Vanderhoek lures?

[Deep C]

PS Aloha Capt. Paul, good hearing from you, please don't mistake my excited voice with having anything to do with a new lure,it was more likely I just needed relief!

Aw baloney! Yeah you look a bit more beat up than yesteryear but that sparkle showed right back through when showing me some of that stuff on your desk and talking about the eurathane process...
I see fully that time is not always kind but some things like that Bart Miller spirit and strive for perfection can't be contained...

[tom@marlinstar]

This thread really touches home as I am starting at ground 0 on the lure building totem pole. A few years back Marlin Magazine featured a nice,detailed article on lure making. The information was thorough enough to jumpstart my creative juices and try lure building for myself. With the help of a friend in the movie industry, I was able to build my first molds and complete the steps that Jim Rizzuto had laid out in the Marlin Mag article.I continued to experiment; failures and success battled each other but the internal knowledge I was accumulating would eventually lead to higher ground.

As I continued building molds,inserts, and prototypes. (many came from the local restaurants salt and pepper shakers or the bars shot glasses- sorry Outbacks) I realized that true lure building is an art, a craft that required learned steps in proper sequence(insert Karate Kid wax on wax off here). So, I boldly sent out an email to Steve Coggin. I had his email address from another Marlin Mag article and I thought I would take a chance and see what type of reaction I would receive. Steve was MORE than helpful. He was kind,honest and enthusiastic about helping me and teaching me the ins and outs of this craft. Now, it should be noted that I have never asked Steve intruding questions about materials,designs,etc. I have always respected his work and thought that one only needs an easel and a paint brush to create a masterpiece.....the "art" or design should come from the passion to create something new. With Steve's help and a 7 page fax! I was able to jump years of frustration and failure to a stable working platform.

As I continue to hone my skills, and let me tell you....practice makes perfect,I have come to realize the huge sacrifices made by our past and current great lure makers. Hand made lures require so much time and effort, that the financial rewards are insignificant.These current lure makers who have deep roots need to be respected and acknowledged for their hours of experimentation,research,design and testing.I currently have only one design to my name which is available in two sizes.Now...... I have been in the workshop contemplating new designs and I can honestly say that my next lure will have to be one of the hardest things to conceive and cultivate into an original product. But, this is the reality if you choose to be innovative rather than a manufacturer who copies current and popular designs with simple name changes. There are only a handful of lure builders.....but there are hundreds who duplicate. I read the reaction to Tim's stance on this subject and I have to say I wholeheardetly agree with him. It might be hard to understand from a recreational building standpoint, but the sacrifices,blood,sweat, and tears of the original creator needs to be respected.

I truely believe the next great lure design is only an experimentation away. Using mother nature as a design tool, the possibilities are endless and I truely hope to create a lure one day that could be used in the same sentence as the benchmark lure makers we have today. A visit to Meltons will clarify who those names are.

[tom@marlinstar]

ASSORTED TOMAHAWKS

[FESS]

I, for one, am impressed by ALL of it! Mahalo Steve, Bart, Jim, Tim, Rodski, Paul C, John, James and Tom too!

Allen Silzle

[Fishing Hawaii]

This thread has taken some interesting twists and turns. Let's try another one. The image shows five lures of historical interest. Can you figure out which lure makers made which ones? If you are one of the lure makers who turned out a lure in the image, hold your tongue for a day or so and let other people play. Let's see what kinds of responses we get.

Jim Rizzuto
<www.FishingHawaiiOffshore.com>

[Jason @ Melton Tackle]

Jim,

I am taking stabs in the dark here but...

The three (left to right) look to be made by the same person. I am leaning towards saying they're Bart's lures. I thought Sadu at first but I'm saying Bart.

The bullet second from the right...no clue!

Far right...arrrgggghhhh. Looks kind of like a Zuker or Yo-Zuri of some sort perhaps. If not, no offense to the maker if you're reading this!

[Wireman]

I'd bet pretty strongly the two on the left are Sadu.

I will go on record as saying this may be one of my favorite threads ever. To see photo's of these pure works of art damn near gives me a hard-on. What's so admirable is the amount of respect shown to the legands who paved the way, and rightfully so. I hope it continues with more custom pieces shown.

[Jason @ Melton Tackle]

This thread is so awesome. I want to take some pics of my favorite personal lures and post on here. It would be great to see some of everyone else's favorites as well!!!!!

Jason

[Deep C]

The three on the left have some clues. a series of "marbled" look lures back in early 90's... Judging from their shear size that would be another clue... The witchcraft eyes is something imparted to a well known shop in Palm Beach that became one of their signatures.
I note that the "pupil" of the eyes is not standard issue round, rather triangular. Another clue trade mark is "unique" pupil. The one I think it is has a unique one today that was preceeded by a "snake eye" on his late 90's early 00's, Not sure what the signature was prior to that...
Sadu designs had some distinct looks. simple but oh so effective... I don't recall him ever making a lure that size but anything is possible. Could even be closer than you think.. I'm not gonna say anything about the one on the right I'll let you guys guess and no its not me...

[Patudo]

I'd guess the three on the left by Bart and the clear head on the right by Sadu. No idea about the black bullet.