The Men & Inventions That Changed The Way We Fish Today

Have you ever considered how different today's sport-fishing is compared with fishing in years past? Sure you have, just like me.

Being an avid history buff, I am amazed about the many significant changes in fishing that have occurred during the past century, changes never envisioned by the anglers of yesteryear.

So, you probably know that Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, and Mother Nature invented Baja's Cortez for all saltwater anglers, but do you know what these men invented?

9 men who changed the way we fish today.

Some of the most significant developments relate to the equipment we use. Our boats have changed. Our rods and reels have changed. Our lures have changed. And we have many more accessories that give us distinct advantages when fishing.

I'm willing to bet, however, you have no idea who invented products you probably use quite often, things such as the bass boat, the foot-controlled trolling motor, the spin-casting reel and the plastic worm. Most of us never think about it. But had it not been for a small fraternity of industrious, forward-thinking men, we might not be able to enjoy fishing to its fullest, the way we do today.

Here are the stories of nine such men, anglers all, whose creativity and revolutionary thinking helped usher in new eras in sport-fishing.


HOLMES THURMOND


It began in a garage in Marshall, Texas, in 1948. A well-rounded fisherman named Holmes Thurmond decided to design a better boat, one that wouldn't be pushed around by the wind. Using pieces of marine plywood, he built a unique 13-footer with a low profile, wide bottom and inward-sloping sides. This inimitable little craft, dubbed the "Skeeter" by locals because of its long, needle-shaped bow, was the forerunner of today's modern bass boats.



Would you believe this is the forerunner of today's modern bass boat, invented by Mr. Holmes Thurmond, the man at left.

Holmes's sleek, fast boat immediately caught the attention of Texas and Louisiana fishermen, and lots of them wanted one, too. Holmes built them one at a time in Marshall and sold them through Reeves Marine in Shreveport, Louisiana. Then in 1961, the Stemco Corporation purchased the design and moved the operation to Longview, Texas. Soon after, they made the first bass boat from fiberglass, a huge leap forward in performance and durability. And soon, Skeeter boats were buzzing around lakes and rivers nationwide.
Holmes Thurmond designed a little wooden boat that was remarkably stable and very fast. People would say his boats whipped around the lake like a little mosquito or "Skeeter" for short and this is what is known to be the very first bass boat built in 1948. Thurmond was born in 1894 and passed away in 1970.


During the 60-some years since Thurmond made that first Skeeter, the company he founded has introduced many other 'firsts', including the first V-bottom bass boat and the first bass boat rated for 150 horsepower. And yet the man who started it all remains relatively unknown, despite the enormous way he changed fishing.


R.D. HULL


When R.D. Hull was a kid learning to fish in Snyder, Texas, he was continually picking out backlashes in the bait-casting reels of the time. He resolved the problem by having younger brother Ott walk around the pond they fished and drop his fishing plug in the water. He then could retrieve the lure without problems, but that only worked until Ott wised up.

Hull grew up to be a watchmaker and tinkerer, and decided he should invent a reel that wouldn't backlash. He solved the problem while watching a grocery clerk pull string from a large fixed spool to wrap a package. A reel with a fixed spool would be impossible to backlash, he thought, so he set out to make one.

In 1947, Hull showed his prototype to officials at Tulsa, Oklahoma's Zero Hour Bomb Company. The company produced explosive charges for oil drilling, not fishing tackle, but the men, intrigued by Hull's idea, sent the inventor home to make a working model. Hull returned with a handmade reel that was tested by company employees who were avid anglers. One tied his keys to the line and sent a cast flying high over the building. Everyone was impressed.

Hull was hired on the spot and set to work improving the reel's design. In June 1949, the first 25 'Standard' fishing reels came off the assembly line. They were an immediate hit with fishermen, and the company, which later changed its name to Zebco, began selling them by the thousands.


