Dr. Todd's Mailbag: December 2009

Dr. Todd's Mailbag
It's been FAR too long since I've done a mailbag. Well, I'm here to remedy the situation today. While I can't say I will be able to answer every question sent to me on the blog, I do make an effort to email everyone who sends a query.

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Dr. Todd, Has anybody ever followed up on this? Would make a great story. Imagine finding a collection of fishing tackle started in 1924! Gary M.


Thanks for sending this our way, Gary! Someday maybe we can convince Dan Basore, Bill Sonnett or another intrepid author to write and article on the old-time lure collectors. I recall an article on a Priest-turned-tackle-Collector who had something like 5000 lures in the late 1930s. As far as I know, no one has followed up on this. But what a find if it was all still stashed in a warehouse somewhere!

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Dr. Todd. I enjoy the blog! I've been thinking of making a small collection of Mepps, but don't know how to tell the original first Mepps spinner from the later ones. Can you help? Sincerely, Mary H.

Hi Mary!

This is a great idea! I've been waiting for these small spinners to become collectable, and maybe now is the time. Since Mepps was imported from France by Sheldon's in Antigo, WI, and since I used to shoot squirrels and send the tails to them every fall, I have a particular fond spot for the Mepps spinner.

Here's the original French patent drawing from 1938. Note it says "Mepps Shimmy" on the blade. I believe this is the first marking.


Someone please write a history and ID guide to Mepps spinners!

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Here is my Heddon Cribbage Board, the new addition to my collection, measures 16" long 6" wide and 2" high, has a built in drawer that holds the pegs and deck of cards, inserted one of my early replacement glass eyes into the Heddon 150 , also dissplays up bass box, enjoy, Norm


Dear Norm,

I come from a Scandinavian family that is very, very difficult to impress. But this is an impressive feat. First of all, I admire anyone who works in metal and have long desired to get a lathe and learn how to machine metal parts. It's just something I think would be awesome. Second, I love cribbage. My whole family loves it. Sometimes when we are up at my cabin we'll get into matches that last a full week. Nothing I like better than coming roaring back down fourth street and leaving my opponent in the skunk hole. So this is one of the coolest things I've seen in ages!

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Hope all is well with you. Here is a photo of six Native American lures/hooks I thought you might like to use on your blog. If you wanted individual photos of them, I can do that too but not right away. Happy Trails!
Ronn


Hi Ronn,

Yes, I definitely think many people would be interested in seeing these native hooks and lures. Native Americana is a great field, and fishing items from it are of particular beauty. I love the organic look and feel of these lures, and moreover, I have no doubt they would absolutely work to catch fish. Thanks for sharing!

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Hello Dr. Todd.  Thank you again for your fishing history blogspot; through your article on G.M. Skinner lures, I was able to identify a skinner lure that I recently purchased as a pre-1895 model (Skinner's Combination Bait?); Arlan Carter's book shows an add on page 94 for the Skinner's Combination Bait, that states that it came in nickel, copper and brass; however, my lure appears to be plated with silver (german silver?) - my photos do not show the true tarnished colors due to the overwhelming flash.

I would greatly appreciate any confirmation/information on this lure - though the real reason why I am contacting you, is the braided metal "trace" that is attached to the swivel - is it possible that this is original?  On page 90 in Arlan's book, he has a Skinner add that shows a trace attached to the swivel.  This is a neat lure and I would love to know more about it.  Thanks!  John


Hi John,

What would a mailbag be without a Skinner question! Besides, flattery will get you everywhere here on Fishing for History. You indeed have a very early German Silver G.M. Skinner spoon hook, as evidenced by the placement of the number at the top instead of the center of the blade and the tell tale signs that differentiate the German Silver from the nickel plate. I have not seen a Skinner on a card or in a dealer box with a metal trace on it, but that doesn't mean they didn't ship them that way. They sold the fluted blade in a bewildering array of styles, and this is certainly one of them. The metal trace does look original to me. It's an awesome pre-1900 Skinner fluted spinner.
 
Well, that's it for the mailbag this time! I'll try to make it a more regular feature in the future.

-- Dr. Todd

Dr. Todd's Mailbag, 30 July 2008

Dr. Todd's Mailbag

Its been a while since I answered questions, and I've gotten quite a few. Here is this month's edition of the Mailbag.

