Found tackle box a ‘time machine’
Depending on your worldview, time-travel belongs in the realm of science-fiction or advanced metaphysics. I savored a more down-to-earth version when I re-discovered my dad无毛视频檚 old tackle box, forgotten somehow under mounds of my own outdoor gear. Opening the box was a combination of d茅j脿 vu and Christmas, surprise and snippets of experience relived.
Inside, the 无毛视频渒eys无毛视频� to the past were old classic fishing lures, some no longer made, some still available but swallowed by conglomerates. These lures arose out of what I think of as the 无毛视频淕olden Age of American Fishing,无毛视频� when independent entrepreneurs, in small towns and rural crossroads all around the country, crafted handmade tackle that worked, but also imbued fishing with magic and romance. I first saw these lures depicted in luridly painted ads in Outdoor Life and Field and Stream magazines in the 1960s. Always, they depicted an awed angler, standing in a background boat while an acrobatic bass or pike leapt toward the reader with the touted lure swinging from its jaw. Those heroic lures hooked as many anglers as they did fish.
First to catch my eye was a long reptilian-looking ruse, jointed in the middle, that recalled an episode on Cranberry Glade Lake 无毛视频� the venerable Creek Chub Pikie Minnow. My Uncle Max was rowing a john-boat back toward the dock and I was dragging a Creek Chub Pikie behind 无毛视频� I guess we were doing a sort of low-tech trolling. The Pikie floats when at rest but dives with a tantalizing wriggle when retrieved or trolled. A big bass slammed the lure and I fought it to boatside while my uncle whooped to the rest of our clan on shore. He was just about to slip the net under the bass when it vaulted skyward in a head-shaking writhe, flinging that big lure with its three sets of threatening trebles back into the boat. The original Creek Chub Pikies were made of wood in Garrett, Indiana and are highly prized by collectors.
Stashed in another tray were several Flatfish, made by the Helin Tackle Co. of Detroit, Michigan. The Flatfish had an arced body with a wide flange at the front that caused the bait to wiggle violently side-to-side when retrieved. Its action was so pronounced that you felt like you had a fish on the line, even when you didn无毛视频檛. My standout memory casting a Flatfish is from an excursion to Canaan Valley, West Virginia to fish the Blackwater River in the mid- 无毛视频�60s, before the first golf course or condo intruded on Canaan. I was a guest on that trip with my school-friend Ric Carolla无毛视频檚 family. We camped by a deep hole at a bend in the river, where I cast a yellow Flatfish and caught the only trout of the outing.
Heddon Lures, of Fort Smith, Arkansas is one of the oldest tackle companies still operating. My dad had several of their classics in his box, like the River Runt with its trademark dished-out snout and metal lip, and one of the 无毛视频渃oolest无毛视频� lures I never caught a fish on 无毛视频� the Crazy Crawler. The Crazy Crawler was a floating surface-lure with two metal arms that folded forward but deployed outward when pulled through the water. The result was an exaggerated swimming motion that churned the surface. Lots of people have caught lots of fish on the Crazy Crawler, but it never worked for me. I should try it again.
Oddly, I caught lots of bass on another lure spawned from the same surface-churning concept无毛视频損erhaps the most classic bass lure of all time无毛视频搕he Jitterbug from the Fred Arbogast Company of Akron, Ohio. Fred Arbogast himself invented the Jitterbug in 1938 无毛视频� a simple oval body with big 无毛视频渇rog eyes无毛视频� and an elegantly curved plate of metal beneath. The Jitterbug floats, and when retrieved the curved plate throws the body from side-to-side so the lure wobbles across the surface with a rhythmic gurgle and wake. Fished along the shoreline at dusk or dawn, the Jitterbug was sure to entice explosive strikes. Arbogast also made the nearly equally classic Hula Popper无毛视频揳nother surface lure, with a wide mouth and alluring rubber skirt.
No fishing memory is more vivid than one featuring a Jitterbug on Virgin Run Lake. We无毛视频檇 all gone to the lake for some fishing and a cookout to celebrate my cousin Gib Grote无毛视频檚 mid-June birthday. While the others hovered at the grill, I chucked a Jitterbug into Virgin Run无毛视频檚 weedy shallows. A nice bass crushed the lure and I dragged it onto the bank and knelt beside my prize.
I abhorred short pants then, but for some reason that无毛视频檚 what I was wearing, and when I knelt next to the fish it flopped and stabbed one of the big treble hooks deep into the flesh behind my right knee. So festooned, the fish continued to flop and writhe, unleashing panic and pain in its 无毛视频渃atch.无毛视频�
I must have wailed, because my dad sprinted down the bank, reaching for his ever-present penknife. He made one swift incision in my calf and the hooks were free. That may have been the first time 无毛视频渃atch-and-release无毛视频� was practiced by both parties in an angler-fish encounter.
Ben Moyer is a member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association and the Outdoor Writers Association of America.