R.D. Hull's reel, which later evolved into the Zebco 33 spin-cast reel, changed forever the way people fished. Before the inventor died in 1977, more than 70 million Zebco reels had been sold, and Hull had been granted 35 U.S. patents.



NICK CREME


In 1949, Nick Creme was experimenting with vinyl mixtures heated on his kitchen stove. He cooked up one combination that, when added to molds he made from live night crawlers, produced the first plastic worm that looked and felt soft and alive .. and stayed that way when exposed to air. That first lure, the "Wiggle Worm", was sold by mail in 1951 at a price of $1 per five-pack. A distributor at a Cleveland sports show sold 9,600 packs in just a few days.


Demand for the lures soared, and Creme had to move his fledgling company from its small Ohio quarters to a larger plant in Tyler, Texas, where he endeared himself and his products to America's anglers. He was among the first manufacturers to sponsor pro anglers, signing Bill Dance and John Powell as spokesmen for his worms. And he was the first to offer slip-sinkers in the late 1960s.

Creme died in 1984, but the company bearing his name continues doing business from Tyler, Texas.




DARRELL LOWRANCE


In the 1950s, fishing was largely a hit-and-miss proposition. Advances in tackle technology had improved anglers chances, but 'the one that got away' continued to be a popular refrain until Darrell Lowrance and his father, Carl, introduced portable sonar to the sport.
LOWRANCE'S LITTLE GREEN BOX WAS THE FIRST PORTABLE SONAR - (FISHFINDER).

First introduced in 1957, the Lowrance Fish Lo-K-Tor was the first transistorized, portable sportfishing sonar for the recreational market. For the first time and for an investment of only $150, fisherman could use the fish locator to find fish and their exact depth. This revolutionary sonar unit, that became affectionately known as the "Little Green Box" by anglers, also enhanced boating safety by providing depth readings and information about underwater obstructions and bottom contour changes.

I still have my original 'Little Green Box' that I bought for my 16ft Lund boat in 1964. Here it is sitting on the console of the Lund while docked at a fishing lodge in Northern Saskatchewan at Lac La Ronge, where we were catching deep-water lake trout by spotting them and structure on the Green Box...quite an invention!...and produced mucho results for us fishermen.


Carl Lowrance learned about sonar in the Navy. Using newly developed transistor technology, he reduced the size of once-bulky units so they could be mounted in small boats. The next step was reducing the length of the ultrasonic signal sent and received by the transducer .. the pulse length .. so the sonar could detect not just large objects like submarines, but fish as well. Darrell Lowrance, then a freshman at the University of Arkansas studying math and physics, managed to reduce the pulse length to a mere 1 foot, small enough to identify larger fish. And by 1956, the Lowrances were ready with their first unit, dubbed the Fish Lo-K-Tor.

The family incorporated their business as Lowrance Electronics in 1958, and soon began marketing the "Little Green Box" sonar that revolutionized sport fishing. Darrell became company president in 1961. During his tenure, he received numerous patents while guiding Lowrance to several breakthroughs in marine electronics technology, including the first computerized paper-graph fishfinder in 1982, the first high-resolution liquid-crystal display in 1985, and the first marine electronics with memory card utility in 2000. The company he helped found is now part of Navico, the world's largest marine electronics manufacturer.

This photo shows my Lowrance paper graph on my high-speed tri-hull in Baja of 1984. It did the deed quite well.






TOM MANN


A native of Penton, Alabama, Tom Mann was born Sept. 16, 1932, and grew up loving to fish. His accomplishments in the world of angling made him one of the most familiar fishing personalities in America during his 71 years.

In 1956, Mann bought $5 worth of polar-bear hair and some hooks, created some molds and started making jigs. Almost every lure he made, he sold to friends, and soon he was making more money doing that than he did at his regular cotton-mill job. His wife, Ann, started helping him paint jigheads at the kitchen table, while he tied them. The demand for the lures grew so great, tackle sellers everywhere wanted them, and Mann's Bait Company, which would later grow into a multi-million dollar enterprise, was born.

In 1960, Mann became an Alabama game warden, but he continued making lures, including a brand-new one that would become one of the best-selling bass-catchers of all time. The top man in Alabama's statehouse at the time was governor George C. Wallace, and it was from the "boss" that the Little George tailspinner got its name.

Other lures Mann invented included the Mann-O-Lure spoon, the Wooly Bully spinnerbait, the Deep Pig crankbait and most famous of all, the Jelly Worm, a soft, fruit-scented lure that became the No. 1-selling plastic worm of all time. Mann also began experimenting with fish-finding technology, ultimately developing and patenting the Hummin'bird depthfinder. He went on to become a book author, TV show host and an early star on the BASS Tournament Trail, winning two events and qualifying for seven Bassmaster Classics between 1971 and 1978.



ELWOOD "BUCK" PERRY


Born in 1915, in Hickory, North Carolina, Elwood "Buck" Perry grew up fishing on Lake James. It was there that he observed things that would lay the groundwork for his pioneering theories about fishing. He believed the natural "home" for most game fish was not in the shallows, as most people thought, but in deep water, and that once or twice daily, fish moved from the depths to the shallows to feed. Knowing the particular bottom features the fish followed as they moved could, he believed, increase an angler's catch year-round.

Designing an innovative lure he could fish at all depths was Perry's key to proving his theory. He called it the "Spoonplug" and patented it in 1946. Perry used the lure to teach anglers where and when to fish, but it wasn't until 1957, when Perry's fishing exploits on Lake Marie (supposedly a "fished-out" body of water) were featured in newspapers, that Perry gained recognition and the Spoonplug craze was born.

In 1984, Fishing Facts editor George Pazic wrote: "Perry started the whole modern era of freshwater sport-fishing. He is known as the 'Father of Structure Fishing,' and his discoveries and teachings have brought pleasure and success to millions of anglers that never even heard his name."

Perry passed away in 2005, but his groundbreaking techniques are still being taught worldwide.



G.H. HARRIS


Many fishermen take for granted the everyday use of the foot-controlled trolling motor. But "hands-free" fishing was still a dream until the early 1960s when a Jackson, Mississippi, building contractor named Garrett H. Harris made it a reality.

In 1961, Harris, tired of sculling his fishing boat, began wondering if he could develop a better electric motor than the SilverTrol he owned, invented some 30 years earlier. The SilverTrol was awkward to use because it required turning and steering by hand. Harris wanted something he could operate with his foot so it didn't distract from his fishing.

Harris' tinkering led to the development of a spring-loaded, foot-operated direction control he could use to steer his boat. When he would take his foot off the pedal, the spring returned the motor to its straight-ahead position. Local fishermen liked what they saw and began buying the handmade trolling motors.

When Harris became friends with Dick Herschede, owner of a Mississippi grandfather clock company, his invention finally reached the masses. Herschede struck a deal with Harris to build and sell the motors, which they called the "Guide-Rite." Improvements came rapidly, including rack-and-pinion steering in the mid-1960s that made the directional control more sensitive and reliable. Thrust was a whopping 10 pounds.

Eventually, the product's name was changed to the moniker now known by anglers everywhere: MotorGuide. And the rest, as they say, is history.




DAVE WHITLOCK


It's cliche to call anyone a legend, but if that term ever truly suited an individual, it fits Dave Whitlock. The contributions this man has made to fly-fishing have been phenomenal.

Whitlock was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, in 1934, and started fly-fishing streams in his home state at around age 9. He was tying his own flies at age 12 to support his growing interest in the activity, and remained self-taught until age 18, when he learned by watching other tiers in a Montana fly-fishing shop. In later years, this lifelong fascination with fly-tying led him to create many new patterns widely used today, including Whitlock's Matuka Sculpin, the Red Fox Squirrel Nymph, Whitlock's Sheep Minnow Series, the Whit Hairbug and Dave's Diving Frog.

Whitlock's talents as a writer, artist and teacher also became world-renowned. Since resigning from his job as a research chemist in the 1970s, he has written, co-authored and/or illustrated dozens of books, created numerous fly-fishing instructional videos, directed the L.L. Bean Fly Fishing School, and, with his wife, Emily, founded his own fly-fishing school on the renowned White River in Arkansas. He also invented the Whitlock-Vibert Box, a unique, in-stream fish-egg incubator/nursery device used worldwide to help create, improve and preserve trout and salmon populations.

Today, Whitlock lives with his wife, Emily, near Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Certainly, his many accomplishments have earned him a place among America's legendary fishermen.



FRED YOUNG

Fred Young is far right.

Back in 1967, laid up in a body cast after an accident at work, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, angler Fred Young started hand-carving crankbaits at home, hoping to come up with a model that duplicated the fast, tight wiggle of a fleeing baitfish. He experimented constantly with body materials, whittling plugs from cedar, pine, poplar and redwood, but found that balsa gave the plug the action he desired. He tried different lip materials, too, using emery boards, paint-can lids and aluminum, but found that pieces of old circuit board worked best.

Fred's burly brother Otis tested the plugs and gave Fred ideas for improvement. It wasn't long until they perfected a bulbous, short-lipped lure that wore the fish out. Later dubbed the "Big O" after Otis, this crankbait quickly gained a cult following for its uncanny ability to catch big bass. High-stakes bass tournaments were in their infancy then, and when several pros with Tennessee connections began winning big bucks on Big Os, those hand-carved wonders became such a phenomenon that some bass-fishing entrepreneurs introduced a rent-a-lure program, charging $25, plus an equal insurance deposit, for a one-day rental. It's estimated that Fred hand-carved around 3,700 of the original Big Os, most of which sold for $10 to $15 apiece.

Big Os were in such demand, it was inevitable that a lure company would want to start mass-producing them. Cotton Cordell bought the patent in 1973, and Young oversaw their design of the plastic Big O. During the 12 months after the lure first appeared in the company's catalog, the manufacturer sold 1.3 million Big Os.

In coming years, other manufacturers would cash in on the "alphabet plug" craze. Eventually, everybody in the industry would try to duplicate the Big O. But Fred's version, still sold today, is the one that started it all.


AND....THOSE ARE 'SOME' OF THE MEN WHO CHANGED THE WAY WE FISH...FOREVER!

ANOTHER FOR ME WAS BAJA'S LOCAL MANUEL DIAZ OF COYOTE BAY IN 1971, WHO TAUGHT ME TO "READ THE SKY AND MOON" FOR WIND AND FISH ACTIVITY.




Manuel Diaz in his panga, Coyote Bay 1960s


MIL GRACIAS TO ALL OF THESE TEACHERS!
They have all helped to add to my fishing lure collection board..and my favorite walleye lure.





[Edited on 2-23-2015 by Pompano]

i love seeing old lures and i always wonder if they would work today. here's my small collection from a tackle box i saw sticking out of the top of a trash can about 10 years ago. from the top:
Gizmo Mid Runner
Heddon Chugger Spook
Makidevil

Pompano, Thanks for the fishing history lesson

Excellent post, as always....Senor Pompano!

One guy who had a lot to do with fishermen discovering Baja: Ray Cannon!

My Old Lure Board

From an older quiz thread about lures, here are a few of my classic collector lures...saved from snags ...and monster fish of course... over the years.





Some of these did indeed change my style of fishing.

Life is good.



[Edited on 2-23-2015 by Pompano]

pompano gets the emmy!!

