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History Of Antique Fishing Lures

By Annabelle Newton


Since the beginning of our creation, man has always used the power of the mind in order to be successful hunters and gatherers. Our ability to catch fish provided our bodies with great nutritional value and allowed us to develop into what we are today. As time progressed, we deviated from the old hunter gatherer ways and became highly specialized in our trade skills. Today, many people collect skillfully crafted antique fishing lures because they are not made with such high quality anymore.

Something similar to baits was something called fish decoys which actually do still last today. They were used for catching fish in frozen over bodies of water, most commonly in lakes. A hole is cut into the ice, a fish comes and it is hopefully caught by the fisherman with a spear.

They were usually hand carved pieces of wood. They were painted to mimic the look of bait fish that were native to the area in which they were used. Older ones that are still in good condition can be auctioned for a few hundred dollars normally. Attached was something called a jig stick with a string just to jerk the decoy around to make it seem that it was alive.

Things that will determine the value of one of these old decoys would be things such as materials used and present signatures indicating the identity of the crafter. Even though most people use a simply rod and lure these days, some still keep to the old ways. In some situations it may be easier to use this tool because different species of fish react in their own unique ways to things and may not bite on traditional bait.

The most common means of catching fish for the average person would be the use of the old fashioned rod and line. People used to train themselves and have great skill within their own trades. This led to the production of very high quality items which are now all collected today. Many baits are painted, however sometimes the craftsman will sometimes leave it plain.

Back in these old times aluminum was hard to come by and expensive to produce. Because of the rarity, many craftsmen used it to make their baits. For some time however, some governments banned the use of it in the manufacturing of fishing supplies because it was to rare to be used for that purpose.

The first people who began making baits primarily consisted of jewelers, believe it or not. That is an interesting fact of history to know about. Other commonly used materials used in the trade were cork, wood, plastics and animal fur. Generally, the craftsmen were proud of their work and usually branded their work with their company name or a personal signature.

Higher end lures were crafted with utmost care, leading them to be worth thousands of dollars today. Antique fishing lures are collected by thousands of people these days and is a growing hobby. Something else to keep in mind is that having the original box in company of said lure will greatly up the value of the entire collection.




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