An iteresting topic on lure building

[Marksharky]

There probably isn't a Nor'east Saltwater tackle shop owner who
hasn't had at least one of the shop's regulars come in with a new
idea for a lure or a rig. The regular often ends up saying, "How `bout
I just give you a couple, and you give `em to guys to try out. Just let
me know what they think."

I don't know if that's exactly the way it happened for Bob Pond back
in 1944, but I can guess the he must have gone through the
process of talking with the other anglers who hung around a local
tackle shop, of testing and refining his design, and of finally coming
up with the wooden surf lure that caught the three largest striped
bass in the 1945 Cape Cod Canal Derby — the Striper Atom.

The story has been repeated time after time, resulting in the
Cast-A-Lure series of surf plugs by Stan Gibbs, the tins by Charlie
Graves and J. Pasquale, the "surge tube" rigs of John Sekora, Capt.
Charlie Nappi's rigs, the Pet Spoon by Tony Accetta, Al Gag's
Grabbers, and Scott's Custom Rigs for fluke, bass, and sharks by
Ed Scott who passed away last year.

A creative angler has an idea, kicks it around, makes a few
samples, tries them out, changes this, keeps that, and, with
patience, perseverance, and skill, comes up with something that
catches gamefish just a mite better than anything else.

The common thread through the development of most new lures,
particularly those designed for our Nor'east gamefish, is the local
tackle shop. What better place to find a group of fish-everyday
anglers who are always looking for an edge, and who aren't at all
timid about telling you what's right and what's wrong with your idea?
Without the tackle shop, the Striper Atom probably wouldn't be very
much known beyond its Attleboro, Massachusetts roots.

The stories continue today — the Petri-Fish, the Terminator rig out
of Combs' Bait & Tackle, the Bullet rigs out of Lindenhurst Bait &
Tackle, "Happy Henry" Myslborski's uniquely-dyed bucktails and
Super Swimmer baby flounder imitations out of Wego Fishing, and,
I have to say, my own father's Swimming Tins and Lucky's poppers
and darters that got their first exposure at The Camp-Site Sport
Shop, Manhattan Custom Tackle, and Wego Fishing.

These lure-makers might pipe dream about making a pile of money
from their creations, but, for the most part, they're looking to earn
enough from one lure so that they can go on to buy all of the
materials needed to create, test, and refine another idea. It's you,
the angler, and the independent tackle shops of the Nor'east that
provide the funds for them to continue.

Even if a chain store agent wanted to carry their creations, they
would probably never be able to meet the volume. In fact, you
probably won't even find some of the lures and rigs I've mentioned
outside of a few tackle shops that are near their creators' homes.

Compared to the major manufacturers, their lure-making operations
are infinitely small, but their dedication is often more intense. If you
happen to be in the Southold area on a dark, unfishable day, and
you see a gray-haired gentleman casting from a dock, don't think
he's lost it. It's probably "Happy Henry," testing a new idea.

I suppose they're also looking to leave their mark, and many will.
Though they will forever be Long Island's own, some of these lures
and rigs may make it big across the Northeast and, perhaps, the
country. Some may also become collectors' items.

Bob Pond's Striper Atom "went plastic" around 1948. It was one of
the first lures to use the new technologies developed during World
War II. Want to take a guess at what an original, wooden Striper
Atom might be worth these days? To be honest, I don't know, but
there are a lot of folks who spend a lot of their time knowing about
such things. They even have an organization called The National
Fishing Lure Collectors Club.

The NFLCC was founded in 1976 "to foster an awareness of lure
collecting as a hobby, and to assist members in the location,
identification, and trading of collectible fishing lures." Membership
applications can be had by writing to Secretary-Treasurer, NFLCC,
H.C. #33, Box 4012, Reeds Springs, MO 65737. The NFLCC also
has an Internet website at
http://www.gorp.com/cl_angle/canecoun/nflcc.htm.

The depth and breadth of the Internet has opened a vast arena for
fishing tackle collectors to buy, sell, swap, and provide information
for others. Much of the lure collector's time is spent on antique
freshwater lures that can command some staggering prices, but
saltwater models are making their presence known, too.

At last look, Bob Hart's Saltwater Lure Page on the Internet
featured Bob Pond's now famous Striper Atom. Hart also has
information on the Stan Gibbs Cast-A-Lure Darter, the Pug Nose
made by Point Jude Baits, and more. Bob's webpages are located
at http://members.aol.com/R061692/index.html.

If you're interested in buying or selling lures, a good place to start is
a website created and maintained by Dr. Michael Echols of Ft.
Myers, Florida (http://www.antiquelures.com/).

The condition of the lure has a lot to do with its collector's price tag.
R.L. Streater of the NFLCC has come up with a 0-to-10 grading
system that begins with 0-R (Repaint) and tops out at 10-NIB (New
In Box).

An unused lure in its original packaging is the Holy Grail of the lure
collectors' world, but unlike The Grail, such rarities are likely to pop
up almost anywhere.

Recently, a friend of mine told me about buying six Gibbs' lures,
never fished, and still in that old red and white Cast-A-Lure box.

Such finds aren't common, but they happen, and they're likely to
happen in the same tackle shops where many of the now collectible
lures were born.

And don't think that fishing or collecting fishing memorabilia is
"something done by the lazy and shiftless, not something to talk
about in print," as Paul Schullery described the 19th century notion
of the sport in his paper on Early American Angling that appeared in
Early American Homes. It now has academic standing, as proven
by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of
History's Center for Research on American Fishing Tackle —
CRAFT — with a webpage at
http://www.history.uiuc.edu/archive/craftsources.html.

Somewhere along the way, all old and new lures had their
beginnings as an idea, making our tackle shops much more than
places for us to buy tackle, lures, flies, or baits. They are also the
places of ideas and of innovation — the proving grounds for the hot
lures and rigs of the future.o this from Noreast website

[Tattoo]

EXCELLENT...but the links dont work