The Super Bowl of Boxes Finale Poll!

Chris Labuz's Super Bowl of Boxes has reached its final stage! Today, we cull our list of pretenders down to the Top 10. You will only be able to vote for one of these, so the winner will be the one with the most votes and be crowned 2009 Chris Labuz Lure Box World Champion. Whose box will reign supreme???

Hey, also vote in the real Super Bowl poll...we'll see if this crowd can pick an NFL champion as well!



-- Dr. Todd

Gratuitous Fish Pictures

This week we get some nice fish pics from my neck of the woods--the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) of northern Minnesota, courtesy of blog reader Kevin Winship.

I really enjoy the fishing history blog, every week.  I have some pics of my dads and my trip to Sand Point Lake, CA, on the Boundary Waters this last September.  There isn't any really big fish but I thought you might be able to use some.  Let me know.  Thanks. 
 

 
 
Thanks Kevin! Pikes, smallies and walleye...a nice selection. And remember to submit your latest catch for the Gratuitous Fish Picture feature!

-- Dr. Todd

Friday Funhouse

The Friday Funhouse
Video of the Week
Ever wondered how to make a rope lure to catch Long Nose Gar? Me neither, but here you go anyway.



Things I Would Buy If Only I Could Afford Them
Here's an H-I reel you don't see every day.


A trade card from H.O. Stanley, the inventor of the Rangeley Spinner? Color me impressed.



This is a cool Shakespeare Revolution with Mickey Mouse props that will bring a goofy look to anyone daffy enough to buy it. Get it? Three Disney puns in one sentence. Well actually, two Disney and one Warner Bros. pun. You get the drift. This stuff is gold, Jerry, pure gold! When you stop chortling, go buy a Blog Book.


A Stan Gibbs saltwater lure in the box in a cool color has the striper maniacs going nuts.


My vote for the ugliest lure you'll ever love: the CCBC Weed Bug.


From the What Are the Odds File: A second H.J. Frost Senate trade minnow (Pflueger) in a wooden slide-top box comes up in two weeks.


A Fenwick Yellow Jacket glass casting rod has attracted great interest.


A Talbot Meteor should be in every reel collector's cabinet.


A 1924 Elto Twin Outboard is an ancient looking motor.


Not liking a Heddon 3000 Spindiver is like disliking ice cream: I wouldn't even know where to begin. I mean, what is it you don't like? The creamy cold goodness? The chocloate chips? Sheesh, you're getting harder to please every week. Now go buy a Blog Book.


A Penn Sea Hawk in the box is a true beauty.


Instant Collection Alert: A whole slough of Heddon Sonics.


A hand carved Bingo Shrimp is indeed a thing of beauty.


A Marvin Mason ice spearing decoy looks like it belongs in a museum.


Another great saltwater bait is this Floyd Roman lure in the box.


Wow! A 1919 Pflueger catalog is both rare and interesting (two things that don't always go hand-in-hand).


Ah! Chippewa. You stole my heart so many years ago, now you come back to mock me. Although I still want you, you're certainly showing your age.


Your weekly fishing lure poem, in haiku form:

ODE TO A WEEDLESS FISHING LURE

Weedless fishing lure;
aren't you called a Cat's Paw?
Or was Luckey wrong?


Four Storm Bug lures, all for one $100+ bid.


Martin Keane's Classic Rods and Rodmakers is like money in the bank.


A huge selection of Edward vom Hofe hooks and a catalog? Holy crimony.


Ah, a frog that would make Don Wheeler proud: a Live Action Mechanical Frog.


Here's a new one for me: the San Luco Injured Minnow from San Diego. Time to ask Dr. Elder...


Here's a great collection of Buck Perry spoonplugs.



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

-- Dr. Todd

Review: December 2008 NFLCC Magazine

The latest edition of The NFLCC Magazine (Vol. 18, No.1) is hot off the press, and it is one of the strongest offerings in a long time.


