Every once in a while we kinda strike out here when it comes to identifying lures....especially older ones. Here's a couple of things that may help you.

 

1st off is the NFLCC (National Fishing Lure Collector's Club) Reference pages. They have catalog pages as old as the early 1900's, and newer stuff too like 1995 Bagley pages.

 

http://nflcc.org/CPG/index.php?cat=6

 

 

This next website has 18 pages....roughly 500 pics of different lures made over the years....and although they aren't in any organized order...they may help you to identify something.

 

http://www.geocities.jp/teamdeepblu...mtb-01.htm

Life Member David BB Linkmeister US Army '78-'85 West Central Wisconsin

Hey Dave that is to cool i love it as i do alot of garage saleing and i know some of the stuff ive picked up is old but never knew where to look to find it MANY THANKS BILL Life Member Since 09-01-09

COOL. I HAVE JUST FOUND A LURE THAT I KNOW IS OLD BUT, NOT SURE WHAT KIND OF FISH IT IS USED FOR. I WAS DIGGIN' IN MY GARAGE AND FOUND IT UNDER A PILE OF PEA GRAVEL, BEHIND A SHELF. WILL HAVE TO POST SOME PICS WHEN I CAN. IT IS NOT LETTING ME POST THE ONES I HAVE NOW. WILL HAVE THEM SOON.

I have a couple of lures from the early 70's. I'll try to post a pic within a couple of days.

Here's a couple more for you guys...

 

The 1st one has Moonlight Bait Co. catalogs from 1920 and 1925....plus lure pics of both Moonlight and Paw Paw...

 

http://www.oldfishinglure.com/index.html

 

This next one has several lure catalogs from 1970 - 1972....

 

http://www.antiquefishinglures.com/...talogs.htm

 

Life Member David BB Linkmeister US Army '78-'85 West Central Wisconsin

i have a picture of a really old lure but, this site won't le me post it. i have tried everything. it tells me that the byte size is too big. it is just one picture so i know that can't be. ol well. i guess i can describe it and maybe you can help me find where i can locate it and see how old it is and what kind of fish it was used for. it looks like a trolling lure for trout but has a slit cut in it about half way down the lure. inside this slit it has a pin that holds two hooks and a spring. the hooks are set in there and when thay are sitting at rest they form a heart shape. and when the fish strikes they slid past one another and the hooks would penetrate the top and bottom of the mouth. it is a unique lure and i am sure that it was a good solid catcher back in it's day. it is made of wood and painted red with black spots and yellow rings around the spots. i do hope you can help me on this one. haven't been able to find anyone so far that can. thanks joe "catchall".

Hey Joe...I've put a Topic in the Computers and Tech Forum about how to resize a pic....give it a whirl

 

If you can't make that work....email me the pic...and I'll post it up here for you. I have 7 different collector's books...so I SHOULD be able to figure out what it is

 

davesett2000 at yahoo

Life Member David BB Linkmeister US Army '78-'85 West Central Wisconsin

Ok guys, it's time to re-visit this thread!  I received this lure from a dear friend...

 

 

It came to me with only stubble for bucktail and the paint was in bad shape.  Soo, I matched the paint as good as I could and re-tied the bucktail.  The body is lead.  There are no markings on this lure - manufacturer type.

Here is your challenge:  What company manufactured this lure, from what state was the company located in  and what years was it in production?  If more pics are need just let me know....Good luck!

LM since 2005 Bushwacker Deputy Sherif from S.E. Pa.

I see that Pflueger used that style of hook in 1926...

 

http://nflcc.org/CPG/displayimage.p...amp;pos=47

 

And I found these for sale on the 'Net.....Sneck 9221

 

Life Member David BB Linkmeister US Army '78-'85 West Central Wisconsin

I am reasonably sure it's a South Bend lure Pete

 

http://nflcc.org/CPG/displayimage.php?album=11&pos=40

 

South Bend stuff on Ebay  <<<(click on that)

Life Member David BB Linkmeister US Army '78-'85 West Central Wisconsin

Heres one for ya. It does have a Company name A.Thomas Co.,But how old is it?

Sam, Lycoming County North Central PA NAFC Life Member ,Angler Legacy Ambassador

Thomas Buoyant

www.thomaslures.com

 

They began business in 1948

Life Member David BB Linkmeister US Army '78-'85 West Central Wisconsin

Thomas lures first put this Buoyant lure on the market in 1948.  I don't know the actual age of that particular lure...
LM since 2005 Bushwacker Deputy Sherif from S.E. Pa.

Well I Emailed Thomas and I got a response from there President,(wow)Here's what he wrote.

Sam,

I'll do the best I can, considering the original owner and founder never shared with me much of the old history of the company.  Thomas Spinning Lures incorporated in New York City in 1952, and as far as I know was the A. Thomas Co. previous to that.  Anthony Thomas was the founder's mother's brother (I think) and probably the financier for the fledgling lure maker.  From what I know of Thomas family history, I would say that lure was made sometime in the mid-1940's to early 1950's.

I'm sure the fact it was in your Dad's tacklebox gives it sentimental value.  I humbly ask if you had any idea to part ways with it, I would be highly interested in adding to my collection of old Thomas lures.  I'm sure we could work out a very fair deal.

Thank you for your inquiry and comments.

Sincerely,

Peter Ridd - President

 

--It has no sentimental value to me or my Dad,The way dad sees it is that if it is old and this guy is collecting them to preserve them maybe it's a good thing because all I might do is cast it out into the lake and snag it on the bottom where it might stay for the rest of eternity.It's bigger then anything I would use right now any how.

 

 Maybe he would think about swapping a few lures for this one?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sam, Lycoming County North Central PA NAFC Life Member ,Angler Legacy Ambassador

Well for that one lure Mr. Ridd gave me a dozen lures of my choice from there catalogue.Pretty good deal I couldn't pass up.I got some really nice looking lures and a few that I wanted to try out but couldn't find in stores.
Sam, Lycoming County North Central PA NAFC Life Member ,Angler Legacy Ambassador

Great follow-up, Sam!

 

LM since 2005 Bushwacker Deputy Sherif from S.E. Pa.

It's nice to read a story where everyone lived happily ever after. Tom
Fishin' fool in NE Illinois

Congrats Sam! Pretty reasonable deal....especially considering it would might have been tough to find a collector that would really want it

 

Considering you got 12 lures of YOUR choice...I'd say it was a major win for ya  

 

Ya know something though....I just realized that I have seen hundreds of these over the years....but NONE that even came close to 3" long

Life Member David BB Linkmeister US Army '78-'85 West Central Wisconsin

Here's an interesting idea for you folks wanting to learn about vintage fishing items.

Ebay has a specific category for these....and smart sellers post their auctions in this specific thread.

Here is a link (you probably will have to copy and paste it  ) for a generic search of the category.

It's set up to show 200 items per page...starting with auctions ending the soonest.

http://sporting-goods.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=&_sacat=792&_sop=1&_odkw=Rebel&_osacat=792&_trksid=m194&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSRCHX:SRCH

Once you get to the page...Save it to your Favorites (Bookmark)...and it will always come up with the most current & 200 items per page. On the left side of the page are options to view just Lures...or Reels etc...

You folks would not believe the # of times I've run across an auction of something that I either had or seen...but hadn't been able to identify.

Since MOST of the auctions are correctly labeled with model & manufacturer...this is an easy way to learn about various lures & companies