Dealer Display Cards, Part 10

Dealer Display Cards, Part 10

Colby Sorrels has sent in some nice dealer display cards. Today, he sends in one of his "most desired" Point-of-Purchase cards from Mack's Minno Bugs. Neat piece and I'd love to see what it looks like in real life!



-- Dr. Todd

A Thousand Words

A Thousand Words

The Panama Hat makes this image for me, again courtesy of Doug Jobe.



-- Dr. Todd

Deconstructing Old Ads with Bill Sonnett

Deconstructing Old Ads with Bill Sonnett


From the May 1914 pages of The Outers Book comes this ad for Lane's Automatic Minnow. Incredible as it seems, this small metal bait had a mechanical mechanism inside that made the fins move as the tail-shaped rear propeller turned during the retrieve. This is a very rare bait for at least two reasons. The first is the price. $1.75 would buy a basic fishing outfit in 1914 or a near lifetime supply of live minnows. The second reason I believe can be surmised from the fact that of the few examples that are found, many are broken or missing parts. When one takes a close look at this beautiful and seemingly delicate little bait, it is hard to imagine that it would survive many encounters with an angry pike or bass. I would like to ask the author of this advertisement what is meant by the statement, "Makes 100 per cent catches"

-- Bill Sonnett

Friday Funhouse

The Video of the Week
Is this the End of the Road for the Bluefin Tuna?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Things I Would Buy If I Could Only Afford Them
A Heddon Black Sucker #1300 is a super nice lure.


This gorgeous Cherokee creel is a wonderful piece.


STELLA !!! STELLA!!!


This Millsite Rattlebug is an early and very rare model.


This ABU Ambassadeur 5000 Deluxe gold baitcaster has the ABU collectors going insane.


This CCBC Dingbat in a nice Western Auto color is a great trade company lure.


Holy Moly has this Paw Paw attracted interest!


This Tuttle's Devil Bug in the box is a great combination of a classic fly rod lure.


The Pflueger Scramble finish--nifty!


This is a gorgeous CCBC Husky Wiggler.


The Gee Whiz Frog in the box is a great lure for the frog collector.


A nifty Acme Triangular Glass Minnow Trap would make a fine display.



The Turner Spider in the box is a bizarre and intriguing lure.


Mitchells are awesome spinning reels, and this Mitchell 408 in the box is a great find.



A CCBC fly rod mouse--in nice condition--will make some fly rod bait collector happy.


Blue Flash is a very underrated color, and this CCBC Husky shows you why.




Oh, you've got to love this vintage Victorian leather flytying kit.


This Heddon Heritage with plastic see-through side plates is a great demo reel.


A Browning Lew Childre speed spool would be just as fun to take fishing today as it did when it was new.


The final entry this week is one of my favorite lures: the Creek Chub Sucker.



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

-- Dr. Todd

Thursday Review: ORCA's Reel News (September 2009)

Thursday Review: ORCA's Reel News (September 2009)

The mail recently brought the latest edition of ORCA's Reel News, and as always, it was informative and interesting.


Feature articles this issue include Charlie Tanner's intriguing "Waltco's Ny-O-Lite Spinning Reels," which covers these fascinating plastic spinning reels. Nice job Charlie!

Bob Miller's always interesting "Pflueger Pfacts" column details world records caught with Pflueger tackle. "Contests, World Records, and Tackle Promotions at Enterprise" is an entertaining look at some really, really big fish. Record fish caught by such famed anglers as Zane Grey and Ted Pflueger were prominently featured by Enterprise Manufacturing.

My own offering this issue is "Algonacs and Tashmoos: The Reels of the Buhl Sons Co. of Detroit." It details the trade reels from this large Michigan-based wholesale hardware company.

Stu Lawson offered up "Your Christmas List" and, as always, I enjoy anything Stu has to write about. Jim Madden's South Bend column this month is "South Bend Go-Withs" that covers the plethora of oddball items that the SB collector can get to go with their collections.

Jim Schottenham's "Auction Report" is the regular reminder of all the great reels I did not purchase off eBay in the past two months. It's very fun. Frank Mulligan gives us a nifty story about Zebco entitled "The One That Didn't Get Away." Finally, Col. Milton Lorens gives us The Reel Fix for the Okuma Magda 30D.