The lead-off is my second part of the short history of the fish hook, "Hook, Line & Sinker: Hook Mania," which covers the collectable hook up to the present. It was a fun two-part article to write and I thank Dudley Murphy, Magazine editor, for asking me to do this. I have noticed a distinct upsurge in interest in fish hooks of late, in large part due to Jeff Kieny's new book.

This was followed by a great article by Sarah Magoto and Mike Mochan entitled, "Turns for the Better, Turns for the Worse: Elmer Death and the Strike Master Fishing Tackle Company," an in-depth look at this fascinating firm. Pretty much everything you need to know about this company is contained in this article.

Harold Dickert and Bill Kingsley gave us the excellent "Two Men from Muskegon: The Jacob Hansen and Adolph Arntz Story." This nifty article gives us detailed information and lots of clear photos of these two titans of early Michigan tackle.

Terry McBurney penned a nice article entitled "Holland Paper Minnow: A Rare and Collectible Fishing Bait." This article detailed an event we covered in February 2008: the eBay auction of the very items pictured in this article. Holland Paper Minnows were very much a "holy grail" of collecting, having been seen only in ads up to this past year.

Gary Smith, whose back page is the reason I read the Magazine from back-to-front, gives us a great conclusion with "Pretzel Logic: A Salted Snack Comes to the Aid of Topwater Fishing," about a great novelty bait from California.

Additionally, the feature lure of the issue was the Hosmer Mechanical Frog, which must have made Don Wheeler smile.

A terrific issue and anyone who isn't getting it is plain crazy. The NFLCC Magazine is brilliantly edited by Dudley Murphy, assisted by Gary Smith.

-- Dr. Todd

The F.N. Barksdale Fisherman's Poem, by Tim Clancy

We are honored again to have a submission by Tim Clancy. Tom wrote recently of Decker boxes, but this time he tells the background and history of a unique piece of ephemera: an original piece of angling art by F.N. Barksdale.

The F.N. Barksdale Fisherman's Poem, by Tim Clancy

Here's another one of my Favorite field finds.  Found it early in my collecting days in an antique store in Morristown NJ.  It's an original charcoal & Ink dated and signed July 1910 by an "F. N. Barksdale".  He was pretty easy to research because he came from a prominent family and was head of Advertising for the Pennsylvania Railroad.  We have all seen different versions of this classic "Fisherman's Poem"  where others took the liberty of adding a line or two.  I've seen similar versions on post cards and such.  But this is the original.  It's comes in it's original simple gilded frame (15" x 19") and the art (10" x 13"), which appears to be covered by matting, is actually mounted on  plain paper or board, so the the image shows the entire piece. 


Barksdale, like I said was pretty famous, and was one of the first ad men to utilize large format albumen photographs in advertising.  He was also a noted writer and artist.  He's usually referred to as Colonel Francis Nelson Barksdale, but I don't know anything of any military history, he was born in Charlottesville VA in 1855, but he'd seem to be too young to have fought fought in the Civil War. However being college educated, he'd likely be an officer if he joined the military after college.  For a brief period he lived in the wealthy town of Short Hills New Jersey which is just a short distance from Morristown, so possibly this came out of his estate. 

One of my absolute favorite pieces and it holds a special place at my bar upstairs in my boat house.  I can't imagine this ever being for sale so please no offers.



Thanks Tim! What an awesome piece and some great history for us ephemera fans.

-- Dr. Todd

Editorial: Final Words on Vintage & Antique, by Charlie Barfknecht

Today we forego the Voices from the Past to publish an editorial by Charlie Barfknecht, a retired academic who has penned some sensible words on the subject.

DEFINING “VINTAGE”

When I taught pharmacy students, I would tell them that persons need to be using the same definitions for terms in order to communicate. Pharmacists and students are cursed, because they need to know several definitions for some terms and to use the specific definition with particular persons or groups.

