UPDATE: More Info on Larry & J.J. Koller

UPDATE: More Info on Larry & J.J. Koller

This week we get an update to the Larry Koller post from last week.

First, Joe Stagnitti sends us a really neat photo of some J.J. Koller boxed lures. The box on the right has the crossed out Goshen address, replaced with a handwritten Miami one. Note also the box on the right is a "Streamliner" bait; perhaps J.J. was producing these at the same time his brother was making Ruff-Nek lures. Nifty!



Neat, neat lures!

Next, we get an informative letter from Bass Bug historian extraordinaire Jerry Martin. Jerry writes:

I have three Ruff-Nek bugs that came with a Pflueger Sample Room card. The card indicated that the bugs were received from J.J. Koller, Goshen, NY on September 29, 1944. Two of the bugs were "Ruff-Nek style". The other was a typically flared and trimmer deer hair bug with wings tied in directly behind the hook eye projecting 90 degrees.

A small J.J. Koller ad appeared in the June 1943 issue of Field & Stream. The ad stated that the Ruff-Nek Bass Bug was "Designed by Larry Koller" (no indication that  L. Koller tied them?).

Well, that definitely fits with my theory that J.J. took over when tying these bugs when Larry went to Connecticut during the war. Jerry has a few questions that perhaps other can help answer:

Does anyone have an authentic sample of a Koller Minnow. Were the minnows streamers, bucktails or fly rod lures?

And finally, concerning "hand-tied" bugs and flies. I am still looking for a machine tied example.

If anyone can help out Jerry on this, drop me a note and I'll put you in touch with him!

Finally, noted fly tier Mike Valla writes to remind me that Koller was an enormous influence on him in his formative days tying flies in the Catskill region. Mike in fact references Larry a number of times in his new book The Classic Dry Fly Box, which is available by the way in paperback.

Many thanks to Jerry, Stag and Mike for their help. Larry Koller was a fascinating guy and he created a great set of baits!

-- Dr. Todd

UPDATE: Bill Bryan, Bagley Lure Designer Part 2

UPDATE: Bill Bryan, Bagley Lure Designer Part 2

Fascinating how the world works. Florida lure guru Bill Stuart of the Museum of Fishing (and former owner of Bagley) writes:
 
Bill [Bryan] was my best friend and hunting and fishing partner for 46 years.  He worked for me twice over our years of friendship, first in a research support business and then as a lure designer at Bagley.  He was my bird dog with his finger on the pulse there when I was thinking of buying the company. 

Bill's widow, Hazel, still lives here in Bartow and goes to our church.  I will take a copy of the article to her tomorrow night.  My wife of going on 50 years will tell you that Bill and Hazel came with the marriage package and we have had a great friendship over the years.

An avid hunter and a compulsive fisherman I went on many trips with him just for the fellowship and to shoot photos and enjoy the great comradery.  He and Hazel both attended Erskine College in South Carolina.  Bill was in charge of all things mechanical and I was in charge of rattlesnakes.  We made a great team, because I had none of his talents and he could not stand rattlesnakes.  I have about a 6' rattlesnake skin on my wall that I shot out from in front of him.  Photos of Bill, both of his bird dogs, pointers, hang on my walls.  They were not the best dogs in the world, but they were good enough for us.

The last quail hunting trip I went on was in the early 80s.  It was a hot day and by noon the dogs were whipped.  When Bill told his old dog to load up she just stood there and waited on him to pick her up and lay her in the jeep.  From where he put her she did not move an inch.  We loaded the guns and headed for the cow pens.  About a mile later I stopped the jeep and Bill asked what I was doing.  I told him I was pointed on a full covey in the road about 30 yards ahead of us.  We got out, left the dogs in the jeep - actually neither of them even lifted their head to see what was going on.  Bill and I traded sides, we walked up the covey, he killed three to the left and I killed three to the right and as far as we were concerned one could not have a better ending to a day in the woods.  

I had never seen that article and thanks for giving us a look at it!  Have a great day!

Bill sent an addendum not long later:

I  just told [my wife] Nancy what I had written to you about my relationship with Bill and she said, "well, you might as well tell him about my best fishing expedition.  It was when Bill [Bryan] and Hazel had been appointed by my mother as our official chaperones, as we were not yet married.  I caught a big tarpon in Boca Grande Pass and Bill Bryan held me in the fighting chair!"

So many thanks to Bill Stuart for sending more information about his great friend Bill Bryan. I am so pleased to be able to share some information about a lure designer, as we know so little about them...

-- Dr. Todd

Jim Bo Update #2: The Rest of the Story

Jim Bo Update #2: The Rest of the Story

It's days like this that make all the work putting up this blog worth it.

Doug Carpenter writes us a final word about the Jim Bo. He sends the following advertisement from the December 1959 Field & Stream magazine featuring the Jim Bo, but in slightly different form. Note three things about this version of the lure. One, it has a red tail (the one referenced earlier) and two, that the address is now Bryan Manufacturing in Hopkinsville, Kentucky!


Finally, it is listed as filed under Patent #2881549, granted April 14, 1959 but filed for on June 17, 1952--nearly seven years before! Amazing amount of time. He is still listed as of the patent date at his Largo, Florida address, so he must have had some connection to Kentucky to manufacture them there. Amazingly, his "Patent Pending" from his first ads lasted the rest of the decade. Anyone know of another tackle patent that had to wait so long to be approved?


Thanks, Doug, for sending in the final piece of the Jim Bo puzzle! A lure that spans the 1950s and two states.

And now you know the rest of the story.

-- Dr. Todd

UPDATE: More Jim Bo Information!

UPDATE: More Jim Bo Information!

Yesterday we profiled the interesting Florida lure called the Jim Bo. Today, Jim Viviano of Chesterfield, MO writes:

I like the article on the Jimbos you posted on Joes Board. Here is a picture of my Jimbo collection. I have the 8 standard colors, plus two others that I have found.
 
Years later after the large size Jimbos were no longer made, someone in Las Vegas started making a small Jimbo with a red felt skirt (or wings) on them.  I have found a few and they are at the bottom of my collection.



Thanks for the info, Jim, and that's a very attractive display! Long live the Jim-Bo!

-- Dr. Todd

UPDATE: Pictures of Mikina's Bubble Minnie!

UPDATE: The Bubble Minnie

Thanks to Steve Kuchman, we have not just one but three pictures of Mikina's patented lure the Bubble Minnie. Thanks to Rob Pavey, Dennis Ladd, Gary Henderson, and Mark Fuhrman for the photos!


Rob Pavey has most cool lures in the box, including this Bubble Minnie. Note the "fuel" for the lure.


This Bubble Minnie of Dennis Ladd's shows the Mikina patent lure.


Mark Fuhrman shows the early boxes of the Bubble Minnie.

-- Dr. Todd

UPDATE: More Royer Photos...

UPDATE: More Royer Photos...

Joe Stagnitti sends in some photos which serve nicely as an update to the earlier article about H.C. Royer.


This is a Heddon Coast Minnow and a better representation than the Pflueger pictured below of Royer's lure.


This is Royer's patented metal Coast Minnow.

Thanks Stag!

Cheers,

Dr. Todd

UPDATE: Louis Rhead Waga-Waga Found!

UPDATE: Louis Rhead Waga-Waga Found!

Joe Stagnitti just posted this on Joe's Board; since the posts on Joe's disappear very quickly I am copy this over to my blog so it chronicle this awesome lure! Joe writes:

Wow....sometimes, the lure gods smile on you.....

I bought this bait from Bill Kennedy, he got it from a large online auction lot with lots of nice old baits. We both thought at the time that although this bait was very well made, that it was just a cool piece of folk art.....imagine what I thought immediately after reading the blog!!!
Just couldn't believe when I scrolled down to Rhead's illustration of the bait, and couldn't dig this bait out of the folk art case fast enough!!!



Congrats, Joe! You've got an awesome, awesome old bait there and the only known Rhead Waga-Waga. What a rare New York lure!

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE:

Jerry Martin posts that Rhead may have made other wooden minnows. I don't consider his frog to be "truly" wooden, as according to his own instructions on how to make the lure in Fisherman's Lures and Game Fish Food much of the body was made of cork, but he did advertise several wooden minnows which we sadly do not have any pictures of yet. Also, Jerry noted that the Waga-Waga was once advertised with a metal tail--now that would be a heck of find!

-- Dr. Todd

UPDATE: Fishing Graves and Angling Epitaphs

UPDATE: Fishing Grave Stones and Angling Epitaphs

Got some great feedback from the article yesterday, "A Discourse on Fishing Graves and Angling Epitaphs." Two in particular I felt were worth posting. The first is from Heddon guru Bill Roberts, who writes:

Enjoyed today's blog. Here's one of my favorites. When Charles Heddon died, noted Editor, Author, Sportsman, and close friend Bob Davis had this note placed in Charles hand: "Farewell for the moment, Charley," wrote Davis. "You will see Uncle Jimmy when he comes to greet you on the Styx, the river between the living and the dead, where we anchor in the still water and fish together as in the unforgettable past."

Bill Roberts followed up his email with this one:

Bob Davis was also James Heddon's fishing partner and good friend. Thirty years earlier Bob wrote this upon hearing of James Heddon's death: "TO: JAMES HEDDON, Dowagiac, Michigan: Goody bye, Uncle Jimmy, though you wore your name in water, it will remain indelible forever, and your memory will never fade. Your children will place this, my farewell, in your hand. Hold it until we meet again. BOB."

And his name has remained indelible forever.

That's pretty awesome, Bill!

Perhaps the most simple and poignant epitaph of them all is this fantastic grave stone for Private Paul T. Moore, World War II veteran, sent in by Wayne Mullins. Like Councilman Taft, it simply says "Gone Fishing."



Nothing more needs to be said beyond that.

-- Dr. Todd

UPDATE: World War II Emergency Fishing Kit History

Noted collector and historian Ed Pritchard, author of the great book on Fin-Nor, sends in the following update to the World War II Emergency Fishing Kit. Ed writes:

The first picture (below) is of the two principle designers of the emergency kit (from my research). I understand they also conducted field studies. The kit, in part, owed its design to big game fisherman and IGFA founder Michael Lerner and big game fisherman and author S. Kip Farrington Jr. with input by others as you mentioned.


The second picture (below) is of Julian T. Crandall of Ashaway Line & Twine Mfg. Co. holding American Can Company's watertight, key-opening can into which the larger kit was packed (as you mentioned in your article, there were two sizes). From what I have been able to find out Crandall also helped design the kit and he manufactured most of it adding in the items made by other companies.


Thanks, Ed! Awesome pics and information. Lerner (with Harlan Major) was also the brains behind the "Tackle for Soldiers" movement. I'll write that up some day soon as well.

-- Dr. Todd

UPDATE: WHITE HOUSE TASK FORCE

UPDATE: WHITE HOUSE TASK FORCE

Many of you have written asking for an update on the White House Task Force. Well, I wish I could say it was good news but I think it's an issue we'll all want to keep up the pressure on.

For those who would like to catch up on the issue, click here.

Dave Pfeiffer of Shimano North America also sends the following note, which should bring us up to date.

I wanted to send you an update on the Ocean’s Policy Task Force issue.  Unfortunately, it has not gone away but I guess that we did not really expect that it would.  Below is an article that is being published by ESPN.  It pretty much tells the story on where things stand.  This remains a very critical issue and one that I hope anglers will not let die.  The last letter writing/e-mail campaign that you both so graciously supported really opened Congress’ eyes on this issue.  Believe it or not, many in DC did not even know this was being developed. 
 
More letters/e-mails to Congressmen and Senators will help.  I know if often seems like a fruitless effort but it is not.  This is a very real threat.  If you have it in you to pass along this update and continue to encourage anglers to take time to write I would appreciate it very much.
 
We remain very close to and involved in this matter.  Over the last few months we met with Bass Pro Shops who strongly supported getting the word out in their catalogs and with countless people in Washington.

Here is the latest letter drafted to President Obama on this issue. Dave writes "If we can get a few thousand e-mail letters off to the president on this I think it will help get his attention and let him know that we are not in favor of any sort of executive order to put this plan in place."