AWSOME !!! MAS,MAS and great pics WOODY !! that has to be the best write up about fishing history that I have read !! And I used to read anything I could get my hands on about fishing !! thats how I ended up in baja solo at the age of 17.. but,I degres to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH !!!mas ! mas !! K & T

fish

I only recognize Dave Whitlock out of the group. He was mostly reknowned for patterns that were designed for largemouth bass. In fact, there seems to be a strong bias here for the 'Deep South' region of the country. British Columbians, for example, have their own idea of the top 9 (centered around the Kamloops area).

We should probably include this guy. The father of salt water fly fishing. There were so many others though.

Well said, Igor...and that's a fine photo of two great subjects. Joe Brooks and a permit (almost a pompano)

I'm a mite surprised that you did not recognize more of the other men and their inventions...which many fishermen use to some extent today. Indeed, a lot of those inventions came from southern states locations, but I think that is because of the sheer popularity of sportsfishing in those realms..hence a large revenue source for manufacturers.

Of course, there are many north country and other area fishing inventors, too...like Minnesota's Al and Ron Linder of IN FISHERMAN magazine...and co-inventors of the 'Lindy Rig' and dozens of other lures and techniques used in both fresh and saltwater sportfishing.


Unique use of a 'sliding' sinker and snelled hook by Linder Bros.

What are some of the other 'inventions' that indeed changed the way we fish today? Like innovative boat/rod/reel/line/lure design, etc?

A couple of things that most fishermen seem to possess and do not have to 'invent' are enthusiam and some natural skill.


Example photo shown below is all about skill and enthusiam amongst us 'fishermen'



Now Igor, how to duplicate that 'hatch'?

We should probably include Lee Wulff somewhere. His contributions:

1. Using animal hair in flies. This was a major step forward because flies weren't considered flies unless they were tied with feathers. Almost all flies now are tied with synthetic material.

2. The flyfishing vest (now used by photographers as well). He sewed the first one in his NY apartment.

3. Catch-and-release fishing was first advocated by this man as a way of sportfishing.

Like Whitlock, Wulff is an artist turned fly fisherman. Born in Valdez, AK in 1905.

P.S. I know the rock upon which that bear is standing.

Well, I am duty-bound to include this early angler...maybe the first sports-fisherman who published a how-to-flyfish book...(unless you count those early Baja nomads and their cave paintings of fish?)

Born in Stafford on August 9th 1593, Isaac Walton, sometimes referred to as Izaak Walton, is famous as the man who wrote the book on fly fishing – The Compleat Angler.




You will have to excuse this inventor choice...as I may have been more influenced by the 'history' of The Compleat Angler then any important change it may have made to today's fishing.

OLD FISHER

HOLA,does ZANE GRAY fit in there somewhere ?? K & T

Quote:

Originally posted by captkw HOLA,does ZANE GRAY fit in there somewhere ?? K & T

Zane Grey the fishing hero of my youth while working with a Swedish machinist and tool maker did alot of work on the drag systems we know today,porior to that time thumb stalls and single action reels were the norm,amagine a nice size tuna with no drag but your pinkie,I found a thumb stall in a pawn shop many years ago and installed it on a worn out Penn 67 for something to do
Rob

3 of the Top 10 Best Fishing Inventions

Meat & Potatoes


Original Floating Minnow: 1936 – Rapala
Perhaps the most popular and successful lure in history.



Invented/created by Lauri Rapala





Rapalas for all kinds of fish...and fishermen!



Spring-loaded Bobber

We all had these as kids...and still do, right? Who hasn't use one of these spring loaded bobbers? How many do you have in your tackle box right now?

Who invented them??




Monofilament Line: 1958 – DuPont Stren
What did they use before mono?
DuPont Corp. developed nylon in 1938. A new type of polymer, nylon could be easily formed into fibers and was stronger than cotton, silk or rayon, which where the materials of choice for fishing line at the time. In 1958, DuPont introduced Stren, a type of monofilament line that was thinner and more uniform and could be manufactured in a range of sizes and tensile strengths. This line was quickly accepted, leading to a significant increase in fishing as a sport.




