Fly Tying Kits: A Retrospective

Recently for the weekly
Field & Stream vintage tackle contest, a gentleman submitted a neat 1960s Fly Tying Kit. These all-in-one kits were offered by many companies, so I thought I would give a little retrospective history of these kits. They were originally offered in the 1920s and by the 1950s were common, with a dozen or more companies offering their particular models.


Many of these kits were used by Boy Scout troops. In fact, they became so popular that the Boy Scouts themselves began to sell an official fly tying kit. This one dates from the 1950s.


Not surprisingly, Worth of Steven's Point, Wisconsin offered a large kit -- they were manufacturers of much of the tackle hardware used in the industry.



H.J. Noll was a world-class supplier of fly tying materials out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from the 1920s onward. It offered numerous kits over the years, including these two.


Perhaps the most commonly found fly tying kit are those of Tack-L-Tyers of Evanston, Illinois. From the 1930s onward, this was among the best selling kits for the next four decades. This particular model, with the pictorial box, was used for 20 or more years.


Hank Roberts was a fly tier who started a company in Boulder, Colorado. By the 1950s, he was known for his modestly priced tied flies; he offered fly tying kits as well. Eventually Arbogast purchased Hank Roberts.


The Wapsi Fly Company was founded in Mountain Home, Arkansas, by Lacey Gee in 1945. Named after the Wapsipinicon River near his home in Iowa, and it grew into the largest wholesaler of fly-tying materials in the world. They offered innumerable kits such as this.


Ned Grey founded Sierra Tackle in Montrose, California after World War II. It grew into a large distributor of fly tying materials. The Ned Grey kits were popular in the 1960s.


Kits are still being sold today, such as this Raymond Rumpf fly tying kit.


This Regal kits (I believe) was manufactured overseas.


Even big trade houses, like Abercrombie & Fitch and L.L. Bean, offered fly tying kits.

One of the largest kit sellers was Herter's of Waseca, Minnesota. It was from Herter's that I got all my fly tying materials as a kid, and as I've written about before, ended up with so much of their excess stock after they went out of business I still have massive cases of it in my basement.

It's a great gift for kids of any age, and I hope some of you will consider tracking one day and gifting it to a child in your life!

-- Dr. Todd

The Fishing Valentine: A Photographic History (Part II)

The Fishing Valentine: A Photographic History (Part II)

The Fishing News of the Week will run tomorrow (Tuesday).

As we stated last year in our Ode to the Fishing Valentine , Valentine's Day started as a Victorian British tradition but began to take off in America around the end of the nineteenth century.

During the early part of the last century, the tradition of bringing Valentines to school to give to classmates began. Most of us fondly remember toting a brown paper bag full of Valentines to distribute in class.

One of the traditional themes of the Valentine's Day card was fishing. Based on original Victorian designs which often showed Cupid fishing for hearts, by the 1920s it had morphed into one of the most common motifs. What follows are 12 representative valentines from the 1890s to the 1970s.

Believe it or not, Fishing-themed Valentines are quite collectable. I was able to purchase a number of these for $2-$5 each, but some of them -- especially those showing actual tackle like a rod, reel, or lure -- can bring twice as much. And of course, the older ones and the colorful ones tend to be more valuable, as long as they are in good shape.

Go ahead and print out a fishing-themed Valentine to share with your sweetheart! They will thank you for it!













Of course, if you really want a Fishing Valentine, you could do worse that a classic 1970s Valentine fly reel!


So Happy Valentines day to everyone out there!

-- Dr. Todd

Nine Reels and a Really Big Rod, Part II

Nine Reels and a Really Big Rod, Part II

By

Dr. Todd E.A. Larson

In 1915 Forest & Stream—by that time a very different monthly magazine than the weekly 19th century journal cited above—published the first segment of an often overlooked three-part history of the Kentucky reel. The article was a detailed interview with pioneer Kentucky reelmaker J.L. Sage, recounting his version of the origins of the Kentucky reel, and was penned by an anonymous author. The author recorded Sage as saying that “Jonathan [Meek] worked at the watchmaking trade, and put Benjamin at working the reels, for which there began to be a demand. They worked this way along about 1842. They followed the Sneider [sic] pattern of reel pretty closely. It was about this time that Jonathan made a reel, the end plates of which were silver dollars.” If anyone finds a Kentucky reel with side plates made of Walking Liberty silver dollars, you now know you have a true treasure on your hands.

The interview with Sage is of tremendous interest for a number of reasons, but it is the article the following month that serves as the source for another pair of historically important reels. Dr. James Henshall, famed author and the original fishing tackle historian, wrote a follow-up to the earlier article, vouching for its historical accuracy. Henshall also added the following comment on pioneering Kentucky reelmaker George Snyder, declaring “His son, David M. Snyder, was a druggist in Cynthiana when I resided there. He often talked with me about his father, and the invention of the reel. He owned his father’s favorite reel, a jeweled one, which I had in my possession until his death, I sent it to his nephew, also a druggist, in Louisville, Kentucky after the Chicago fair.” Does this Snyder reel exist today?