The Reel News is deftly edited by Richard K. Lodge. If you're not a member of ORCA (and if you're not, c'mon man!) you can join up by Clicking Here.

-- Dr. Todd

The (Fall) 2009 Cincinnati Tackle Show

The (Fall) 2009 Cincinnati Tackle Show

The Cincinnati Lure Show, hosted by John Nunn, was held this past weekend and I thought I'd post some photos and a bit of commentary for those who missed it. I believe it is the only show held twice per year, in the spring and fall, and seems to be growing as I keep seeing new faces. Many people come from far away--such as Johnny Garland--and it's always great to see local collectors.


A shot in front of the rooms...lots of tackle!


Setting up in the parking lot.


More outdoor tables.


Tons of great rods available this year.


Here is John Birchfield's neat display of Beatle Bugs.


Birchfield also had these two great displays of Heddon Tiny 13s.


My friend John Caldwell always has great stuff.



Here is a sample: reels galore!


A Meeting of Minds: From left to right, Doug Carpenter, John Caldwell, Mike Hines, and Jerry Schemechko.


Bob Bowld's really neat Worthington Anniversary trade reel.

Tackle shows almost require show and tell. Here's some of the items I was able to get at this fall's Cincinnati show.


When's the last time you've seen a hard rubber Montague level wind? Especially one marked Tomahawk.


A friend traded me this really cool Vim Casting Montague trade reel.


A Montague trade reel marked La Belle Jeweled.


This brass reel ca. 1875 was a tremendous find. It's nearly identical to one I bought at the last nationals except it has the exceptional long (and unfiled!) foot.


A box of Marshall-Wells carded flies.


This Burmek in the box is a neat bait.

I bought some items I don't usually purchase:


I've never bought an old net before, but I've seen these Hawco folding nets in many pre-1920 catalogs, and it was in outstanding condition. I couldn't pass it up.


I added this John Gliebe glass boat rod to my small but growing saltwater rod collection.


Picked up this odd "Pan American State o' Maine" glass fly rod.


And this nifty Heddon Mark 1 glass rod--never fished--which came in an Orvis tube.

All in all, the Cincinnati show was a blast. Steve Lumpkin, Jerry Schemechko and myself had a great lunch to conclude the activities. I can't wait until the spring!

-- Dr. Todd

BREAKING NEWS: IGFA Received World Record Bass Application!

BREAKING NEWS: IGFA Received World Record Bass Application!

Just received this via email. Many of you have been following this story so I'm sure you'll find this of interest.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE w/photo
DANIA BEACH, Fla. USA, (September 15, 2009) --- Documentation for a much talked about 22 lb 4 oz largemouth bass, caught from Japan’s largest lake in July, has arrived into the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) headquarters for world record recognition.


Late Monday, the IGFA, the 70-year old non-profit fisheries conservation, education and record-keeping body, received the application for the largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), caught July 2, by Manabu Kurita, 32, of Aichi, Japan. IGFA rules for fish caught outside the U.S. allows anglers 90 days to submit their applications from the date of their catch.

IGFA conservation director Jason Schratwieser said the World All-Tackle application is currently under review after it was received through the Japan Game Fish Association (JGFA).

Schratwieser said the application stated the bass weighed 10.12 kg (22 lbs 4 ozs) and was pulled from Lake Biwa an ancient reservoir northeast of Kyoto. Photos and video were also submitted with the written documentation.

Kurita’s fish would tie the current record held for over 77 years by George Perry caught on Georgia’s Montgomery Lake, June 2, 1932, near Jacksonville, Georgia.

In North America the largemouth bass, and especially the All-Tackle record, is considered by millions of anglers as the “holy grail” of freshwater fish because of its popularity and the longevity of Perry’s record.

Largemouth bass have also been introduced in many countries and in Japan fisheries officials consider it an invasive species. In addition, because bass are not native and are stocked in Japan, many speculated that the big bass was a sterile triploid. However when biologists in Japan examined the ova of the big female they concluded that the fish was not triploid.

IGFA World Records Coordinator Becky Wright reported Kurita’s fish measured 27.20 inches in length and an almost equal girth of 26.77 inches. She said Kurita was using a blue gill as live bait trolling through a canal.

