uterti-com

Just another WordPress site

The Big 5 Vintage Fishing Lure Companies – Who Are They?

The Big 5 Vintage Fishing Lure Companies – Who Are They?

One of the first things a person new to the world of vintage fishing lure collecting will hear is the so-called “Big 5” companies that dominate the news about the hobby. Knowing who these companies are (or were) and a bit about them will go a long way to alleviate the fears of someone new to the hobby who is intimidated by all the information available online.

The Heddon Company

The Heddon Company was created by James Heddon, the man credited with inventing the first artificial wooden fishing lures in 1894. The oft-repeated story is that he had his lightening moment when he cast a hand-carved wooden plug. in the waters of the mill pond in Dowagiac, Michigan, and saw a bass hit him. With this idea an industry was born. The original lures were frogs hand carved on broomsticks by Heddon himself. The lures were originally made by hand in the Heddon family kitchen located in Dowagiac, Michigan, but by 1910 there was a new factory in Dowagiac and sales were expanding.

Lucky 13, Punkinseed, River Runt, and Meadow Mouse are a few examples of this classic brand.

brook cub

Creek Chub was founded in 1910 by three friends in Garrett, Indiana. The company is named after the stream chub, which is a small fish that anglers often use as live bait.

Henry Dills created the first Creek Chub lure, The Wiggler, which had a metal lip that caused the lure to move in the water, causing more fish to hit it. Another early lure was the Pikie minnow. This bullet shaped lure had more than one variation available, allowing you to choose your desired amount of movement in the water. The Open Mouth Weedless, later renamed the Open Mouth Shiner, is another early lure. These lures were designed to be weedproof and featured long shank, rear-facing double hooks so they could be dragged over snags without hanging from them. Open Mouth Weedless lures are a hard to find vintage fishing lure and all three are excellent examples of Creek Chub vintage fishing lures and collectibles.

One of Creek Chub’s most important innovations in the lure industry was the process of spraying lures by spraying the paint through a net. Paint applied to this net (originally from ladies’ hats!) was used to create the scale patterns now common on Creek Chub lures. Creek Chub was a very innovative company in other areas as well. His early adoption of the use of glass eyes on lures and the invention of the aforementioned weedless bait are great examples of this spirit of innovation. Creek Chub also held many other patents related to lure improvements.

pflueger

Ernest F. Pflueger founded the Enterprise Manufacturing Company in 1881 manufacturing fishhooks. When his daughter took over the business in 1906, he changed the name to the EA Pflueger Company. During this time, Pflueger was the first company to open commercial production of wooden fishing lures. The company would also grow from being just a hook manufacturer to all areas of fishing gear. As competition in the industry became fiercer, the company began to focus more on the real thing than the lures.

Two of the lures the company started with were the Flying Helgramite and the Luminous Crystal Minnow lure. These are two very old Pflueger fishing lures incorporating the E. Pflueger Foundation’s invention of a luminous paint for lures.

shakespeare

William Shakespeare, Jr. founded his company in 1897 with a first product that was not a fishing lure. He started with reels before branching out into the lure market. Shakespeare began making fishing lures around 1900 and soon after the first catalog was published containing just four lures: Revolution, Bucktail, Evolution and Frog. The Shakespeare Revolution is one of Shakespeare’s most collectible classic fishing lures. Many of Shakespeare’s early products were rubber lures, including rubber frogs that imitated the movements of a real-life frog when in water. A very rare collector’s item is the Shakespearean Tournament Casting Frog, which is a prize find for any enthusiast of classic Shakespearean fishing lures.

South Bend Bait Company

South Bend was founded in the early 1900’s by FG ​​Worden of South Bend, Indiana.

Worden had already been selling his Bucktail baits since 1894 before the company was officially founded. These bucktail baits were minnow-shaped wooden lures that were invented and popularized by Worden. South Bend Bait Company also made the famous Oreno fishing lures. The Oreno was also a minnow lure and would become a popular long-term seller for South Bend. The Oreno Bass, which began production around 1915 and was still in production until the mid-1960s, was South Bend’s most popular bait. Another popular vintage South Bend lure is The Vacuum Bait, which can be quite hard to find and makes a fine collector’s item.

use this information

Now that you know more about the “Big 5,” go ahead and start using this knowledge to build your collection. Try going to a local fishing tackle show or event and with this initial information you will feel able to hold your own in an initial conversation and start the network that will help you build your collection. Or if you want to go online to find more information or find out how to find articles online, visit the website in the author box below.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *