Antique wooden Fishing Rods

I’ve for ages been a pack rat. In fact, I have the first tackle box I ever had inside sixties. When you look at the mid-80s, i discovered my first tackle field of classic lures at an auction near Lake associated with Ozarks. I was astonished to observe that purchasers had been so thinking about old fishing plugs, perhaps the wood Creek Chub Pikies and Lazy Ikes, like the people We nonetheless had in a few of my fishing tackle boxes.

My obsession with old fishing tackle grew from that point on. A number of the best old fishing lures were created from 1900 through about 1960. We locate them in tackle bins that many likely belonged to fishermen who pursued bass in Missouri or bigger fish once they travelled into the northern U.S. or Canada.

I am hoping this little bit of tackle record enable get you hooked on obtaining old fishing lures, also!

Side-Hook Minnows

Many companies made side-hook minnows. These wood baits had either three or five treble hooks, although at the very least two companies made slightly larger variations that boasted six treble hooks! Can you imagine trying to unhook a fish that had taken basic baits? Take into account that catch-and-release was extremely uncommon until the 1970s.

Heddon’s Dowagiac Minnow No. 150 was as well-known among anglers for the very early 1900s because it's with collectors today. This lure ended up being frequently described by its model quantity “150” or simply just as a “5-hooker” or “Dow-jack.” It emerged in a variety of great colors, also it ended up being fashioned with glass eyes from about 1904 through 1953. The hook hangers and spinners utilized on these baits changed over the years consequently they are for that reason very useful in dating individual lures.

Initially, the 5-hook Shakespeare wood Minnows look nearly the same as the Heddon No. 150 series, but you can find significant differences in the spinners plus what sort of hooks tend to be connected. For around 10 years, starting in 1906, along side it hooks had been installed on a clip or a plate that ran through a hole in the body. If you can actually see through the body associated with the lure in one hook to the other, chances are which you’ve discovered a Shakespeare Minnow, that is about a century old.

Among tiny organizations that made top-quality side-hook minnows was the Pontiac production Company in Michigan. Their particular Pontiac Minnow is a rare find for enthusiast.

Early Wooden Fishing Lure Businesses

Before 1900, not many commercially created wood fishing lures had been made and offered in the usa. The time scale from 1900 to 1930, however, should have been a thrilling time for avid recreation fishing fishermen interested in brand new wooden fishing lures. A was growing quickly, as well as the four biggest very early businesses had been growing their particular product lines and offering numerous types of wood baits.

The business production business of Akron, Ohio, manufacturers of Pflueger Fishing Tackle, marketed two of the very first wooden lures.

F.G. “Bucktail” Worden of Southern Bend, Indiana, began making bucktail baits in the kitchen area in 1895 or 1896. By 1900, he had been offering wooden minnows, plus in 1905 he launched the Worden Bucktail Manufacturing Company.

William Shakespeare, Jr. patented 1st level-wind fishing reel that truly worked in 1896. In 1897, he began his fishing tackle company, and in1901 he won a patent for his first wood fishing lure.

Because of the belated 1890s, James Heddon’s carved baits had proven to be fish catchers and had been desired by his fishing pals. In 1900, Heddon and his son, Will, began the James Heddon & Son Company. In 1901, they offered their particular first commercially available plugs, as well as in 1902 they got their first patent.

Topwater Lures

Some of the side-hook minnows were offered as “floaters” or topwater lures. But there have been many other topwater lure designs developed through the years, and lots of are still preferred these days.

Heddon’s Surface Minnow No. 300 had been offered from 1905 to 1941. This 4-inch fat-bodied area minnow was among the bigger Heddon baits with this period. The No. 300 when you look at the photo is among the oldest versions. Note the 3 lengthy, purple, hand-painted gill markings underneath the attention. It was one of Heddon’s lures made with muskies in your mind. In reality, in 1925 title had been changed into Musky Minnow. Later it had been altered again on Musky Surfusser.

Regardless of what they labeled as it, it reminds me of many modern bass and muskie baits.

Pflueger made the famous Globe from 1910 to 1966, once the company was offered to Shakespeare. There have been discreet changes in the world over time, nonetheless it constantly seemed about the same. Many other companies are making similar baits, & most people call all of them “Globe-style” baits.

Southern Bend produced a good collection of topwater baits, plus it started the Surf-Oreno line in 1916. This lure emerged in many sizes and several colors, and some of these look nearly the same as the Heddon No. 300. The Southern Bend Woodpecker represents a unique style of topwater appeal. South Bend usually produced this quite popular surface bait with a luminous human anatomy and red-head. Minimal common version of this bait emerged rigged with two weedless hooks and was sold from 1914 to 1923.

Nearly the same as the Woodpecker had been the Moonlight Floating Bait, which initially emerged painted a good, luminous white.

The Creek Chub Plunker presents a mode with stood the test of the time. Wooden Plunkers were sold from 1926 through 1978. Creek Chub made some fairly comparable topwater baits just like the Pop ‘n’ Dunk and the Surface Dingbat. Plunker-style lures will always be being sold today and remain preferred, specially with fishermen fishing for black colored bass or white bass.