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The Whitefish Press

A Field Guide to Creek Chub Lures by Harold E Smith

A Field Guide to Creek Chub Lures by Harold E Smith

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Table of Contents

Finally! The final word on Creek Chub by Dr. Harold Smith! A Field Guide to Creek Chub Lures is the culmination of over two decades of research and writing on the Creek Chub Bait Company by Garrett, Indiana's own Dr. Harold Smith. Having grown up down the street from the CCBC factory, Dr. Smith is in a unique position to chronicle Creek Chub history, and this is his final, revised say on the matter.

In 1916, in the small town of Garrett, Indiana, three fishermen friends started a new company. Henry Dills, a conductor on the B&O Railroad and an inventive genius, came up with a new idea, a metal lip for a fishing lure that made it wiggle in a life-like fashion as it was retrieved through the water. Unable to sell his idea to established companies, he found partners in two local business men, Carl Heinzerling, owner of the local hardware store, and George Schulthess, a businessman and the mayor of Garrett. This ideal combination of inventive genius, business sense and political savvy became the Creek Chub Bait Company.

Within fifteen years their lures would hold the world records for Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye and Northern Pike. A 22 pound 4 ounce Largemouth, caught in 1932 on a Creek Chub lure, still holds the record today for that species. Names such as Pikie, Darter, Injured Minnow, Plunker, and Wigglefish became a part of the vocabulary of fishermen.

Creek Chub lures were works of art, hand turned from cedar and painted with up to 14 coats of paint and varnish by talented ladies, then shipped all over the world. For over 60 years, they made the highest quality fishing baits. Today the quality is still evident as collectors avidly seek these beautiful lures with rare specimen demanding very high prices.

With pictures of well over 1000 baits and collectible items, this book tells the story of the lures, the people that made them, and covers everything a collector needs to determine the value of the baits in their collection. In a condensed format, it can be carried with the collector out into the field searching for more treasures.

The book is divided into ten sections -- History, Creek Chub Colors, Wooden Lures, Metal & Plastic Baits, the Wide Variety of CCBC Lures, Misc. Creek Chub Items, Shur-Strike Lures, AL&W, and World Records and Final Notes. Also includes handy Quick Reference Guides covering Lure Numbers, Lure Names, Lure Number Changes, Lure Colors, Creek Chub Officers, Military Steniciling, Gold Embossed Pressed Labels, and Western Auto Numbers. The book is fully indexed.

PLEASE NOTE: This book also comes with a separately published 32-page PRICE GUIDE covering the current value of Creek Chub lures and other CCBC items pictured in this book!

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  • A Field Guide to Creek Chub Lures

    Harold E. Smith

    9781936702862

  • Binding: Soft Cover

    Copyright: 2015

    Pages: 186

    Size: 8.5 x 11 in.

    Condition: New

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