The Legendary Bill Plummer Passes Away

Bill Plummer Passes Away

On March 30, 2007, Bill Plummer--creator of The Super Frog and one of the best bass fishermen who ever lived--died at the age of 85 in Marlborough, MA, where he resided the last years of his life.

Alex Langer, creator of the Flying Lure Fishing system, wrote of Plummer back in 1995 in his book Flying Lure Fishing:

Bill Plummer—One of the Quiet Founders of Modern Fishing

Bill Plummer has probably caught more bass than anyone in history. That is not hyperbole; I believe it is a statement of pure fact. He has caught thousands of bass each year, including an inordinate number of monsters from northern lakes. From ice-out to ice-in, Bill fishes five to seven days per week and has done so for over thirty years. At 2,000 bass per year, which is one of the estimates, that’s over 60,000 bass! He started fishing for bass before modern bass fishing was invented. And he certainly helped popularize it. He has been written up by every major magazine in the industry and is the inventor of the first soft top-water artificial frog, the Bill Plummer Frog.

Bill fishes the simple way—from a wooden boat that he has designed, with oars, no electric motor, no sonar, no bells and whistles, just a small gas motor on the back. He has learned the habits of bass by trial and error and deduction, not by book learning. There were no books to learn from when he first started. He is a solitary hunter, who learns and learns and learns. Bill exemplifies the ideals that we should have as fishermen:

a respect for the fish. . . and a constantly open mind that learns yet is not prone to gimmickry or rigid theories. I have learned a lot from Bill and am proud to call him my friend. Strive always to learn and be flexible. Strive to be analytical like Buck Perry, and adaptable like Bill Plummer."

Plummer leaves behind a wife of sixty years (Norma) and a daughter and two grandchildren. In 2006, he was inducted as a legendary angler by the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, WI.

A version of his Super Frog is still being manufactured by Harrison Hoge industries, marketed as the Superior Frog.

Plummer was a legend who was years ahead of his time. He claimed to have never kept a bass for the last four decades of his life. His legacy is with anyone who has ever chunked a rubber bait into thick weeds and came out with a bass that could not have been caught any other way. Apparently, there is a book about to be published about Plummer and his lure. If so, it would make a great contribution to our lore.

--Dr. Todd

Bill Plummer Elected to NFFHOF

Alex Langer's Flying Lure Fishing, Chapter Four

Plummer's Superior Frog

Freshwater Hall of Fame Legendary Anglers