Dr.Larson,

I have an old bambo fly rod. It is a Noris Kamerad with the number 214 on it. I would like to find out about the history and the worth of this rod. Everything I find on the computer is about Thaddeus Norris. Could you please give me information about how I can track down info on my rod. (Note: The rod name is spelled with one "r" in Noris and Thaddeus Norris' name is with 2 "rs".

Sincerely,
Jerry K.

After some digging around, and with the help of the folks over at Clark's, it appears that Noris was a German company (the "Kamerad" should have been a bit of a dead give away). Noris was in fact purchased by Shakespeare in 1965 and used as its European branch for retailing tackle. I own a couple of snelled hook packets with the Shakespeare/Noris branding on them. Apparently the rods are solidly built but don't bring high prices in America. More information can be found in the Clark's board thread by clicking here.

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Dear Dr. Larson,

I'm wondering if you can assist me in identifying the approx. production date of a South Bend No.29 . The rod was my late father in law rod which was hung on the wall in his wood shop.

It is a 2/1 , 7 1/2', w  D  or HCH markings. It has the comficient handle w/ grooves, however, the reel seat was some type of plastic which shriveled. Unfortunately the finish  was heavily alligatored; however, the  ferrules are in excellent condition--still has the nice pop which taken apart. All of the labels are intact, the main label is oval(yellow/red) w/ the name South Bend Bait Co., quality tackle. The rod was recently restored w/ all of the labeling intact. It's a  very nice rod.

Any information would be appreciated.

Regards,

F. Chin

Dear Mr. Chin,

You own a very cool rod. The Model 29 appears in the 1940 South Bend catalog, as well as the 1941 Trade Catalog. It was a single built rod of 7 1/2 feet, with welted and serrated ferrules and an attractive orange and black jasper silk wraps. Definitely a nice rod and well worth the restoration. Here is a pic from the 1941 catalog:



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No subject inspires more questions to my mailbox than that of G.M. Skinner. Here are three recent ones:

Dr. Todd,

My name is Dave B____ and I have recently acquired a small collection of early Skinner baits. One in particular has a stamp of 1874 on it and is in fantastic condition. The blade is similar to the Abbey and Imbry, though it appears to be early "buck tail". I do not believe it to have been used very much, but that is besides the point. I am having trouble finding history of the lure as well as adequate values for the lures. I can find no information on Skinner before 1881. Can you help please?

Dr. Todd:  My nephew has a lure in mint condition that is a #7 pat. in U.S. and Canada.  It looks like the picture of the one in the catalogue with the black and white speckled feathers.  It is a GM Skinner and has the year 1874 stamped on it also.  Could you please tell me more info on it?  I read the story you had in your May posting about GM Skinner and how a book is in the making on him.  I would really like to find out about this lure but am having a hard time contacting the right people.

Dear Dr. Todd Larson,

I have recently found an old spinner in my collection. The spinner blade is marked "G.M. Skinner" with "Clayton. N.Y." underneath it. On the other side of the blade reads "Pat. U.S. & Canada 1874." The Spinner is a size 4 (with a small "4" in the middle of the blade). The Skirt is a turkey pattern, with one treble hook.
 
Enclosed is a picture of the lure. Any information surrounding this lure would be greatly appreciated!

Thank You,

Charles

Dear Skinner Owners,

Ah yes, the famed Gardiner Mills Skinner fluted bait! No other lure has sent more collectors, pickers, and dealers' hearts into a flutter than the Skinner Spoon Hook, as it was popularly known. This is because nearly every blade ever stamped (and there were probably twenty million sold over the years) carries the same marking:


On the left side of the blade is stamped the words "G.M. Skinner, Clayton, NY" and on the right side of the blade is "Pat. U.S. & Canada, 1874." This, of course, leads many to (understandably) believe they are holding a very old and very rare piscatorial piece.

The truth, however, is that even into the 1970s, G.M. Skinner blades were stamped exactly the same as they had been 90 years before. Combined with the fact that the Skinner Spoon Hook might very well be the most popular American fishing lure ever made, it means that the standard nickel-plated blade with these stampings is very, very common and not worth very much ($5-$10 in good shape).