A decision by the IGFA of whether Kurita’s fish will tie Perry’s record may take up to a month.

“We have a formal relationship with our sister organization, the Japan Game Fish Association where they first collect and review record applications for fish caught in Japan,” said Schratwieser. “It works out well because they not only translate applications but can also contact the angler if more documentation is needed.

“We still have a number of questions to ask them and Kurita regarding local laws and the area he caught it in while he was trolling through a canal on the lake,” said Schratwieser.

“We hope to make an announcement in three to four weeks.”

Annually the IGFA publishes a comprehensive list of current records on nearly 1100 species of fresh and saltwater fish across the globe in its highly acclaimed World Record Game Fishes (WRGF) book which is divided into all-tackle, line classes, fly, and junior record categories.

The IGFA has been recognized as the official keeper of world saltwater fishing records since its founding in 1939. In 1978 it added the field of freshwater record-keeping when Field & Stream magazine transferred its 68 years of records to the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame & Museum, the association’s world headquarters in Dania Beach, Fla.

-- Dr. Todd

William Gordon, 1820s Tackle Maker...and Murderer?

William Gordon, 1820s Tackle Maker...and Murderer?

Once in a while you run across an article while doing research that leaves you speechless. Such was the case when I first chanced across the story of Aberdeen, Scotland resident William Gordon--fishing tackle maker. But unlike any other tackle maker I know of, Gordon was executed for the murder of his wife.

The grisly details were reported in the 04 June 1822 Edinburgh Advertiser. As the paper declared, "On Friday William Gordon, for the murder of his wife...was executed at Aberdeen." Not surprisingly, Gordon professed his innocence until the end, declaring that "nothing could have surprised him more, than the situation in which he found her, on leaving his bed to go to her assistance." She had been stabbed to death with a scissors. But as the jury concluded, "the evidence was so strong, as to leave no doubt in the minds of the Jury of the guilt of the unhappy prisoner."

The truth, it would seem, was that Gordon drank himself into a stupor, and when his wife tried to stop him, he picked up her sewing scissors and stabbed her to death. "This seems doubly unfortunate," as the paper admitted, because:

Gordon was a well informed man, of a strong mind, aged about 45, a native of Cabraeh, and was born of respectable parents. In the early part of his life he came to Aberdeen, where he served an apprenticeship to his brother in the hardware line, which they jointly carried on, with great credit and respectability for a number of years. But his brother having left him, he seems to have fallen into bad company; and being reduced in circumstances, betook himself to making fishing tackle.

William Gordon, tackle maker, met his maker at the gallows on 01 June 1822. He is the only tackle maker I have ever heard of who was sentenced to death for murder.

-- Dr. Todd

News of the Week: 14 September 2009

2 World Record trout in one week...3 Texas anglers survive a week adrift...Fort Worth tackle show...the Macho Minnow...gar fishing (again)...the National Bass Circuit closes up shop...kingfish go deep in the summer...Aussie angler speared in back...a big musky and a neat story...the Lucky Tyee...how to pick the right fly line...the Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby gets underway...a huge, huge halibut...one man's take on Bass Pro Shops...it must be THE NEWS OF THE WEEK!

The Big Lead: An update on the (potential) new world record Brown trout.


And perhaps a new World Record Rainbow to boot?


3 Texas boaters survive a week adrift.

Fort Worth is getting management issues, and antique fishing tackle, in the next week.

A new heavy metal jigging spoon--the Macho Minnow--has been launched for ice fishing.

The Staten Island Advocate notes that saltwater angler's license issue is about to come to a head.

The gar offers more than just catch-and-release.


The National Bass Circuit has closed up shop and cancelled its remaining tournaments.

How to catch kingfish in summer? Go deep, young man.


One of the biggest fishing tournaments in America -- the Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby --began yesterday morning .


Down under, an unfortunate Aussie is speared in the back in a fishing accident.

The Steamboat Pilot reports on a man, a fishing rod, and a Colorado sunrise.

A heart warming story about a 52" muskellunge.


A tale of the Lucky Tyee.

How to pick the right fly line.


Alaska angler catches monster halibut.


Wholly mackerel! They came, they fished, and they ate.



Finishing With A Flourish: One man's take on the colossus that is Bass Pro Shops.

-- Dr. Todd