Old Week 1 – bass plugs

I turned 65 years old this week. I am a pack rat. I also have things that are much older than 65 years. Most of it has something to do with fishing. So I’m doing a three-part series on some of it in “Old Week“.  Here’s part 1. Hope you enjoy.

There was a time when a bass fishermen was considered serious when he had three or more wooden bass plugs. Plugs, mind you. Not lures.  Plugs. And most never had more than one rod and reel.

Times have certainly changed.

Old plugs – or lures – have become a hot commodity. One thing I just have to laugh at is when I go in an antique store and ask if they have any old lures. They usually take me to some back corner and show me a couple of dozen lures I still consider new….

Collecting old lures has become a hobby for a lot of fishermen the past decade and it is hard to find many.   I’m fortunate enough to have been given, purchased, inherited or just found two old metal tackle boxes full of such lures. Lures like the Paw Paw, Heddon Lucky 13, Creek Chub minnow, Shannon Spinner, Jitterbug, Bass Oreno, Dowagiac…. if you are old enough to remember, you get the picture.

Some old lures today cost more than your car. Recently a Giant Haskell Minnow sold for $101,200 at auction. No, I didn’t buy it. It isn’t uncommon for some uncommon wooden plugs to go for $25,000 or more.

You could probably still catch bass on every one of them. But who’s going to throw one out and risk losing it? The plugs are too hard to come by.

More to come….