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More Fishing and Boating

• A not-so-lovely weekend for a regatta
• Seaworthy: Starting the season off right
• Seaworthy: Start the season right

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Guess what, I have mice. No, not the real live ones. They are mouse lures. The story goes, anglers used to use live mice for bait. Then someone got the idea to make a mouse lure. In no time at all other lure makers got into the act offering their version of the mouse lure.

The five featured in this week’s article are just the tip of the iceberg at how many different colors, sizes and brands that were made. Of course, the wood ones will be worth more then the later issues of plastic.

Do you have mice, let me know.

The first two of them are wood Shakespeare swimming mouse. Number three is a plastic swimming mouse with no hooks; number four a Shakespeare Pad-Ler that sports two shinny spinners and last but not least a Heddon Crazy Crawler mouse. The Crazy Crawler is in the box which makes it a little more valuable.

Another unique lure model was the baby duck lures, same story that some anglers used live baby ducks for bait. Soon afterward they were outlawed and the duck lures came forth.

I have seen some of the duck lures at shows but never found anyone that had used them. As the old-timer once said, many lures were made to hook the fisherman at the tackle shops.

I am adding another lure. We will call it the mystery lure of the week. It could be a Paw Paw, who knows, maybe you do. Please let us know if you can shed some light on this one.

An email from Marco Islander John Huhtala in regard to the old newspaper, Ulster County Gazette dated Jan. 4, 1800. He writes, thanks for your article regarding the obituary of George Washington in Friday’s Marco Eagle. I too, have a copy of this Ulster County Gazette. How would I determine the value of this paper.

My answer, I am not sure of the value of the paper. Several years ago during a radio broadcast the announcer reported that someone found one in an old bible and a gentleman and his wife in Ulster County had started a newspaper reviving the name, Ulster County Gazette. I called them and learned the type for the first issue probably hung on a rack for quite some time then was dismantled to be used for other editions. He also said the Washing issue was printed again later using a different set of type and when you hold that issue up to the light it had lines in it.

I checked in with Mr. Huhtala, he had already visited the Web site and found several sites about the first printing.

If the only two known to be genuine specimens of this newspaper in existence neither is in private hands. There is no chance of a third copy surfacing today in the general market after so many years of searching by historians.

The original press run was probably no more then 500 copies. The survival of just two of them is quite in keeping with documented survival rates of other period newspapers.

The American Antiquarian Society suggests a single, conclusive test. Unless the first line of the forth column of page one reads “command the town, and withstanding,” it is not an original.

Guess what, I just checked my Ulster County Gazette, close but no cigar. My wife says with a smile on her face, you can always wrap your fish in it. That would be difficult due to the fact I have it enclosed in clear plastic.

I would like to invite you all to feel free to share your treasures with us. It may be a lure, told reel, tackle box, newspaper or whatever. It is the story behind it that counts.

What about a really old checkerboard/card table with the original wood checkers. I will try to have more about it in next week’s article along with some other things.

Until then, good hunting!

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Red Stier is a weekly contributor to the Marco Eagle. Questions or comments may be directed to redstier@aol.com or 172 Trinidad St., Naples, FL 34113.