fatfingers Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Although I have no interest in collecting, I enjoy reading about and researching of old bait patterns and designs. The above captioned bait was made by K and K Manufacturing in Toledo, Ohio circa 1907. It could be quite comfortable in our TU gallery and I'd venture to say that it would probably have a decent shot at the muskies on a few of my local haunts. There is nothing new under the sun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrydabassman Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Neato!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyFish Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Hey, do any of you guys have old Hellbender lures? I have one that I am in the process of taking down to repaint and was surprised to find that it has a wood body. I thought it was just a molded plastic. I knew it was old, but I didn't realize that it may be really old. Does this surprise anyone else, or is this old news? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatman Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Crazy, Doesn't surprise me a bit it being wood, yeah theirs plastic one's on the market but the wood one's are the best. You'd think they were gold on ebay, wood or plastic they ain't cheap. I have 8 or 9 of them and some are used and some not. I wish the company that even made the plastic ones still made em, great bait for largemouth and the mini ones are great for smallmouth. Do you guys remember the OLd Mudbug??? There's another great fishin bait. fatman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyFish Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Yeah I do remember those.........in fact, I am looking at a couple right now. One big and one smaller version. Can't say that I have tossed one of 'em in years, but they are really nice and in great condition. Love the look of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiverMan Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 That's exactly right, and we think we're so smart! These guys were figuring this stuff out without Tackleunderground! All lures of today are simply variations of yesterday. Interesting how they used to rig hooks in those days. The lure has three hooks on it. It also looks like the builder originally put the screw eye on the nose and then covered it up with paint and whatever else.....lacquer maybe? Cool picture, thank you for posting it. Jed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoneCoal Tackle Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Great old lure FF, do you own it? I'd love to have an original K & K "Animated Minnow". It is widely believed by collectors that this was the first jointed wooden lure ever made. They had awesome hand painted patterns but usually flaked badly and according to research K & K actually sought the help of James Heddon to improve their finishes. Most of the lures I make are inspired by vintage lures and I've copied several but I've never done one of these. I have copied the hook rigging though like on this floater that I posted in the gallery a while back It works pretty neat, you press the hooks over the pins and the lure casts like a bullet and then the hooks swing free when a fish strikes. I'm still waiting for the strike LOL, (in my defense though I've only thrown it a couple times to test it) Thanks for sharing the photo FF, you've inspired me to do one of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smirkplug Posted June 16, 2007 Report Share Posted June 16, 2007 Thats a great looking old lure. i collect all vintage tackle, most of it being worn out, that ones in v. good condition. In the book Fishing tackle antiques & collectables volume one by Karl T White page 119 its listed at $1200.00 . that books values seem to be inflated quite a bit but $400.00-- may be possible. Thats way way out of my league but in december when prices seem higher you could try a reserve auction on ebay with a $ 400.00 start and get up to 6 or 8 hundred i think ! Obviously i would'nt fish it !! just casting it may chip the paint. Congradulations on on finding a lure that is literally worth its weight in gold !!! anyone wanting mud bugs, to salmon plugs, to spoons, to rods, p.m. me and ill dig them out for you. mostly in the $5.00---$30.00 range. Ive found that the old guys often really knew what and why a lure worked. Of course even then for every quality lure there were 4-5 lousey knockoffs but, some of those are more valuable than the ones that worked well. I could go on and on and if their's enough interest let me know we'll start a thread. Lastly i love the repaint and or rebuilt vintage photos in the gallery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted June 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2007 smirk and Stone, I don't own the one shown. I just thought it was not unlike some of the work of our members. I've purposely avoided collecting old baits, because I tend to go overboard with anything I start to collect. Plus the fact that if I found something that looks like a musky would eat it, I could be very tempted to start throwing it. Mostly, I have come to appreciate some of the old patterns and I've tried to add some of the patterns to a few of my recent lures. My father gave me a few of his old baits from about 40 years ago, and I have them hanging on the wall next to the baits I've retired. Here's one of them: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjbass Posted June 16, 2007 Report Share Posted June 16, 2007 I think those were called "Antimated Minnows" Here is another one which is a "golden shiner" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted June 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 http://www.mrlurebox.com/heddon/hed17_small.jpg I have an affinity for this style of bait, for reasons which I can't explain. I have one similar to this built as a small glider on my wheel right now. I'll post it later when I get it detailed and clearcoated. My father gave me a couple of these also, but they're smaller and appear to be made of some type of resin. They run lousy and the finish seems to get cloudy when stored. I'll dig those out when I get a chance and post a few pics (if I can find them amid the chaos of my life:)). Right now I'm on my way to chase muskies at Leesville with my fishing partner, Larry. Wish me luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
