History of "The stuff"

[Columbia Craw]

This last year I was contacted by a cousin in Canada I had not spoken to in 56 years. She shared information about my Dad's genealogy I did not know existed. It helped me appreciate where I come from. I have shared it with my children.

 

That made me think about the history or genealogy of the stuff we use every day bass fishing and I only go back 50 years.  If you care to share some observations, go for it.  If you have a question, ask it.  A-jay's still iced in so what the heck. 

[schplurg]

My crankbaits are all Chinese, I'm almost positive, and two jerk baits are direct descendants of Genghis Khan.

 

 

[jimmyjoe]

   I have no idea whether this "observation" is down the line of what you have in mind, but ........

 

   When I was little (talk about Genghis Khan!) my Dad had a stainless steel Tru-Temper casting rod, with a Pflueger reel. The line was either cotton or silk, I don't remember which. The reel had a handle that would rotate backward on the cast. I don't remember whether the reel had what we nowadays would call a drag or not. All his lures were wood. Much of the stuff he used was hand-made, either by him or one of the two men he considered fishing companions. Among the lures that he had that were manufactured, I remember a Lucky 13, a River Runt, and a Champion.

   One of those two friends of his taught me to flycast, in probably 1959 or 1960. I was just a little tyke, only 8 or 9 years old, but for some reason I was fascinated with catching crappie. The only thing I remember of what he taught me was, "Don't catch your ear!"  I think flycasting lessons today would be a little more in-depth, and probably not aimed at 8 or 9 year-olds. ?

   When I was 12, I learned to fish with my older brother's Heddon rod and reel, spooled with black braided nylon line. The same guy that had taught me to use a fly rod gave me some of his personal advice. "All you need is spinners, spoons and jigs." Not bad advice, not bad at all. The shiners for the jigs were obtained from the local creeks. I opened up a gunny sack, tied each side to hazel sticks, and went wading to net myself some bait.

   I don't think I'd want to wade those creeks today.

 

   I think my father looked upon fishing equipment as a sign of prestige, of accomplishment, of "getting up in the world". Having leisure time to fish instead of nose-to-the-grindstone 12-16 hours every day must have really been special. I think I take a lot of things for granted that my father viewed as hard-earned privileges.

 

   Times have sure changed, haven't they?      jj

  

  

  

[Deeare]

I look at this as your respective fishing genealogy:   My dad is a blue collar guy and he said the blue collar guys fish with live bait and drink Schlitz!!!    white collar guys golf and drink martinis!!    
 

his tackle box consisted of mostly terminal tackle and a few lures he won playing poker.  He never used the lures.  
 

Im a white collar guy.   Don’t golf anymore but drink martinis.    I have 20 fishing rods and enough tackle to open a tackle store.     But the best thing I like to do is drink Schlitz with my old man.  

[Scott F]

The evolution of fishing took a huge leap once the internet got going. Back in the day, you learned to fish from your father or grandfather, and only knew what they knew, and a lot of that probably wasn’t very good information. Maybe, you had a subscription to Field and Stream. Eventually, there were more and more magazines like Fishing Facts, In-Fisherman and BASS.  Later, if you had cable TV, there were a lot of fishing shows on Saturday you could watch all day. Now, the internet has put EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about fishing right in your lap, mostly for free. It’s also wiping out the magazine business, made outdoor shows obsolete, and closed up most tackle shops. Lures like the Whopper Plopper would have taken decades instead of months to become such a huge seller without the help of the internet. Back in the day, it took years for lures to become so well known that your local tackle store might start stocking them. It took a long time before Senkos were sold everywhere. Now, if someone comes out with the next “magic” bait, a few clicks on your iPad, and you can have it in your tackle box tomorrow. It made the population of bait monkeys explode. I lived through most of the evolution of the fishing industry. I can see why so many new guys are overwhelmed by the amount of information available.  

[scaleface]

My grandpa was a carp and catfish angler . Dad liked catfish and crappie . I like em all . Dont know if my gggggg...grandpa King Louie the XVI liked fishing .{ not really my GGGGGGG grandpa but  related according to 23 and Me.]  My neanderthal cousins probably ate all the fish whenever available .[I have more Neanderthal variants than 97 percent of the population according to 23andMe] . My Great grandpa x7 crossed the Delaware with George Washington and he was probably thinking about fish in the river . { I have his revolutionary war pension records. ]

 

I'm into  genealogy and family history.

[Columbia Craw]

My first bait casting combo was a Fenwick 555 Lunker Stik.  It was a pistol grip and the material was Fenglass. I found this rod at a shop in Oregon City which closed years ago.  I picked up an Ambassaduer 5000, the red one. I don't recall it having bearings, just bushings.  I had a trout spinning rod as my second rod.  I bought two black Bomber Bushwacker spinnerbaits, a some Manns Jelly worms, added some Water Gremlin singers and Eagle Claw J95B worm hooks and away I went.  

 

I've watched everyone of those items evolve. The spinnerbait skirts were vinyl, the wire heavy, the swivel had no bearings and the blades were small and stamped out. The hook was small and you carried a file to sharpen it as you did with all your hooks.  A short time later, spinnerbaits came with heavier blades and larger blades and rubber skirts. The hooks began to develop and were larger and I even started to ad a Rebel ring worm or Uncle Josh Pork bass strip as a trailer.  Strike King and Stanleys had two of the premier spinnerbaits and Manns added their own designed by Hank Parker. Components by the mid 80's were so much improved.  I think it was Strike king that came up with Silicone skirts and that was a game changer.  Then some independent pro from Georgia modified his 1/2 spinnerbait and switched the real colorado to a #7 willow blade and the fought to get that model on the market first.  I went out and bought some Hildebrandt dual blade trolling flashers and cut them up and used this willows.  I thought I was hot now.  The rest is history and I am a spinnerbait lover.  The baits available now, albeit the same configuration are so much more refined. That was then and now.

[Mobasser]

Lots of folks may take it for granted now, but one of the biggest changes over the years have been hooks. When I started we T rigged with Eagle Claw #95 worm hooks. Most of the hooks on hard baits were poor dull, and rusted very easily. Now, any good tackle shop stocks so many good hooks. Super sharp out of the package, coated to resist rust, and in every size and style for for bass fishing. We can also get lighter wire hooks in all the same types, for lighter line fishing. This has probably helped more people hook more fish than lures themselves. It wasn't this way years ago. 

[The Bassman]

I remember as a kid hearing my dad go on about a new miracle lure called a spoonplug that was guaranteed to work every time. He had no grasp of what was to be the foundation of modern structure fishing.