For example, laypersons use “pill” to define any solid pharmaceutical dosage [tablet, capsule] they are taking. There is a specific, obsolete, solid dosage form called a pill which 99.9% of the population have never taken. Another example is “sodium”. Laypersons, MDs & nurses use sodium when they mean sodium ion or sodium +1. To scientists sodium is elemental sodium or sodium zero.

In angling circles some people consider that a “flaptail” is a Heddon lure and do not use the term to refer to a category of surface baits with a large blade on the back. I happen to collect musky-size flaptail lures which are made by a reasonable number of companies and basement-type operations. A “jerkbait” to a bass fisherman is what a musky fisherman calls a minnow or twitchbait. A musky jerkbait [rise & dive or glide bait types] is a completely different and distinct lure type.

Other terms where there is no universally accepted definition include “torture” [hot topic in Washington DC] and “decimate” [sports writer or Latin scholar]. I rest my case that communication requires the participants to use the same definitions of terms.

Your survey results on what “vintage” means to different lure collectors supports my contention. Unless one has independent evidence that the definition came down from a mountain written on a stone tablet, one should assume that there is more than one valid definition for a term.

Charlie Barfknecht, 01/17/09

Thanks Charlie! A lucid and logical response to a question that has driven people nuts of late.

-- Dr. Todd

News of the Week: 19 January 2009

Orvis is hit by layoffs...more on the NFLCC Milwaukee show...a coho lands an angler in trouble...the Future Fisherman Foundation is a fine idea...ice fishing is everywhere...even in Lithuania...and even students are doing it...a 42 year boatman's career...Lefty Kreh opines on his life in fly fishing...lots of big swordfish...a near record halibut...fly fishing as therapy for wounded vets...it must be THE NEWS OF THE WEEK!

The Big Lead: First Winston, now Orvis is hit by cutbacks and layoffs.

Florida fishing is a fun and cheap thrill, especially from the shore.

A last look at the NFLCC Milwaukee show.

Angler hooks trouble when he lands a coho.


The Albany Herald says outdoor life is full of surprises.

The Future Fisherman Foundation is an organization designed to create a new generation of anglers.

Ice fishing is good for the soul.


In New Zealand, they are fishing in the name of research.


A British writer opines on the mysteries of pike fishing.

Students are even getting in on the ice fishing thing.

In a similar vein, The Hamburg Sun gives us tips on ice fishing.

And they are even ice fishing in Lithuania.


Wisconsin has some great pike fishing hotspots.


One man's 42 year career at a boathouse makes for interesting reading.

Battle that nasty case of cabin fever with a nice tackle check-up.


Strong Reels = Stronger Fishing.


Night trolling brings BIG swordfish.


But so does day fishing.


A Norwegian angler nearly breaks the world record for halibut.


In Australia, the action on the lakes is starting to heat up.

Lefty Kreh shares his history as a fly angler.

Finishing with a Flourish: Fly fishing used as therapy for wounded veterans.

-- Dr. Todd

Sunday Poll Results

Sunday Poll Results: World Record Bass

This week's poll asked the question of whether we will see a new World Record largemouth bass anytime soon. 60% of you are more optimistic than me, and see the record falling in 1-10 years. However, over a third felt it would be anywhere from 10 years to not in their lifetime.

Personally, I think it will be decades before the record falls, if it ever does.



Thanks to everyone who voted, and remember to vote in the new poll!

-- Dr. Todd

Gratuitous Fish Pictures

Last week's big catfish pics elicited some great emails, so Mark Donohoe has sent in some more photos of a different trip. He writes:

Here are some more cats taken from Tappan lake--- these fish were taken by my Buddy Randy "rubberhead" Norris on 12-27-08--biggest was 49lbs I think 4 were over 40 that day---total weight that day was 250lbs!!!---all these fish on 12-27-08 & 1-3-09 came from the same hole--that is close to 400 lbs from one hole---all returned to fight another day! Mark Donohoe---NFLCC




Thanks to Mark (again) for such great fish photos, and for those who want to show off their catches drop me a note!

-- Dr. Todd