What's in YOUR tackle box?

Alfred Lee Loomis. Invented Long Range Navigation, better known as LORAN. GPS has replaced it.

fishermen and lurs,drags,leaders

I think david k mentioned ray cannon and I'll mention "PAPA" and >OOPS.. also Carl Kiekhaefer.... that we owe the outboard motor (mercury)..K & T

[Edited on 7-14-2012 by captkw]

Zane gray

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompano Quote: Originally posted by captkw HOLA,does ZANE GRAY fit in there somewhere ?? K & T Most likely, he does. Zane Grey is one of my favorite authors and a famous character in the world scene of sportsfishing, both fresh and saltwater. He has done a lot to promote fishing areas around the globe...Florida, Australia, New Zealand, Oregon's Rogue River, and many others. He popularized flyfishing for steelhead and salmon in the far west...way ahead of the herd. But I am racking my memory banks to recall if he 'invented' anything useful that has made a change in the way we fish today? Maybe somebody can help in that? I do know I get a huge amount of satisfaction in reading his works, most of which I am lucky to have in my home library.

Luhr-jensen

I dont think that today anybody that fishes..has not used/tryed one or more of their great products !! myself a LONG time KROC fan !! They work great !! and when ya used right for the "conditions/ AKA sweet spots" they are constant !! K & T

I may have missed it but the Helin Flatfish was one of a kind with many imitations,millions were made and sold,we started using them in the 40,s when they were still wood and are still effective today as they were back then!!

Years ago they had sold 10 million probably the most successful lure ever made.
Rob

helin flatfish

Great great post! Thank you all for the info and pics. Makes me wannna run to Trader Joe's and buy some frozen Tiliapia...........

Hopefully they'll be out so I'll have to run to Baja to throw a chrome Kroc and see what happens!

Quote:

Originally posted by baitcast I may have missed it but the Helin Flatfish was one of a kind with many imitations,millions were made and sold,we started using them in the 40,s when they were still wood and are still effective today as they were back then!! Years ago they had sold 10 million probably the most successful lure ever made. Rob

The flatfish was a very common lure in all the sporting good stores during my younger years. Yet I repeatedly ignored it. There were so many other lures that just looked to be 'fishier'. The flat head followed by a hanging, sausage-like body just didn't look like anything edible out there.

It wasn't until I was almost 30 that a group of us ended up on a small isolated lake in the Kamloops area where none of our california lures worked. The lodge told us that virtually everyone fished these lakes with flatfish. This was Bare Lake and it's neighbors.

We trolled the flatfish by rowing. It became almost immediately obvious why they were so good. They had tremendous movement. Enticing movement. The lure would pivot and stand upright shaking from side to side unlike any other lure of it's day. The lip of a rapala never came close to the action these lures provided. And even though it really looked like nothing real out there the trout couldn't seem to resist it.

A great lure for it's time. Unique. But it never fostered the development of descendants like the rapala did. Perhaps that's because it's still unclear why it was so effective.

Remember the Super Duper? Hard to say what the trout saw in that bent piece of metal. It wasn't that good anyway. Not in the same class as the flatfish, really.

[Edited on 7-14-2012 by Skipjack Joe]

Lure History Notes

Some History on the Helin Flatfish…and it’s twin?

Helin Tackle Company Limited

Lasalle/Windsor, Ontario



Early Helin Catalogue Picture of Windsor Branch Location

A picture from an early Helin tackle catalogue showing the Windsor branch location.


Charlie Helin patented his Flatfish in 1936, and by his own claim, the Detroit, Michigan, plug maker had sold 5 million of them before 1950. The lure was made by Charlie Helin and marketed during the 1930s by a tackle company that carried his name in Detroit, according to michigansportsman.com. It was originally made from wood, but Helin switched to plastic/tenite in the 1940s.

