Thursday, July 5, 2012

My First Pflueger.


Hi there, 

This is the short story of how I got my first Pflueger fishing lure.

Some people collect postal stamps, motorbikes or airplanes…
I collect fishing lures. And sometimes in the world of lure collecting, a random act of kindness happens. I promise not to laugh anymore when I see a bumper sticker about it.

One day out of the blue I received a message from Damian (whom I had never met), a member of the FFF forum offering me my first Pflueger lure. On one condition: that I would keep it, and not resell it. To which I replied that this was actually part of my problem: I don’t sell any of my lures, I keep them all and room is starting to be scarce… So you guessed it, I said “Yes Please!” (Thank you Damian).

The lure is a Heavy Duty Mustang Minnow made in Akron, Ohio, U.S.A, circa 1939 by Pflueger. A company that started to make fishing lures in the late 1800s. Later on Pflueger was taken over by Shakespeare and made a lot of different fishing reels. From bait caster to spinning with some fly-fishing reel thrown in the mix.

Anyway back to the lure… this 5 inch long lure was designed for saltwater use and it features metal plates on the back and belly, like a bulletproof vest. The colour of the lure is #9540 also known as Sunfish Scale Finish and is in very good condition. It’s a real beauty.

And here it is:

Yes it came in the box.

Just teasing, ready or not, here it really comes:

Open box.

My first Pflueger.

Yes the eyes are pressed in the wooden body.

Armor plate on the belly.

From above.

With a view of the armour plate on the top of the lure.

Catalogue in the box.

Yes it even came with the Pflueger catalogue:

Front of the catalogue.

On the front you can see that the colour of this lure was made after the printing of the catalogue, so they had to get it on top.

Back of the catalogue.

How nice is that?
The whole shebang is there: box, lure and catalogue. All in very good condition considering the age of this lure.
And you can't appreciate it, but I can tell you that even the smell of it, when you open the box, is very pleasant. I was telling it to one of my work colleague when I was showing her the lure, and she said: "Ho my god, it reminds me of my grandpa!"...

Yes I do feel a bit privileged to now have this lure as part of what I affectionately call my little collection.

After doing a bit of research on this beautiful timber fishing lure I stood there contemplating it, when it hit me: This lure is older than my dad! 

I am not really sure that I will ever have another lure, as old as this one very soon...

But hey, it could be worse.
Have a good day,
Me.

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