Appraisers can find treasure in a tackle box.

Byline: INSIDE THE OUTDOORS By Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard

Think of it as an "Antique Roadshow" for hunters and fishers.

I'm not much of a "Roadshow" fan myself, owing to a lack of interest in most of the old stuff that people haul in to be examined by experts in front of the TV program's cameras.

But I'm intrigued by the low-key, no-TV-cameras (yet!) show that Eric Ward is bringing to the G.I. Joe's store at 1030 Green Acres Road in Eugene.

Ward, owner of Ward's Auctions of Salem, offers "free appraisals of old hunting and fishing stuff."

He and a trio of other specialists will be set up inside the Eugene store from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, ready to offer educated estimates on how much grandpa's fishing creel or old shotgun shell boxes would bring at auction.

The idea, of course, is to generate business for Ward's auction house, as well as satisfy your curiosity.

"Obviously, we're hoping to get consignments," Ward says, "but there's no obligation."

Ward said people are often surprised by how much old sporting goods items are worth.

"One guy brought in 10 .22 boxes and, for whatever reason, he had the rarest variety - each one was worth $150 to $300, and he was just floored. He was thrilled to death," he said.

Everyone knows antique furniture is valuable, Ward said, "but most people don't know that this stuff has any value.

"We've had many $1,000 and $2,000 fishing lures come in, just from Oregon. ... We've had shotgun shell boxes that exceeded $5,000 in value. Generally, those are from the 1890s through 1920s."

Ward got started in 1990 as a collector of old shotgun shell boxes, eventually buying them on the Internet. He started his own Web site to get rid of duplicates and soon "had over a thousand people spending some serious money on that stuff."

By 1998, Ward was working eight hours a day on his collectibles business, in addition to his regular job. "My wife told me to pick one," he said.

Now Ward's Auctions claims to be the "largest auction house dedicated entirely to sporting collectibles."

The company relies on printed catalogs as well as the Internet to "display" consigned items. It holds four auctions a year, and bids are accepted by phone and fax as well as e-mail. "A lot of our customers aren't Internet savvy," he says.

The catalog for the last auction filled 158 pages, listing items ranging from old Outdoor Life magazines to guns, decoys, knives, shot powder cans, lures, ammo boxes, fishing creels, calendars, posters and colorful cardboard merchandizing displays.

Bringing top price was a Union Metallic Cartridge Co. display board on which more than 200 of the company's cartridges had been mounted. It sold for $20,001.

For old fishing and hunting stuff to have much value, it generally has to have belonged to grandpa or great-grandpa.

"Our rule of thumb is 1950 or older," Ward said. "Surprisingly, there are some things from the '60s that are worth money."

Oregon is a mother lode of antique wicker fishing creels, he said.

"We're in the fishing creel mecca of the entire world. The top 10 companies in the world were based in Portland. One is still in business, in Scio. We sold one for $7,000."

Ward's charges a sliding consignment fee of 10 to 20 percent, based on the item's selling price. The most expensive items pay the lowest percentage.

While Ward's auction house has been in business for seven years, the "roadshow" approach to looking for old fishing and hunting stuff is only about a year old. Previous "free appraisal" events were held at G.I. Joe's in Salem, Bend and Medford.

"Generally, we have a line the whole day," Ward said. "Usually we see between 200 and 500 people."

Finally, don't be surprised if you see Ward and his appraisers on TV someday.

"The Outdoor Channel has picked up on this," Ward said. "We're supposed to sit down with them in November and talk about doing something like the `Antique Roadshow' for hunters and fishermen."

Mike Stahlberg can be reached at [e-mail].