to do with buying gear.

Turns out it stands for Tackle Acquisition Syndrome and I have it. It’s the manly alternative to retail therapy and at least for us kayak fishermen, it seems to be closely aligned to the weather. The worse the weather, the more we buy.

 

This morning, for example, I got my latest delivery all the way from Amazon.com in the US.

The main reason for the purchase was the bottom-right two squid jigs. Well, not really… You see, I went online to buy a better drogue for my kayak, but then didn’t feel like spending the $79 on the one I wanted. So I decided to keep the one I have at the moment and buy some other stuff instead. What did I need, oh yeah, smaller squid jigs. So I went online and found that those Yo Zuri ones had really good reviews, so I ordered them. Except that I already have ample of those 3.5″ squid jigs, my need was for smaller ones. Never mind. But now I’m ordering from the US and shipping will cost a bit, so I better buy some extra stuff to justify the shipping costs.

But don’t worry, on Friday I’m going to a local tackle shop to buy some small squid jigs (and get some advice) and I’m sure I’ll get the better drogue soon.

And hey, the one supplier, Fisherman’s Source, threw in this little baby for free, SCORE!

This has all the classic symptoms of T.A.S.

1. You aim to buy one thing, then decide to save money by not buying it, but end up spending more money on something you don’t need. (The drogue turning into squid jigs)
2. You can’t find what you’re looking for, so buy more of what you already have (large jigs instead of the smaller ones).
3. You already have plans to buy the items you were planning to buy in steps 1 and 2 above.
4. You buy more stuff to optimise the purchase.
5. Get something for free, so convince yourself it’s in everyone’s best interest to support that shop and buy more from them.

And the final symptom, of course, is when you start selling stuff to support your TAS.