Helin had 2 different plant locations in Ontario - One in Lasalle, and one in Windsor. According to an early advertising brochure from Helin, the company was producing over 5000 lures a day, and was shipping its flatfish all over the World. If his wealth was any indication of his business success, you can't argue with his claims (Note Charles Helin taking Miss Universe on a lavish flight on the Flying Flatfish 5 in the picture).

Charles Helin on the Flying Flatfish V



I think the caption below the picture speaks for itself, and gives you an idea of how well the company did during its hayday. Notice the big picture of the Flatfish on the body of the plane...advertising at its best!

Today, the flatfish is made by Yakima Bait Co. in Granger, Wash., under strict guidelines established by Helin, with over 50 different color combinations and l1 different sizes, according to yakimabait.com. The Web site provides a host of tips on how to use the lure to catch just about all species of fish, including the salmon, trout, bass and perch that swim at the Quabbin.

Early Helin Flatfish Lure Box




An early U20 Helin Flatfish in its original box. Even with its age, the Flatfish is not an exceptionally rare or valuable lure, but it has to be respected for its enduring design and product longevity.

THE TWIN LURE?
Here’s an odd coincidence and a very similar lure. I have owned some Helin Flatfish lures over the years...and found them almost identical to the Lazy Ike lure ...see below:


My ‘Old Lures Board’ shows No. 2 …a red/white Lazy Ike…killer lure for salmon, walleye, trout, pike, muskie, and fishermen in a tackle store.

LAZY IKE (TWIN BROTHER TO THE FLATFISH?)

The Lazy Ike Corporation began in 1897 founded by Joseph Kautzky, an Austrian immigrant. The Kautzky Manufacturing Company, as it was originally named, started in the gunsmith business and over the years expanded into other lines of sporting goods. Somewhere around the mid 1930's there was a fisherman in the Fort Dodge Iowa area named Newel Daniels that was hand carving what was to become the ike.


The following is the story behind the Lazy Ike.

Apparently Joseph Kautzky Jr. saw Daniels fishing the lure and remarked "look at that lazy ike." From 1938 to 1940 the entire production was hand made by Daniels. When Daniels left the company in 1940 he turned over the rights to Kautzky. Production then shifted to "Pop" Shuck who hand made them until around 1945 when lathe production began.

Wood prodcution ceased in 1960 when the plastic version was made. Kautzky produced many baits, the most famous being the Lazy Ike.

The Lazy Ike and the other Kautzky lures are not generally considered to be collectible. However as the more famous lures are becoming a bit more scarce, the Lazy Ike Corporation and several other companies are starting to draw some attention. For me, it's not about value with these lures. I have fond memories of fishing the Lazy Ikes and in particular the Flex Ikes for Northerns, Lakers, and Walleyes as a kid. Like so many nostalgia nuts, this is the lure that got me started in lure collecting and I still collect and fish with these lures today.

The Lazy Ike Corporation actually played a fairly significant role in the history of fishing tackle. For one, the Lazy Ike is probably one of the most widely fished lures in the world. Lazy Ike's storied history included purchasing the Creek Chub Bait Company in 1978. Lazy Ike is now owned by Pradco. A few plastic lures are still made including the Lazy Ike.

What would we do without fishing??

