Looking for info on Lloyd Deaver's "Fish Finder " worm

[jigmeister]

Maybe there are some old timers on here that remember this worm made in Gastonia North Carolina and credited with being the first plastic worm fished

"Carolina style "

possibly as early as 1955 and were also the inspiration for Jack Chancellor's "Do Nothing worm" that won him a Bassmaster Classic title in the 80's  . 

 I came a cross an old 2 pack of these rigged 2 hook worms that say they came in Black , Blue , purple , green and green flake colors .

I am curious how long these were produced because the ones I bought in the original package are two color pours green on the back and brown on the belly the are identical to a color that was very popular in the early to mid 80's on the west coast known as "Green Weenie" . Anyone know if these worms were still in production into the 1980's?

[JD_mudbug]

I found an article written in 1995 in 'Wildlife in North Carolina' magazine published by the North Carolina Resource Commission, Volume 59, Issue 6, June 1995. The article is titled "Revisiting the Carolina Rig" written by Tim Mead.

I would think Deaver's worm was made at until the early 90s as the article says Deaver's worm was still available.

https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p16062coll4/id/18621/rec/570

The article begins on page 18 of the index on the right side of the linked page. The magazine cover and an un-numbered page are pages 1 and 2 on the index. The actual page number in the magazine is 16.

There is a 2 pack on Ebay. There are no dates on the packaging that I could see.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/164524011166?hash=item264e652e9e:g:QYsAAOSwBylftp8s

 

Below is a partial abstract of the article.

Revisiting 
the Carolina Rig 


Bass fishermen have 
been fishing plastic worms 
on leaders behind weights 
for years. Now, newer lures 
and methods of rigging 
make this tactic more 
effective than ever. 

written and photographed 
by Tim Mead ° 1995 



What are you using up there?" Bill 
Shumaker, my good fishing buddy 
and a faculty member at The 
University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 
asked. My fifth Lake Norman largemouth 
bass of the morning was flopping on the 
bottom of the boat. 

"A Carolina rig," I answered. "It's a great 
way to catch bass, particularly on a day like 
today when they are scattered." 

Carolina-rigged plastic worms have been 
catching fish for years. Of course, many of us 
did not call them Carolina rigs. We simply 
called them plastic worms and we put a cou- 
ple of split shot on the line to make them 
heavy enough to cast — it's the separation of 
weight and worm that seems to define what 
we now call a Carolina rig. 

In the 1950s Lloyd Deaver of Gastonia 
developed a pre-rigged worm he called "The 
Fish Finder" and these are still available. They 
have two small wire hooks imbedded in a 
straight, 4-inch piece of plastic. And there 
are many imitators. These worms were usu- 
ally fished on a leader behind a swivel that 
had a weight threaded on the line ahead of 
the swivel, and fishermen began referring to 
it as "Carolina rigging" particularly when 
using Deaver's lure. Actually, this method of 
rigging is fairly old, and has come to typify all 
"Carolina rigging" regardless of the type of 
soft plastic lure that's used. 

After an early period when Deaver could 
not fill all the orders that streamed in, his 
4-inch worm fell into obscurity. New lures, 
like safety pin style spinnerbaits, and dif- 
ferent riggings, like Texas-rigged worms, 
became more popular. 

In the last decade, however, Carolina- 
rigged plastic worms have regained their ear- 
lier popularity. There are a couple of reasons. 
One, certainly, is the success professional 
largemouth bass anglers have had with this 
rig. Another is that anglers have recognized 
the incredible versatility of Carolina rigging 
and extended it well beyond the kind of pre- 
rigged worms Deaver offered......

[Les Young]

Good read.

[jigmeister]

Thanks for the article . If they (Deaver's )were produced into the 90's that would explain the two color hand pour

in the Green weenie color .  Attached pictures show 4"  Deaver worm on left and Chancellors 4"

Do nothing worm on right 

[Rick Petusky]

I fished the Seneca River branch of Lake Hartwell in the ‘70’s and was thrashed regularly by two brothers who finally told me they were using “that little green worm” which I deduced was the Fish Finder then available in a 2 pk card for 49 cents. Fished Carolina style on 3’ 10# leader, paralleling the bank in about ten feet of water you could quickly catch a limit of keepers the go about looking for bigger fish although I did catch them up to 5 lbs. on that little worm. A trick I discovered was to bend that little #8 hook slightly inward like a circle hook so not snag so often. An easy reel-set and lift was all need. Those little hooks held well. Eventually they can out wit a Crawfish color that was great. I would like to see it produced again.

[jigmeister]

Thanks for the fish finder history Rick . I purchased the pictured  2 pack card of vintage fish finder worms on ebay but unfortunately like most old soft plastic baits they tend to shrink with age over time . My goal was to find some fishfinders and make a mold to recreate some fish finders to try out . The shrink wrapped plastic seems to have retained its original shape despite the worms shrinking so I got some close reference measurements but have not got around to the mold yet .

Do you know if the picture of the two tone fish finder worms I posted above is in fact the "Crawfish" color ? Another question I have is about the shape of the worm .

It appears from the 2 pack of fishfinders I bought is that the head of the seems to be fatter and has a quick taper down to the tail compared to most 4" worms .

Is this how you remember them ?         Thanks