The Canadian Antique Fishing Tackle Association (CAFTA)

The Canadian Antique Fishing Tackle Association (CAFTA)

Just a note to let everyone know that the The Canadian Antique Fishing Tackle Association (CAFTA) will be holding its annual show in Cobourg, Ontario on
Sunday, June 3 from 9am until 2pm. Ken Kerr writes: "We should have approx.
60-ish tables. For those that don't know, Cobourg was the home of Canada's first lure-makers -- John, T. Henry and William DeLany and was the 'summer home' to many famous and wealthy Americans (including Civil War officers).

As well, Lucky Strike Bait Works had a factory there just after WWll, which made metal parts and was named after  Rusty Edgar's girlfriend. The town is old and very pretty, with a large pier on Lake Ontario, and a lot of the DeLany homes, graves and stores are still there."



Note that the CAFTA website has info on the show, and membership information.
Go to the CAFTA Web Site to learn more!

-- Dr. Todd

Review of Patrick Daridick's Ontario Lures Web Site

This week we will take a closer look at a great web site on Canadian lures run by Patrick Daridick. Ontario Lures is an extensive web site on Vintage Ontario made lures and tackle, and covers most of the major (and many minor) companies on the subject.


Great Lucky Strike bait from Patrick's web site.
Having collected Canadian metal lures (part of which I featured in a two part article run in the past two issues of The Tackle Box, the newsletter of the Canadian Antique Fishing Tackle Collector's Association), I have always had a keen interest in Canadian tackle, in particular since my favorite lure of all time--the G.M. Skinner fluted spinner--was invented in Gananonque, Ontario.


Patrick's Busty Flesher baits.
For those who don't know, Ontario was home to many major Canadian tackle and resellers, notably Hex Baits, Williams Baits, S.W. Ellis & Sons, and of course, the Lucky Strike Bait Works in Petersborough. The web site has sections on each of these companies, and additionally, an extraordinarily valuable section entitled "Ontario Metal."


The ever popular Hex baits are featured on this web site.
The Ontario Metal section includes examples of lures from the Hamilton Bait Co., the famed Allcock, Laight & Westwood (AL&W), W. Delaney, the Marsh Bait Co., J.P. Moore, T.I. Thompson, W.J. Paul, Dominion Tackle, William Croft & Sons, Canada Needle & Fishing Tackle (CNFT), J. Livingstone, and C.H. Westwood, among others. Many, many previously unidentified baits can now be properly ID'd thanks to Patrick's site.


This AL&W spinner sat in my collection for years until I was able to ID it as an AL&W May-Bee Spinner, thanks to Patrick's web site.
Additionally, the web site is supported by its own Canadian lure and tackle message board. Postings on here generally deal with Canadian made fishing tackle, and if you have a question on IDing a Canadian lure or reel, or are looking to buy, sell, or trade Canadian baits, this is a good supplement to Joe's Message Board and ORCA's Reel Talk.

All in all, this is an invaluable reference for anyone interested in learning about Ontario and Canadian fishing tackle.

-- Dr. Todd

Those Canadian Lure Collectors

A few weeks ago, the Peterborough Examiner (Ontario) published a great article on Canadian fishing tackle collectors. In an article appropriately entitled "Hooked: They're like children, says the wife of an antique fishing tackle collector. Her husband agrees," Joelle Kovach profiles the newly rejuvenated Canadian Antique Fishing Tackle Association (CAFTA).

This fascinating article has a great interview with the son of the founder of Lucky Strike Bait Works of Peterborough, and some nice quotes from Ken Kerr, newly minted (some might say conscripted) editor of The Tackle Box, the organization's nifty newsletter. The first issue Kerr edited just reached my desk and contains a couple of neat articles, including Part I of a survey of Canadian Fluted Spinners by yours truly and a nifty overview of the Allure--the only lure ever made from the metal alloy of a jet aircraft (in this case the Avro Arrow).

Ken Kerr sent me the following information about CAFTA in the hopes that some of you may join--particularly American collectors as so much Canadian tackle makes its way across the border.

The Canadian Antique Fishing Tackle Association (CAFTA) is the only Canadian organizaion for avid collectors of antique tackle and has been in existence for 7 years. We currently have 74 members and hope you will join us at our shows,
exchange knowledge and tackle, and meet some fellow collectors. Memberships are $25.00 Cdn. per year, payable to:  Jim Greenaway, 88 Terrace Drive, Grimsby ON  L3M 1B5 Canada.



Having grown up on the Canadian border and having collected Canadian metal lures for twenty years, I hope you'll consider joining this organization.

--Dr. Todd