STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

Tell us about it

• What would you add to this story? Tell us what we missed.
• Do you have photos from this event? Documents we need to see? Share with us.
• Upload photos & videos
• More ways to get your stuff online and in the paper.

More Fishing and Boating

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

Share and Enjoy [?]

I have picked a Creek Chub Injured Minnow for the first old lure of the week. I know it has been copied by other lure makers and thought I would have a hard time making sure it was a Creek Chub.

The reason I was a little worried about this lure was it had injured minnow stamped on the side of it but no other Creek Chub markings on it. I went to Page 151 of the publication Old Fishing Lures & Tackle 4th Edition by Carl F. Luckley with Clyde Harbin, Sr., The Bassman and in part here is what I found.

It is a wood, Creek Chub Baby Injured Minnow measuring 2 3/4 inches and has glass yes, only two double hooks instead of triple hooks, and one its side and the other in the tail end and the stamped name on its side and the other in the tail end and the name stamped on the side.

The wood models ran from 1924 until 1963 so the lure could be as old as 45 years. There is a bunch of other information about the different models and colors of the Injured Minnows.

So as it turned out it was not all that difficult to ID thanks for the research done by so many that worked hard for long periods of time to compile the information some to the point they wrote some fantastic books like Carl F. Luckley publications.

While collecting antique fishing tackle has a long history there were many of us that just did not realize what it would grow to. I was one that was at the top of this list. It was there right in front of me but being so busy I just did not get interested in the history until I met people that were collectors.

A good example is a tackle salesman we will call Tony. He lived in Fort Myers and worked Lee and Collier Counties for Southern Tackle Distributors based in Miami. Tony called on me at Marco River Marina and was a really nice fellow.

At that time I was about to put Anglers Outlook TV show on the air and was talking with him about advertising from Shakespeare who owned the tackle company at the time.

We worked the ad thing out and when I asked him if he would like to be a guest on the show he said he would love to. He asked me if he could bring some of his antique tackle with him.

I said yes and that was the first shot fired that caught my attention about antique fishing tackle.

One more lure this week. As many of you know I featured a Mud Puppy in a previous article and noted the early models had better value because of the change in the hooks, a break away design.

The second lure also has a hook break away system. It was built by Martian Fish Lure Company, Seattle, Washington. Their lures came on deck around 1927 and continued to be around until the late 1970s.

My Martin model is a wood, two piece 6 inch lure with a yellow body. The top area of the body has a light green scale color over the yellow body, has yellow glass eyes and painted red gills. While I am not sure, it looks as if someone changed the two triple hooks to a larger size. It has red wording, Martian then Pat 2110382. This Martian model also came in one piece, again with a break away system.

Anyone out there have any old Martian lures let me know and share your pictures and stories with us.

I am looking around to see if I can find anything you might enjoy hearing about. Hey, I just found an item that we have not talked about. Bait keepers.

This one is about as large as a mid size tackle box but the lettering on it says Bait Canteen, Oberline, Ohio, US Pat. 2328993.

It has a fiber like body with a green metal case that holds it together. When you open it you find what looks like dried moss and a small paper Directions Slip that reads in part, fill and refill with clean water to get side walls to absorb moisture. Remove moss that has been wetted thoroughly and squeeze out surplus water. Replace moss loosening it as you do so, put bait on top of moss, damaged or inactive bait will stay on top, remove these as soon as possible. After a day or two, pour out contents, sort bait, rinse moss and replace. Repeat sorting and cleaning every two or three days thereafter. Turn canteen on side or upside down to expose bottom to air for added cooling and to exercise bait, worms tend to go down and bunch together. Do this especially on Model D.

Now folks, that is just about half of the page and the next half describes the maximum amount of bait the mode will hold. First line of the second half Model B 7 x 7 x 6 meaning inches 50 to 75 crawlers or crayfish, 150 worms or hellgrammites. There are two more models listed along with other information and directions.

The bottom line is, it is no wonder this bait canteen has lasted so long. My guess is more than fifty years old without being used, who would go to all that trouble to use it.

This bait canteen was in a large metal box of tackle I purchased in Cape Coral which from Ohio.

Good hunting!

---

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