Based on Skinner's 1874 patent for "flutes" that would reflect light in a better way, it spawned a mania and was (and is) one of the most effective lures ever made. For this reason every tackle box had to have a handful, and nearly all of them were nickel plated models.

There are, however, variations of the Skinner spoon hook that are worth more. For example, the blade was made in Sizes 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4 1/2, 4 3/4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 (and 9 and 12 in Willow Leaf pattern). The smallest Size 0 can bring $50 or more, as it is much harder to find, and the #1 and #2 bring more than the middle sizes. #7 and #8 blades are still purchased by smart musky and northern anglers, and thus are usually worth a bit more as well.

Additionally, the spinner was made in a number of metals: nickel plated, brass, copper, gold plate, and enamel. All Skinners that are NOT nickel plated are usually worth 2-3X more than their common cousins. The rarest are the German Silver models, which we will get to in due time.


Most Skinner spinners are found without packaging, but if you happen to find one on an original card or in an envelope, it certainly increases value by as much as 10x. The vast majority of Skinner Spoon Hooks were sold on the common wire form body, but some (pre-1940) were sold on wire and gut leaders. These, too, command higher prices.


The rarest Skinner spinners come from the 19th century. Originally produced in Canada, if you find a spinner which on the left side reads "Gananonque, Ontario" you have a really, really rare bait and one that is now pushing $500-$750 if you can find one. These are the earliest baits and date from the mid-1870s. Not long after the patent was issued in 1874, Gardiner Mills Skinner moved across the river to Clayton, New York, and the blades began to reflect this move almost immediately.

The earliest Skinner blades marked "Clayton, NY" are relatively easy to spot, if you know what to look for. The size marking number (i.e. 7) on most blades is always found in the middle of the spinner. When you find a Skinner with the number stamped at THE TOP of the blade, you have a pre-1895 G.M. Skinner spinner. Additionally, for a time the firm produced blades in German Silver, which can be spotted by its unique tarnish and patina. These early Skinner blades are valued from $75-$100.

But even these pale in comparison to the rarest of the G.M. Skinner fluted spinners. If you find a Skinner Spoon Hook with a patent date of 1891 on it, you have a real gem. This date represents the moveable clevis that Skinner patented that year in an effort to keep a monopoly on his fluted spinner patent (which expired that year). It didn't work AT ALL and was quickly pulled from the market. These 1891 patent blades are worth $300-$400 if you can find one, but in some senses these are badly underpriced. They are 30 times rarer than an equivalent Turkey Foot or Turkey Wing (two of Skinner's variants, one shaped like a kidney blade with flutes and the other with a design resembling a turkey foot) that sell for twice as much.

The very latest blades can be found with a clevis connector, instead of a soldered one. Believe it or not, these are pretty scarce and I would say valued twice what a normal blade is worth.

The Skinner Spoon Hook is my all-time favorite lure. I have nearly 600 of them, including three full sets of nickel plated blades and I am desperately working toward full sets of copper and brass (if anyone has a Size 0 in either drop me a note!). G.M. Skinner made other lures--the coveted Turkey Wing, Turkey Foot, and others--but it is the Spoon Hook that is his lasting contribution to the world of fishing. Long live the Fluted Spinner!

-- Dr. Todd

Dr. Todd's Mailbag: 14 May 2008

Dr. Todd's Mailbag
Here at Fishing for History we get all kinds of questions, some of them simple and others incredibly complex. We'll start publishing them once a month--the good, the bad, the asinine alike. Here's a great lead off question (and yes, all of these are real).

Dear sir,

We are heading out with the kids to do some river fishing this week and my daughter stumped me with the question, "why do they call it 'tackle'?" I can't find the answer, and ran across your site, do you know the origin of the term "tackle" as it refers to fishing gear? Any input would be fascinating to our fishing quest this week! Thank you.

Katy B.

Dear Katy,

A terrific question! And one that not many people have stopped to think about.

