A Legendary Meeting of Bass Men by Bill Baab

In Daytona I had the good fortune once again to spend some time with Bill Baab, author of the definitive biography of Largemouth Bass World Record Holder George Perry. Bill had recently was able to meet and get to know Manabu Kurita, the Japanese bass angler who recently tied Perry's mark at 22 pounds 4 ounces. Here is a short record of this meeting as well as some photos, courtesy Bill's wife Bea Baab.

A Legendary Meeting of Bass Men

by Bill Baab

After learning that Manabu Kurita was to attend the Bassmaster Classic in New Orleans in February, I thought it would be a great opportunity for him to make a side trip to Georgia.
 
I contacted the Skeeter boat company and was put in touch with Martin Peters, of Yamaha. I told him that it would be neat if Kurita could come to Georgia and check out Montgomery Lake where George W. Perry had caught his world record bass. Thanks to the generosity of Yamaha and the McRae Rotary Club, Kurita and his party stayed at Little Ocmulgee State Park Lodge, attended a lunch given by the Rotarians in his honor, visited the Telfair County Museum in Helena where George Perry memorabilia was on display and then traveled some 20 miles to the lake.
 
He was astounded by its small size compared to giant Lake Biwa in Japan where he caught his big bass which tied Perry's record. He also was given a copy of my book by the Rotary Club.


Kurita meets and talks with George Perry's son Daze.


Kurita signs the famous photo of him with his massive bass for the Museum's display.


Kurita's signed photo is displayed with a mount of George Perry's bass.


Lake Montgomery is much different than Lake Biwa!


Another shot of Lake Montgomery.


Kurita and Daze Perry pose by the sign commemorating George Perry's catch.


George Perry biographer Bill Baab poses with Kurita and Perry.


One for the scrap book.


Ever the big bass angler, Kurita can't resist throwing a line into Lake Montgomery.

Many thanks to Bill and Bea Baab for sharing these photos with us! It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime meeting.

-- Dr. Todd

Some Vintage Ice Fishing Tackle by Harold Dickert

Today we get some great photos and text by Harold Dickert, a NFLCC Life member from Michigan, showing some great ice fishing tackle.

Some Vintage Ice Fishing Tackle

by Harold Dickert

This is a deep water ice fishing reel reel used here on Muskegon Lake to fish in about 45 feet of water. It has been in my collection for many years.


The other picture is of my Mother-in-law, Mrs. Mildred Land Bergeon, taken in about 1941, using this very reel. She was quite a gal and the best Mother-in-law a man ever had. She passed away at the age of 92 last year. Just wanted to share.


Here are a couple of pics of some other wonderful old folkart ice fishing reels. Of the 3 laying together the small egg beater type one is the oldest and dates to around 1908 and was used to fish through the ice on the Grand River in Grand Haven, Michigan. 


I found it many years ago wrapped up for storage in a basement with a Michigan Lifelike Minnow and other tackle from that period. The other two date from the Great Depression.


The last pic is a ceiling or wall mount reel (to mount inside the shanty) that was used on Muskegon Lake in Muskegon Michigan in the 1930's. It was made by a pattern maker named B.R. Weir.



Thanks, Harold! Some wonderful ice fishing tackle and great memories. One of these days I'll find someone to write a book on vintage ice fishing gear!

-- Dr. Todd

Voices from the Past: William Heddon & William Stolley Bash Bronson (1928)

Bill Sonnett posted these several years back and I loved them, so with his permission (and credit to the Heddon Museum which owns the originals of these letters) here are two letters of great interest to reel collectors.

The first deals with William Heddon's opinion of Bronson made Heddon reels. Bill wrote: "Seeing Bronson-made Heddon reels reminds me of a letter that I came across at the Heddon Musuem which was written July 8th 1928 by William Heddon in Florida. He was writting to William Stolley, the plant manager, concerning Bronson-made Heddon reels that Stolley had send him to try out. Needless to say the portion I will quote here was not for the public's eyes.