I encourage everyone to write their congressional representative, senator, and the president on this issue.

We'll keep you updated as we learn more.

-- Dr. Todd

UPDATE: Worst. Packaging. Ever.

UPDATE: Worst. Packaging. Ever.

Some of you may recall I have had my woes about packaging (Click Here and then if you have the stomach for it Click Here). But in all my years of collecting, I've never seen anything like what Steve Bodeen went through. He posted this on Joe's Board and I just had to repost it here, because frankly I'm stunned.


I'll let Steve describe it:

"Not only did they take the pins out to take the collar off, because they didn't want to use a larger box. He taped the lure to the cardboard, right across the lure body. No padding. I emailed seller of the bait and scolded them already. Never know what your going to get."

He later wrote me:

I was amazed.  Not only did he not cover the hooks, he took off the pinned collar and taped the lure to the side of the box so it wouldn't slide around.  I was SHOCKED to say the least.

I guess shocking is the only way to describe it...when I saw the picture for the first time I almost started gagging. It's almost a work of art how bad this is. The picture is horrifyingly fascinating, in the same way people can't stop staring at a picture of a wrecked exotic car.

Don't fret, however, Steve reports that the lure is actually fine.

I hope to never see a worse packaging job than this, but you never know!

-- Dr. Todd

UPDATE: World Record Bass Update

UPDATE: Latest News on the (Possible) World Record Bass

Bill Baab--author of a forthcoming biography of George Perry--sent me this link from his friend George Kramer's blog. It's got the latest information on the Kurita bass. Some interesting stuff about Lake Biwa I hadn't read anywhere else...

Click Here for George's excellent update.

-- Dr. Todd

UPDATE: People Still Love Gadabout Gaddis!

UPDATE: People Still Love Gadabout Gaddis!

Wow. I got over a dozen emails yesterday raving about Gadabout Gaddis. What an amazing guy. Here are three neat ones. The first is from Dan Basore, lure collector and angler extraordinaire:

Boy you really woke me up this morning Todd...
 
Attached is a picture of Gadabout and me doing a promotion at a Rotary Club meeting in Indianapolis in the 70's. (Note the Mann's decals as they were my main sponsor then).
 
I was the speaker and my subject was 'having a positive attitude in business, fishing and life' and was so well received that I was asked to return for more performances to this club over the years, one of their only repeat speakers.
 
Gadabout and I were also promoting the Indianapolis Boat and Sports Show. I have been so fortunate to be at the right place at the right time to meet and befriend my heroes in fishing.
 
A life lesson that Gadabout taught me when visiting him at his home in Florida once in his later years is one I live by and highly recommend. Gaddis told me how he had the unpleasant task of burying a couple of wives. He blamed there passing on worrying about trivial stuff affecting their nerves and enjoyment of life. "If you spill a pitcher of milk, just clean it up and pour another, don't get all agitated about it" was Gadabout's philosophy.  
 
One could identify his teaching now as "Don't worry be happy."


Wow! Nifty story and great picture. The next one comes from Shane Andrews, son of legendary bass angler Glen Andrews and the co-author of a great biography of his father due out this fall.

I thought you might want this image.  It's a scan of a copy given to me by Jim Rogers.


Gad sure got around!

Finally, we have an email from our friend in Maine, Jeff Knapp, who reminds us that Gadabout Gaddis also sold a lot of fishing tackle from his show.

Coincidentally, I sold this last week. It's his advertised set of killer lures.




Thanks for emailing, guys! Gadabout was clearly a beloved guy.

-- Dr. Todd

UPDATE: The Virginia Rubber Band Reel (1946)

UPDATE: The Virginia Rubber Band Reel (1946)

Hurray! The blogosphere strikes again! Larry Moellman has solved the riddle of the rubber reel. He writes:

Here are some pictures of the reel you have on your blog.  It is a neat and unusual looking reel. I think it is unused, in the box with the paperwork, and a envelope with extra rubber bands, but the rubber bands are brittle.  Can't find anything about being patented.