Fishing Tackle derives from Middle German word "takel" which referred to the rigging of the ship. It was first brought into English sometime in the middle ages (around 1200) and is still with us in the term "Block and Tackle" which is a reference to the mechanical workings on the rigging on a ship (the "block" in this term comes from "Bloc," the French term for a stump, related in this case to a ship's mast). "Tackle" soon came to encompass the entire set of gear that went with sailing, which included fishing gear (lines, hooks, nets, etc.). As the sport of fishing developed in the 15th and 16th centuries, the term was then brought into use to refer to "a fisherman's kit" or what we call today fishing tackle. Interestingly, "Fishing Tackle" and "Fishing Kit" were basically interchangeable terms up until the 1920s, when the later term disappeared from common use. We are left with fishing tackle in all its wonderful forms.

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Dr. Todd,

I heard there was a book on G.M. Skinner coming out. Do you know anything about it? What do you think is the rarest Skinner bait?

Jim F.

Dear Jim.

I had not heard that there was a Skinner book coming out imminently, but I did know that Steve Hays in New York had been working on one for many years. If it is ready then we will all be in celebration mode, as it would promise to be a huge contribution.

As for the rarest Skinner bait, many would probably answer the classic Turkey Foot and Turkey Wing. But there are at least two Skinner baits I know of that are far, far rarer than these two highly sought after metal baits.

The first is the hinged clevis blade patented by Skinner in 1891. This bait is ultra rare simply because it didn't work very well; I took one of mine out to the lake to see how it worked and it fouled on about every third cast. So it didn't sell well and wasn't offered very long, and I would surmise for every 30 Turkey Foot and Turkey Wing blades, one of these comes to market. It is marked "Pat. U.S. & Canada, 1891" on the blade. (I'll add a picture later when I get to my other computer).

But I don't think that is the rarest Skinner. The rarest Skinner I know of is the first known G.M. Skinner trade spinner--made well before the patent expired in 1891 (the same date old G.M. tried to corner the fluted spinner market a second time with the above patented blade). This is the only trade spinner I've found marked with the Skinner patent date and someone else's markings. Pictured in the 1882 American Angler and the 1883 Abbey & Imbrie catalog, this awesomely rare bait is marked "Abbey & Imbrie, New York" on the left side and the standard Skinner patent on the right. It's pictured in front of an 1882 ad below.


I know some might think the Skinner fish-shaped spoon is rarer, or even the early Gananonque marked Skinner, but I've seen dealer cards of the fish-shaped bait and a couple of dozen Ganananque blades, and only have seen TWO of these A&I Skinners ever (I bought them both--lucky me). They are really, really rare, and my vote for the rarest of all Skinner blades, and one of the rarest New York metals around.

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Dear Doc,

Do you consider vintage fishing tackle a hobby or an investment?

Marc L. in Minnesota

Neither. I consider it an invobby. Or a hobvestment. Seriously, why does it have to be one or the other? Of course, I fall more along the lines of a hobby, but then I didn't lay out $100,000 for the Haskell at Lang's either. I can afford to consider it a hobby because I can't afford baits that would make it an investment. The truth of the matter is that anything you put money into is an investment--some better than others. How you anticipate what will be done with that money is where you fall on this question; if you anticipate a high rate of return, you look at primarily as an investment. If you look at it and don't really worry when or if you'll get your money back, its a hobby.

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Prof. Larson,

Can you explain to me The Mayflower Compact? I can't find it in my notes.

Charles B.

Charles,

Well, the Mayflower Compact was the first democratic document in American history, signed...HEY! No class room questions please.

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Doc,

Would would win in a fight, Hiram Leonard or Jim Heddon?

Tony

Tony,

Wow. A serious inquiry like this requires a serious answer. Let's look at the Tale of the Tape. Hiram Leonard was a backwoods guide and hunter from Maine noted for his superhuman strength, epic endurance and for shooting Bull Moose from close range with a freaking pistol that he designed himself. Jim Heddon was a beekeeper. You make the call, but keep in mind Vegas has already closed the books on this one.

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By the way, you think I am making that last question up but I can assure you it is so surreal I couldn't even if I wanted to. All of these are questions I've fielded over the past six months (some have been edited down).

So...having exhausted the mailbag, please send your queries to me on any subject (preferably fishing related) and maybe you'll be featured in a future mailbag column. Email me at whitefishpress@yahoo.com.

-- Dr. Todd