"I am sending herewith one of our Meisselbach made reels (this was corrected by William Stolley in a reply that the reels were in fact made by Bronson, not Meisselbach) which was my choice of the 3 sent to me in Florida. You will note that was unable to turn down the crank screw tight enough with the fingers to keep it from backing off, so at Jack's (Jack Welch) suggestion, I cut a slot in same so I could use a screwdriver. Now the reel operates so poorly, especially is so rough in the gears and noisey, I claim no one but a "clodhopper" as you'd say who had never seen another reel would tolerate it. Preferably, take it out and fish with it and if you can't do that try it from the shore with a bait and have your mind on the reel rather than something you are trying out and advise me if you would pick it up dead in the road. Be sure and unscrew the crank and tighten it with your fingers and you will note that if you put any punch in your work it will loosen. If any of these make of reels are what you call worth the price we are asking when compared with Shakespeare or especially Pflueger at the same price , please send me one. Are you aware that positively the best level winding reel at any price is the Pflueger Supreme..."

Bill wrote in a follow up: "In answer to the above posted letter from William Heddon, William Stolley had this to say in his reply."

"The reel you returned and of which you complained was made by McMahon of Bronson Michigan and not by the Meisselbach people as you stated. This past season while up in Canada fishing, I tried out the McMahon reel, the same breed of which you returned, the one in question, and right off the bat, will say that it is one of the poorest reel contraptions I ever fished with. I told Charlie [Heddon] who was in the same canoe with me, that I would not give three whoops in hell for a cartload of them.

I am perfectly satisfied that this McMahon reel has given James Heddon's Sons not only one but two very pretty black eyes. It is a disgrace for our house to send out such truck considering the price we ask for them. May state that of course we have dropped all consideration of future McMahon reels on our program for the coming year, but have now tied up for a 10,000 contract with the Shakespeare Company.

You know "Shake" has always had a pretty good reputation when it comes to quality in mass production reels. I think that the Shakespeare product will give far better satisfaction than the McMahon stuff, but possibly would not prove quite as satisfactory as a reel of simular value produced by the Enterprise Comapny. We tried the Enterprise company but impossible to interest them in any proposition to build and supply us with a jobbing reel, so we had to take Shakespreare."

I find it fascinating that Pfluger refused Heddon on any terms to make them a reel. Perhaps they were in too much direct conflict, but more likely it would have sent the hundreds of wholesalers for whom Pflueger already made reels into a tizzy.

Awesome stuff! Thanks to Bill and the Heddon Museum for sharing.

-- Dr. Todd

News of the Week: 06 March 2011

Don't have time to read 50+ fishing and tackle collecting blogs and web sites? Well, let us do it for you! Follow all of the latest news, articles, and stories on our Whitefishpress Twitter account! Hint: You don't need to be a member...just bookmark the Twitter Feed Page or click on latest links to the right!

Scientists find 12,000 year old fishing tackle..French trout season is upon us…EU minister ban fish dumping…March Madness, fishing style…Fred Hall show celebrates 65 years…Steve Toone is remembered…Al Lindner's fishing challenge…ice fishing season melts away…warden may end up in jail for fishing trip…new world record walleye (catch-and-release)…Tom Rosnebauer is angler of the year…smallest fish ever on rod-and-reel…David James Duncan gets interviewed…Pure Fishing buys Sebile…a musky man…34 pound northern is a monster…Pflueger's Tandem Spinner is the vintage tackle winner this week…it must be THE NEWS OF THE WEEK!

The Big Lead: Scientists find 12,000 year old fishing tackle 12,000 year old fishing tackle .


French anglers are preparing for trout season .
FINALLY EU ministers ban fish dumping .


March Madness, fishing style .

Aussies are ready to hook the big one .


The Fred Hall show celebrates 65 years .


Noted British angler Steve Toone is remembered.

Al Lindner hosts a fishing challenge.

Ice fishing season melts away .


Fishing trip may land warden in hot water .


A new world record walleye for catch-and-release.

Angler and Orvis marketing man Tom Rosnebauer is FLy ROd & Reel's angler of the year.


