Traditional lures

[John Milford]

Some of my hoard of traditional lures!

These are from the 1950s, made by 'Poolson' (A. Poole & Son of Redditch) who are perhaps better known for thier split cane rods. Their 'Star Brand' carded sets of rod rings may also be familiar to some?

The top row are traditional 'Loop Pattern' spoons', while below are 'Kidney Spoons' and Devon Minnows.

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Their range of lures also included the ubiquitous 'Colorado'. While old spinners, still intact of their cards, are somewhat rare and therefore worth preserving, I do use loose examples on occasion.

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[Grumpy]

I remember making spoons from spoons when I was a lad.My Dad helped me drill the holes for the treble and split ring.I even caught small Pike on them.

[Olly]

I think the spoons were courtesy of school diners eating lunch!

Allcocks did a not dissimilar range - but more of them.

[Duckett]

I remember making spoons from spoons when I was a lad.My Dad helped me drill the holes for the treble and split ring.I even caught small Pike on them.

Ah, that brings back memories but for us they caught Mackerel and a very occasional Garfish. I think, without ever having seen one, Dad re-invented the mini-jig by also drilling holes in teaspoon handles and adding treble and swivel - these proved even more effective for Garfish and even a few small Bass.

Phil

[Grumpy]

I remember making spoons from spoons when I was a lad.My Dad helped me drill the holes for the treble and split ring.I even caught small Pike on them.

Ah, that brings back memories but for us they caught Mackerel and a very occasional Garfish. I think, without ever having seen one, Dad re-invented the mini-jig by also drilling holes in teaspoon handles and adding treble and swivel - these proved even more effective for Garfish and even a few small Bass.

Phil

Two lures out of an old spoon.Excellent work.

[John Milford]

I think the spoons were courtesy of school diners eating lunch!

Allcocks did a not dissimilar range - but more of them.

The Allcocks range of lures was enormous Olly, spanning well over a century. Many of the early ones (pre WW1) are very highly prized by collectors. I have many I would never dream of fishing with!

Their later (early to mid twentieth-century) lures are a more likely prospect for fishing, as they were made in quite large numbers, so are not extraordinarily rare.

The 'Royd' spinner is one such lure that I mean to try for pike, as I have a couple surplus to my collection. (Some very sound advice at the foot of the catalogue excerpt! ).

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[Kev D]

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These don't look quite ad upmarket as JM's collection but one is still on its card.

[John Milford]

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These don't look quite ad upmarket as JM's collection but one is still on its card.

The 'Kilko', with it's distinctively shaped, striped blade, is a classic pattern Kev.

I think Shakespeare also made a version.

Mine is a little later than yours:

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[EricW]

Hi John,
If I had to choose a commercially made trad lure, I would pick the Ondex, the Mepps and the Voblex in that order. I ended up making my own versions of all of them, tightfisted as I am but they all served me well. It amazes me that so many anglers seem to believe that only modern lures work. These work as well now as they did 50, 60 yrs ago and I'd still be happy to fish any of them.

[John Milford]

Very true Eric.

All the lures you mention are timeless favourites for a very good reason!

Mepps have been around for well over 85 years. The top two in the picture below, from my collection, are very early Mepps 'Super Shimmy' spinners, which were superseded by the famous 'Aglia'. Any Mepps stamped 'British Patent Brevette France' are 70+ years vintage.

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