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Habs/Tattoo Darters


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Here's is the response from Mike (Tattoo)

 

I see a lot of people selling Habs/Tattoo Darters. I just want to toss this up here to clarify the truth about these. I reached out to Mike Dauphin today and this is what he had to say.

Hey Tommy,

I got your message and checked out those posts. Looks like someone is making some damn good money on fooling people into believing something that isn't.

For the record, John and I shared ideas freely but had an agreement no matter what happens good or bad, no one would ever make what the other made. John never made a darter, I never made a needlefish. It was a gentleman's agreement we shook hands on and did not break.

While John and I did make the Hab-A-Tat lures together as a tribute to the classics, the people who are selling these lures are wrong, and the people buying them, well, there is an ass for every seat I guess.

I'm sure there are many experts out there that claim to know the real story, but the reality is they don't. I admit, things did go south for John and I but it did not directly relate to the lures. I had numerous family issues happening and sometimes life gets in the way of your plans. Unfortunately, there are only two people left that you can get the actual story from, even through many will claim to have know it all. John, Point Jude Joe, and my father have all passed. John's son and myself are the only ones that are left, and John Jr wasn't involved much at all until after John's passing. He was busy with school and chasing girls. I was fortunate enough to teach John Jr how to paint his fathers lures, at the request of Point Jude Joe and Johns wife Jessie. Anything that did get painted and sold, was done by the whomever sold the lures. I never painted needlefish, and John never painted sea pups, we wouldn't have had it any other way.

Mike - Tattoo

MorningWood
(*member formerly know as 'kevnmary')
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Unless they were bought directly from John the argument is that people have been putting the tattoo darters in Hab's packaging. This seems pretty devious to me  but why would Mike lie about this especially since he is out of the business? I'd like to find out if anyone ever bought one directly from John.

MorningWood
(*member formerly know as 'kevnmary')
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Perhaps LiFishinVT or Nelson can chime in on this, as the price tag on the lobster is from Nelson's on the cape. I saw an old Fisherman's magazine with J. Hab on the cover holding and featuring a darter... was he promoting Tattoo (I doubt it)? Did John tell Mike his every move or did he sell a few very limited runs that may have ran astray from a gentleman's agreement he had with Mike D.? 

"Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after."  

~Henry David Thoreau
(member formerly known as MV Bluefish)

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One note, the blue and blurple darters in the bags were not for sale. They were posted and shown just for reference. I doubt a collector would misrepresent his own collection in such a devious manner for no monetary gain but admittedly this is just supposition. 

"Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after."  

~Henry David Thoreau
(member formerly known as MV Bluefish)

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I have a darter John made and signed and handed me - it was not in a package. It was shaped like the Gibbs 2 1/2oz darter...a very different shape than the darters pictured above.

Show someone how to catch striped bass and they'll be ready to fish anywhere.
Show someone where to go striped bass fishing and you'll have a desperate report chaser with loose lips.

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I question the timing and extent of the agreement and what constitutes repetition. They both did similar plugs of varying sizes and shapes at/to some points...

 

Tattoo's

post-333-0-22517500-1447512398.jpg

 

 

tattoo44.jpg

 

Hab's

525

525

 

47b7d729b3127ccebb71283684a100000036100A

TimS' darter:

525

1000

"Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after."  

~Henry David Thoreau
(member formerly known as MV Bluefish)

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The first 3 came from another collector who said they were given to him by John. The next 4 came from somebody who was supposed to be close with John at some point, and the last is NIP which I've looked over multiple times since this thread started and I can't see that it was ever tampered with and has a Nelsons price tag on it like BaBa stated.

post-52125-0-20547000-1491426368.jpg

post-52125-0-97219100-1491426380.jpg

post-52125-0-05173600-1491426396.jpg

Edited by FV Solitude
Y'all know me. Know how I earn a livin'. I'll catch this bird for you, but it ain't gonna be easy. Bad fish. Not like going down the pond chasin' bluegills and tommycods.
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Hello All,

 
Interesting thread. The accusation of people putting other lures in Hab's packages is a real stretch of the imagination since many have been posting HAB's darters purchased from Tackle Shops (Nelsons) and the person.  I'm selling these for someone who bought these directly from John Haberek Sr in person at the RISSA over the years. He indicated that John always had a very limited supply at the show and he would get there early to buy them.  Even LI.FISH.IN.VT indicated in this thread that John made darters.    http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/topic/690123-john-habs-darters/
 
Also, it is interesting in this thread link attached below that people questioning the authenticity have indicated that they had seen a Habs darter. That darter was going for $225 back in 2013 but no claim was made back then about the authenticity.    http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/topic/550693-habs-darter-nip/
 
Also interesting is that Mike says there was an agreement not to make each other lures (ie: needles / darters) but Tim has a John Hab's darter. Maybe Tim has the only darter John ever made. :-)
 
I guess this is either the biggest scam or John really did make darters. Maybe I just have good faith in humanity, but I find it very hard to believe that over the years someone repackaged Tattoo darters into John's packaging and sold them in tackle shops and shows and this is just coming to light now based on this thread. 
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These are the pictures Mike posted in his response on Facebook. The one he described as the evolution of the Tattoo darter. He also commented on pictures of darters in the original Hab's packaging, his comment was " I made those, it's pretty obvious when you look at them"

 

post-13978-0-99753100-1491442534.jpg

 

post-13978-0-73067000-1491442535.jpg

MorningWood
(*member formerly know as 'kevnmary')
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Also interesting is that Mike says there was an agreement not to make each other lures (ie: needles / darters) but Tim has a John Hab's darter. Maybe Tim has the only darter John ever made. :-)[/size]

The darter John gave me has a little more to the story....it was made around the time that Gibbs started producing a nearly exact duplicate of John's 3 1/2oz needlefish. Gibb's and John didn't have to best relationship (according to John) - apparently Gibb's had made it know they felt John's needlefish was a "knock off" of the Gibb's needlefish. Anyone that's fished them both knows that's insane...Hab's was much more dense, could be fished deep or on the surface...the Gibbs had it's place, but it fished on the surface.

So John made this darter, I don't know how many he made, but he handed it to me and said something like "You think Gibb's would whine if I started selling these?" :b:

 

habs-darter.jpg

 

It is almost identical to Gibb's 2 1/2oz darter...I wouldn't be surprised it WAS identical...I don't think John ever put them into production - as far as I know it's the only one I've ever seen. John handed me this darter, he said he made it, I have no reason to doubt him. I can't speak to the other darters other than to say I've never seen one before. I'd be curious what year they were put on the pegs at Nelson's?

Show someone how to catch striped bass and they'll be ready to fish anywhere.
Show someone where to go striped bass fishing and you'll have a desperate report chaser with loose lips.

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