New world record…for smallest fish on a rod-and-reel ?


An interview with The River Why author David James Duncan .

Good news after all! Dayton's Fisherman's Quarters is coming back after all.

Tackle Talk says get over it (the purchase of Sebile by Pure Fishing, that is).

Classic names with allure even today.

A man of many rare and precious muskies .



Lancashire angler nets 34 pound northern .



Finishing with a Flourish: Pflueger's Luminous Spinner is the next prize winner on Field & Stream's vintage fishing tackle contest.



-- Dr. Todd

1000 Words

1000 Words

This week we have a 1000 Words mystery, sent in by Colby Sorrells, author of the great book The Flyfisher's Guide to the Texas Gulf Coast.

Colby is a dedicated Langley reel fan, and he writes:

I recently found the attached Langley banner. It shows a seal with a crown holding up a Langley Spin Deluxe 830. I believe the message is "Royal seal of approval" or "Crown seal of approval" or "Deluxe seal of approval." I would guess some person of royalty thought enough of the Langley reel to give it their seal of approval similar to the Swedish King giving ABU their Crown seal..

The attached photo was discovered showing the same banner with two men. The American flag flys from the ceiling in the background. The best we can date the photo is 1958 or 1959 based on the other reels in the photo. I know Langley reels were displayed in an exhibit in Moscow at one time.

I wanted to see if you might be able to show the photo on your blog and see if the identity of the two men could be determined. Also any help with the "seal of approval" would be appreciated.




If anyone can help out Colby, please send him an email at texasbassbugger AT yahoo DOT com.

-- Dr. Todd

Deconstructing Old Ads: The Rush Tango Victory Set (1920)

The Rush Tango Victory Set

From the pages of the April 1920 Sporting Goods Dealer magazine, comes this advertisement for the Rush Tango “Victory Set”. The  "Victory Finish" was named in honor if the United States victory in World War One which ended with an armistice agreement on 11 November of 1918.


What more could a lure collector ask for that to run across a complete boxed set as illustrated? I have always been amazed, given their age and beautiful paint jobs, how inexpensive  Rush Tangos are that are seen for sale at meets. I guess I've been a closet collector of these baits for many years as they always seemed too beautiful to sell for the small amount they bring. I kept setting them aside for 20 years, and the next thing you know, I had a small collection.

I have had occasion to fish a small, slim version of the Rush Tango and was amazed at the frantic, wiggling action that it displayed. It dug into the sand and gravel bottom with an enthusiasm that one seldom finds in the various “wigglers” and “wobblers” of the period. It shook the rod right down into the handle during the retrieve. Its success was also demonstrated in the many copies which other lure companies produced. Anybody out there have a complete “Victory Set”? We would love to see a picture.

-- Bill Sonnett

UPDATE

Ron Mize writes: Here's a picture of a complete set of Deluxe Tangos in the box that I took a number of years ago. I have a LOT of Rush lures but this is not my set. I agree with Bill that Rush lures are an unappreciated and beautiful lures that are underpriced. Sorry for the glare but it was on the photo I had to scan. Ron Mize, the Tangoman, Collector of Rush tackle.




Pretty awesome stuff! Thanks for sharing, Ron!

The Friday Funhouse

Video of the Week

A vintage film about fishing the great Cascapedia River.



12 Things I Would Buy If Only I Could Afford Them

I LOVE this Eddie Bauer R-6 salmon lure.


A Scott 8' fly rod is a very cool glass rod indeed.


A six-pack of Spiegel Brooklure Shur Strike lures made by Creek Chub is really great.


Who doesn't love a Douglass patent Pflueger Supreme ?


A Harnell 9 foot rod shows how collectable these early glass surf rods are.


This Ocean City Sylph is a very rare model.


I LOVE this Robichaud fly reel.


This Heddon Underwater Expert is an awesomely old fishing lure.


Holy 1800 Irish fishing rods , Batman!


You don't see this Hook Bros. salmon lure very often at all.


Yep. This CCBC Gar is a truly iconic old lure.


Van Staals are extraordinary reels.