Many thanks to Larry for sending this our way! What an awesomely weird reel.

-- Dr. Todd

UPDATES: T.J. Waters Spoon & Fizgig Poppers

UPDATE: T.J. Waters Spoon & Fizgig Poppers

This is an update to a couple of popular blog articles. The first is the History of T.J. Waters Sport Shop, a neat tackle shop that marketed tackle under the "Jumbo Fishing Tackle" trade name.

Joe Sylvester recently posted the following lure, marked "T.J. Waters, Auburn, N.Y. 66" on Joe's Board. I pointed out the history of this interesting upstate New York firm and he graciously agreed to allow me to post pics of this metal lure. I don't believe Waters made these baits--it looks like it was a trade spoon from Miller, Hinckley or Sutton--but it is a neat piece of this forgotten firm's history.




The second update is that, thanks to Steve Lumpkin (the Illinois lure encyclopedist) and Raph Hecht, a fly rod lure guru, we have some neat pics of this awesome fly rod bait profiled in The Strange History of the Fizgig and Wiggle-Wabble.

Fizgig courtesy Steve Lumpkin.


Bottom two Fizgig lures courtesy of Ralph Hecht.

What nifty fly rod lures!

I would like to thank Joe, Steve and Ralph for sharing these nifty lures with all of us!

-- Dr. Todd

UPDATE: More Info on Rance V. Ham

UPDATE: More Info on Rance V. Ham

Thanks to Wendy, we now have a bit more information on the mysterious Maine guide Rance V. Ham. Wendy found an obituary from 1919 that gives quite a bit of information on this gentleman:

Rance V. Hame died Monday, March 24th at his home in Moscow [Maine] of heart trouble. Mr. Ham was a man of strong constitution until several years ago, when his heart began to trouble him, which was the beginning of his declining health. He was born at The Forks of the Kennebec, May 16, 1845, and consequently was 73 years, 10 months, and 8 days.

He was the son of John S. and Lucy (Elder) Ham. On June 19, 1873, he was united in marriage to Marcia Leighton Barron of Monmouth. To this unions were born eight children, two having passed away some years ago. The remaining ones are Elizabeth H. Massie of Penacook, N.H., Edith A. Greeley of Windsorville, Lucky J. Crombie, Charlie F. and Edmund H. Ham, Moscow, and Sergt. Austin D. Ham, who is stationed at Camp Devens, Mass. He is also survived by his wife and one step-son, Alvin Barron of Concord; also two sisters Mrs. James Mahoney of Bingham and Mrs. Arthur Bagley of Clinton. He had followed the occupation of guide for a number of years wherein he made many life long friends. He had a genial personality and his strongest characteristic was his unfailing desire to lend a helping hand to others.

The newspaper where the obit came from was not noted. Wendy also uncovered a Kirtland dealer's catalog (likely 1907) cut of the rod, although the resolution is very low:


Note that the rod retailed for $5, but sold at wholesale for $3! Unbelievable to think you could have hand-made a six-strip bamboo rod and sold it for $3 at a profit. I could find no mention of this rod after 1907, so perhaps they didn't make money on this after all.

The one thing we haven't been able to discover is whether Rance Ham actually made the rods himself. Perhaps we'll find out the answer to this in the near future.

Many thanks to Wendy for helping us learn some more about Rance V. Ham!

-- Dr. Todd

AFTERNOON UPDATE: Worst Packaging Ever???

Worst Package Ever?

I just had to post this. 20 minutes ago my mailman showed up and handed me two packages. He says, "you're not going to like one of these."


I put the square box down and look at the wonderful package in the mail. I am showing the back side so as not to show the person's address--but suffice to say I knew immediately from the heft and by the fact the handle was sticking through the package that indeed, he has mailed me a reel in a bubble cushion envelope.


And not just a reel, but a pretty scarce Winchester fly reel at that. I mean, really...have you ever had a fishing reel mailed WITHOUT ANY WRAPPING (yes, that is exactly how it came out of the package) in just an envelope folded over??? I am flabbergasted. DOes this happen a lot? I know others buy a WHOLE LOT more tackle than I do, but I've got a plus feedback rating on eBay of nearly 4000 and not once have I ever had something like this occur before. Wild. It is amazing that there appears to be no major damage to the reel.