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompano 2. R.D. HULL When R.D. Hull was a kid learning to fish in Snyder, Texas, he was continually picking out backlashes in the bait-casting reels of the time. He resolved the problem by having younger brother Ott walk around the pond they fished and drop his fishing plug in the water. He then could retrieve the lure without problems, but that only worked until Ott wised up. Hull grew up to be a watchmaker and tinkerer, and decided he should invent a reel that wouldn't backlash. He solved the problem while watching a grocery clerk pull string from a large fixed spool to wrap a package. A reel with a fixed spool would be impossible to backlash, he thought, so he set out to make one. In 1947, Hull showed his prototype to officials at Tulsa, Oklahoma's Zero Hour Bomb Company. The company produced explosive charges for oil drilling, not fishing tackle, but the men, intrigued by Hull's idea, sent the inventor home to make a working model. Hull returned with a handmade reel that was tested by company employees who were avid anglers. One tied his keys to the line and sent a cast flying high over the building. Everyone was impressed. Hull was hired on the spot and set to work improving the reel's design. In June 1949, the first 25 "Standard" fishing reels came off the assembly line. They were an immediate hit with fishermen, and the company, which later changed its name to Zebco, began selling them by the thousands. R.D. Hull's reel, which later evolved into the Zebco 33 spin-cast reel, changed forever the way people fished. Before the inventor died in 1977, more than 70 million Zebco reels had been sold, and Hull had been granted 35 U.S. patents.

I believe you are right, Igor. Indeed, the Zebco was the first closed spin cast anti-backlash reel, and not open-faced spinning reel like the Mitchell shown. A big difference, and we can give them each their due.



I recall meeting a fisherman years ago who was using a spinning reel like me, but he held his outfit upside down...with the bail on top...and reeled it backwards. He said this felt more natural to him and refused to change to the proper use.....go figure?

You prompted me to do my own search on spinning reels and I found this tidbit from:

http://www.antiquefishingreels.info/Articles/WinansWhistler....


The origins of modern spinning reels are rooted in the textile industry, which also provided much of the terminology used for various aspects of the reels and spin-casting. Robert Kershaw, of Norristown, Pa., described the advantages of feeding line axially from
a spool in his 1867 patent for a machine that processed yarn.2 The principle would be applied within a few years to machines used to handle fishing lines.

The earliest patent that specifically described casting from a fixed-spool reel was granted to Thomas Winans and Thomas D. Whistler, of
Baltimore, Md., on March 23, 1875.

The rod-and reel combination was designed to prevent line
overrun without the use of a friction brake. A singleaction, side-mounted reel was mounted on one side of the rod, and its crankshaft extended through the rod to the other side, where the crank was attached.

So...that was considerably long before either Zebco or Mitchell came on the scene with their reels. This is often the case when it comes to history..and who was first.


Here's a treat for you...One of my favorite photos of Zane Grey showing off some of his tackle.



"Do you think he's got enough gear there?"



[Edited on 7-14-2012 by Pompano]

ZANE GREY

In the photo behind Grey, is that a bull dorado?????????????

Quote:

Originally posted by watizname In the photo behind Grey, is that a bull dorado?????????????

Hola watizname (?)

I think that's a great white shark caught by Grey while on his sailboat..at least that's what the caption reads from his website.



Note the reel he was using.

[Edited on 7-14-2012 by Pompano]

Exactly what I thought, too, baitcast....does not look like a great white......but had to go with the caption per the Zane Grey website.

Here's another Grey photo of a great while caught while on his sailboat..and this one looks more like one should.



[Edited on 7-14-2012 by Pompano]

Love it when we get going like this when I see collections of lures it always makes me wonder why would a fish grab one of those things??

Like the Flatfish for instance,nothing like that in the water anywhere,yellow or orange with black spots come on? crazy looking things that look like nothing you have ever seen.

A spinner baits? I,ve caught many bass on them why? yellow or chartreuse being my favorites? nothing swims that are that color?

One time Igor tells me make sure you use orange? I ask why? nothing is orange down there?

Spooks are a real crazy example back and forth,back and forth makes no sence?

You would think the more fishy it looks the better it must be WRONG? On and on it goes..........LOVE IT
Rob

Okay, guess I got a little excited, but just seeing the outline in the small photo----- -------alright,alright, I'll slow down on the beer this afternoon.------But it is Saturday.

LATE AS ALWAYS

One of the best on fishing on this site

Quote: Originally posted by baitcast

Best posting on fishing on Bajanomad and a must see.