UA Little Rock senior Li Morrow grew up fishing in her native China, using just a glass jar with bread in it.

“I would tie a string around it and drop into one of the local creeks, ditches or flooded fields then jerk it up if a minnow swam into it,” said Morrow, 33, who will graduate on May 11 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering technology . “If it was muddy the fish would often come up to the surface near the bank and I would scoop them up with a little net.”

Morrow became a U.S. citizen in 2013 and now lives in Lonoke. After a friend took her trout fishing, she was hooked.

“I started driving up to the Little Red River below Greers Ferry Dam at every opportunity,” she said. “I love it.”

There was just one problem. The plastic tackle boxes were too clunky. Morrow searched for a wearable tackle box but couldn’t find one. She tried wearable fishing vests but found them difficult to organize her lures and gear.

“I realized that I actually needed very little fishing tackle to be successful, and I got tired of dragging around a heavy tackle box whenever I would move to a new location,” she said.

Morrow did what one might expect a UA Little Rock mechanical engineering technology student to do: she designed and manufactured her own tackle box, which she will debut at the university’s Student Research and Creative Works Expo on April 18 in the Jack Stephens Center. 

Last fall, Morrow was one of about 100 undergraduates who received up to a $1,000 grant to conduct original research, creative works and community service projects this semester as part of the Signature Experience Award Program created by Chancellor Andrew Rogerson. The awards – now in their second year – are designed to foster research and creative works among undergraduate students.

Morrow initially bought several small lure boxes, modified them by cutting out sections, and ran a belt through it so she could wear it as she moved around to different fishing spots. For the prototype, she used The SolidWorks® software to  build the layout and test functionality, and she used a 3D printer to create prototypes ad test alignment.

“It has compartments that are specifically designed to accommodate off-the-shelf fishing gear such as 3-½ inch diameter spools of fishing line, standard power bait bottles, six- and eight-inch- long hook removers, and line repair equipment, all of which fit nicely into the tackle box,” she said.

The box measures 9.8″ x 8.6″ x 3.0″. It’s small, inexpensive, easy to use, wearable, and it floats. With only one layer, all the fishing gear is also easy to access.

The primary tackle box material is a rigid homopolymer polypropylene, which offers a high strength-to-weight ratio, good chemical resistance, weldability, and it is inexpensive. The final manufacturing process would involve an injection molding with the latches and hinges will be snapped into place, and the straps welded.

Morrow says her trout fishing tackle box may be a solution for other trout fishermen, and she hopes someone will be interested in buying her design.

UA Little Rock student Li Morrow designed and built a custom wearable tackle box. / Photo by Benjaim Krain