As always, have a safe weekend, and be good to each other, and yourself.

-- Dr. Todd

An Anniversary Worth Remembering: The First Salmon Protection Law (March 02, 1889)

Craig Springer, editor of the always excellent Eddies magazine, sends along this reminder of an anniversary today:

An Anniversary Worth Remembering

by Craig Springer

On March 2, 1889, Congress enacted the first federal law intended to ensure the safe passage of salmon upstream. The law was plainly titled, " an act to provide for the protection of the salmon fisheries of Alaska." A violation would cost you $250 per day in fines.

Still, 122 years later, fish passage remains a top priority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Fisheries Program, not only in Alaska, but across the country. The National Fish Passage Program  strives to connect fish to historic habitats needed for spawning, rearing, or overwintering. It’s a voluntary, non-regulatory program that provides technical and financial assistance to remove barriers to fish. To help get that done, you can take advantage of this tool. More habitat means more fish—and that’s good for people, too.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fisheries Program is in its 140th year, working with you to conserve America’s Fisheries.

-- Dr. Todd

Thursday Review: Days of the Dalton by Jeff Windisman

This week, we will start a three week series on recent self-published fishing tackle books. We begin with a neat Florida tackle book.

For several years I've been trying to track down a self-published book by Jeff Windisman. It is called The Days of the Dalton: History and Value Guide of the Dalton Special and its Lookalikes and covers this excellent bass lure in great detail. Although first issued in 2008, it has been unavailable until recently, when I was fortunate to obtain a copy and meet the author at the recent Daytona Tackle Show.


The book did not disappoint. It was chock-full of great information not available elsewhere, and covered a lot of companies and lures I had read about but wanted more information, ranging from the Dazzy Vance Company to the somewhat mysterious Tampa Bait & Tackle Company.

But this book is really about one man and his creation, Phillip Porter Dalton, erstwhile Kentucky resident who would make his mark in the fishing world in 1930s Florida. One of the highlights of the book is getting a glimpse inside P.P. Dalton's tackle box, purchased from his daughter. In it were a number of nifty experimental lures, including some very thin minnows that harken to the Finnish Minnow being developed in Finland by men such as Lauri Rapala. I always enjoy learning about the inspiration from important lure designers, and Dalton was certainly a top notch lure man.

The first mass-marketed Dalton Special was produced by Shakespeare, based on a design patented by Dalton in 1939. Windisman goes into great detail on these lures, showing the many color permutations. Dalton transferred manufacturing rights to Florida Fishing Tackle Manufacturing Co. (makers of Barracuda brand tackle) in 1949, and the author explains this transition well, including differentiating between the Tampa and St. Pete marked baits. By the late 1950s the lure was being made in plastic, and variations like the Dalton Flash and Dalton Twist were being marketed.

The book covers so many Dalton clones it is hard to dispute the author's assertion that the Dalton Special was one of the most copied lures of all time. It is almost surreal to see how many bait makers made a version of this lure, ranging from Paw Paw to Herb Mills. Taking into account a couple of dozen unknown Dalton style lures pictured, I would bet there were at least 50 versions of the Dalton Special made. That is definitely lasting influence!

The book itself is self-published, and we always have special reviewing rules for self-published works. It would not be fair to hold them to the same standard as a traditional publisher, and this book certainly has no more typos, layout glitches, and organizational problems than most self-published works, and in fact is cleaner and more readable than a lot of them I have seen. For those interested in Florida fishing tackle, Dalton-type lures, and the history and development of fishing lure design, this book would make a great addition to your library.

The Days of the Dalton: History and Value Guide of the Dalton Special and its Lookalikes is a spiral bound hardcover, approximately 150 pages, and full color throughout. It is $45 and available directly from the author Jeff Windisman, who can be reached at: jkwlure@tampabay.rr.com or ejeanmcmlas@tampabay.rr.com.

-- Dr. Todd

Pflueger 1905 Art Print Give-Away (Part II)

Last week, we featured a neat post on Pflueger 1905 Art Print Give-Away. At the end, I mentioned I would LOVE to see what this image looked like in color.