Just to balance it out, the other package was a heavy cardboard box wrapped in bulk thick paper, and each of the four reels separately wrapped with bubble wrap. Little chance these were going to get damaged.


So does this actual happen or did I just hit the lottery today?

-- Dr. Todd

The Chamberlaine Lure: UPDATE

Thought I'd pen a quick update on the Joseph E.M. Chamberlain lure I wrote about on Tuesday. The article referenced a patent, but I could not find a patent under that name. Well, along comes Joe Yates to inform me that not only did he have two patents in his name, but the newspaper actually got his name WRONG. His name was Joseph E.M. Chamberlaine (with an E at the end).

The patent information tells us a bit about the lures but not much about the man. He applied for the patents in March of 1931 and received them in consecutive numbers on 19 April 1932 as Patent #1855066 and #1855067. They cover both a single and double hook trolling spoon of interesting design. Certainly someone out there has seen this lure or owns one?




Thanks to Joe setting the record straight, and hopefully we can find more information about this fascinating character.

-- Dr. Todd

Addendum to Toothpaste & Ambassadeurs

ADDENDUM to Toothpaste & Ambassadeurs

The Ambassadeur article created some great feedback, but nothing that made me laugh as loud as the note I got from Joe Klaus. Joe related the following great story about Toothpaste and Ambassadeurs; he was gracious enough to allow me to reprint it.

Your article was 100% right on the money.

The toothpaste method for cleaning ambassadors has been passed around by the "old salts" in Texas since the 60's at least. That's when I first heard it.

It took me only one time to try that and to figure out it was NOT for me.

I took both side plates apart and squirted a generous helping of toothpaste on both sides. But mostly on the handle side. I put everything back together and started turning the handle. I sat through about a 30 minute Sit-com and turned the handle the whole time.

I decided 30 minutes of turning was probably enough. I then took it apart to (hopefully) admire my handi-work. What I saw was a huge mess. It took me "forever" to get all that damned toothpaste out of there. And there was absolutely NO extraordinary "cleaning or polishing" of the gears either. Total waste of time when compared to other ways of doing the same thing. It was such a fiasco that I still get agitated just telling the story.

But that toothpaste crap story persisted in Texas for years. Mostly just word of mouth and fibs (in my opinion) about how well it worked. And just about the time the method would start to peter out on its own, some sportswriter would mention it in a column.

The truth behind the legend of the Ambassadeur Toothpaste process? The thought of opening the sideplate and seeing that mess made me laugh out loud...very funny stuff, and I thank Joe for sending it our way!

-- Dr. Todd

UPDATE: Wigart Glirr Info Part 2

UPDATE: WIGART GLIRR PART 2

It is very cool when something works like you hope it will--this is certainly the case with the UNID Files #2: The Case of the Paper Minnow. It was positively ID'd by Jerry Martin and Joe Stag. Jerry referenced an ad which I had in my files; now, to top it off, Gary Steenbergen sends us a copy of the original packaging AND the box (or envelope in this case) papers! Amazing. Gary found this without the lure; so it is pretty cool we now know what the lure looks like, and its original packaging, and its national advertising! Nifty.


A couple of cool things about this material--including the fact that the copy reads "Reg. U.S. Pat. Office" implying the name was trademarked. Gary writes: "What's glirr skin? I am assuming it is a localized slang word for bird fish or animal.. have searched the net and found nothing thought you might ask the ??? on the blog." Indeed, what turns transparent in the water? Shark skin, as was posited before? I did a cursory search of patent files for "transparent minnow" in 1923 and 1924 and didn't find anything like this.

Regardless, thanks a ton to Gary and everyone who contributed to solve this mystery. Got a few more UNIDs to work on, maybe we can come up with another hit!

-- Dr. Todd

UPDATE

Jim Scouler writers to let us know that he ran the word "Glirr" through some language translators, and discovered that Glirr is Swedish for "small fish," which I take as synonymous with Minnow. Makes a lot of sense to me!