Now, thanks to Canadian collector Merrick Burr, we have an opportunity to see it in full color! Merrick writes:

This print was reproduced by A.L. & W. (Toronto) and used as the cover art for the 1928 catalog. They then made it into a lure box design for their inhouse made lures. I can not give you exact dates for the use as a lure box. I assume it started in 1928 until ????. ALW sold many Pflueger lures and I believe Pfluegar made most of the early metal lures marked ALW.




Wow. Thanks, Merrick! That print is even more beautiful than I would have thought. I find many things fascinating about this, but first and foremost is that it was still being used 23 years (and for years after on lure boxes) it was originated as a give-away. How incredible. Second, it is amazing how they "added" fishermen and a boat to the catalog cover. I wouldn't have thought to notice, but once you know what the original looks like, they stick out like a sore thumb.

The image is timeless and now you know what it looks like in color, thanks to Merrick Burr!

-- Dr. Todd

UPDATE:

Tom Penniston writes:

Pflueger did a tin litho full color sign in 1905 based on that print as well.  There is one in Arlan Carter’s book I believe in full color.  They are scarce, but there is a small handful around, there is one pristine one that showed up at an auction in Northern WI some years back.  Check Arlan’s 19th Century lure book, I’m almost positive he has one in there, but if not, email him, he has it as a center piece in one of his Pflueger metal cases.

I looked in Arlan's book but couldn't find it in the Pflueger section, but I do recall seeing it in his display. Thanks for the update, Tom!

Voices from the Past: A Briton Looks at American Tackle (1901)

A Briton Looks at American Tackle (1901)

Following the Paris Fisheries Exhibition of 1900, an unnamed attache for the British Government penned up the following description of American fishing tackle. On the whole, he was very impressed with the wares of the American tackle industry, and hoped his British countrymen would take a few tips from their American cousins. This comes from The Reports From Commissioners, Inspectors and Others, 1901--Vol. 23 (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1901).

The United States give an object-lesson of a most impressive kind to their foreign competitors in the magnificence and variety of their exhibits, including stuffed fish and fish-casts of great excellence, a lobster which comes near to the Canadian giant with its 33 lbs., and some splendid specimens of American up-to-date rods and tackle for the capture of everything, from the brook trout of the North to the huge tarpon and "leaping tuna" of Florida and California. From the English point of view some of the rods are too light for their destined work; but the modern American angler is refined and chivalrous, disdainful of all coarseness in appliances and methods, and proud of killing a 4 lb. trout with a 6 oz. rod, or a giant tarpon with a fine salmon line. For all this, Abbey & Imbrie and other good firms supply him with the daintiest appliances, while Milam, of Frankfort, makes a speciality of the old favourite Kentucky reel, and Benn & Daughter, of San Francisco, and Howarth, of Florissant (Colorado), are typical exponents of the fly-tying kit.

But there is surely a national lesson to be learned from the magnificent contributions, in fishery engines and produce, and in all the costly appliances of intelligent pisiculture, of the "United States Fishery Commission" and kindred institutions, which have also a large library of literature on a subject the importance of which is fully realised on the other side of the Atlantic, and a beautiful collection of large photographs illustrative of their work and its surroundings, as well as large models of hatchery stations and apparatus, and of very remarkable railway cars for hatching and transport purposes.

Salmon, shad, and "white-fish" are the fish principally dealt with.
Dr. Tarleton Bean, of New York, in addition to very valuable and interesting publications on fish and fish culture, shows most curious specimens of nets and lines made entirely of whalebone, used by the Eskimos for the capture of salmon and other fish.

The great firm of Tiffany has a most attractive and instructive show-case of marine and freshwater pearls of every size and colour, in connection with which the exhibits of the "river-mussel button industry" are of suggestive interest.

Life-like coloured fish pictures are sent by Mr. Baldwin, of Washington.
There is a complete collection of sponges from Florida, and plenty of nets, harpoons, and other whale fishery implements.

-- Dr. Todd