Henshall also described a famous reel made by J.L. Sage, whose interview served as the bulk of the earlier article. “I have also,” Henshall noted, “probably the first reel Mr. Sage made, a brass click reel, marked 1848, which he used in fly-fishing for black bass, in which art he was an adept.” Interestingly, this reel shows up again in fishing lore; Chicago Tribune outdoors writer Larry St. John described this very reel in his classic work Practical Fly Fishing (1920). St. John noted: “The earliest click reel made especially for fly fishing for bass was made by J.L. Sage of Frankfort, Ky., in 1848. It is still in excellent fishing condition and is of solid brass measuring 2 3/8 inches in diameter and 1 ¼ inches between head and tail plates. It has a permanent click which is placed in the head instead of the rear as is usual in click reels. It has an unusually sweet song. The reel was presented by Mr. Sage to Dr. Henshall during the World’s Fair at Chicago, who in turn has passed it down to the writer. Needless to say it is one of my prize possessions. The reel is pictured in the illustration showing the correct way to grasp the rod.” The famed Sage reel can thus be traced from Sage to Henshall to Larry St. John. Anyone care to try and search out any of St. John’s heirs? The pictured reel may very well be the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.


A picture of the Sage reel from St. John’s book.
Fishing writer A.N. Cheney was presented a reel in 1900 by a friend of his that was reputed to have been made in 1830. His friend described it as follows: “You will see that one of the bars which hold the disks together is removable by taking out two screws in either end, and when the bar is removed a screw driver can be inserted to reach a screw hole in the reel seat, and this makes it evident that the reel was fastened to the butt of a rod with a screw.” Cheney himself described the reel as having “disks of brass and the spindle a bit of iron wire bent on the outside to form crank handle, and the reel has no click or check of any sort, but otherwise resembles a modern reel in form. The bearings on the spindle are much worn…” Not much of a description, but maybe someone recognizes the unique reel attachment method? This particular reel was deemed unique enough to display in the New York offices of Forest & Stream.

A final fascinating reel was discussed in a 1930s interview in The Hartford Courant with Horton Manufacturing treasurer Morton C. Treadway. As the article related, “Once a customer described a particular reel he couldn’t do without. The Bristol concern agreed to make it. No questions were asked. The reel, a tiny affair at least half the size of the smallest listed product, cost him $150. A check was received promptly upon delivery. Later in the summer a second check for the same amount arrived in the mail. ‘Make me another reel just like the first,’ instructed the buyer.” As an addendum, a collector who will remain anonymous has found this actual reel. Perhaps one day soon we’ll post pictures.

It is unknown whether more than one of the above mentioned reels have survived the ravages of time, just as my favorite important and (often commented upon) fishing rod seems to have gone missing, the famous “$50,000” Abbey & Imbrie rod written about so often on this blog Here and Here . It might interest tackle collectors that the official name for this piscatorial treasure is the “Abbey & Imbrie Jubilee Rod,” and that it was originally one of a matched set of five rods. As outdoor writer Emerson Hough commented in 1893 about the impending Chicago Columbian Exposition:

Mr. G.C. Hemenway, representing the well-known house of Abbey & Imbrie, was the other afternoon looking with interest at the work of installing the Abbey & Imbrie display of fine rods, the queen bee of which is a magnificent production known as the ‘Jubilee Rod.’ The rod is one of five made by Abbey & Imbrie for display in the Queen’s jubilee exposition in London. The other four were sold in London at $2,000 each, and brought the American house $75,000 trade besides. This rod now in Chicago is the equal of the others in all respects. It is a perfectly-made split-bamboo, faultless and ornamental to an unsurpassable degree. Even the ferrule plugs are exquisitely engraved. The precious metals only are used in the trimmings and fittings, the grip being of pure gold, richly and deeply chased. The butt of the rod contains a cut topaz the size of a pigeon egg and worth alone $1,200.

Keep in mind if you begin searching for a Jubilee rod of your own, you have an 80% better chance of finding one across the Atlantic than you do in America. Add a J.L. Sage brass click reel marked 1848 and you will really have yourself a combination!

There are certainly other important and famous reels out there, some even residing in ORCA member’s collections, and it would be great to hear some of their stories. In the future, I will relate one final famous reel story—the mystery of the Thomas Chubb Prehistoric Iron Winch Reel. But that is a story for another day.

-- Dr. Todd

Breaking Down the Fishing Tackle on Pawn Stars

Breaking Down the Fishing Tackle on Pawn Stars

On a recent episode of the History Channel show Pawn Stars, the hosts of the show entertained an offer to buy some vintage fishing tackle. Although the segment lasted less than five minutes, it spawned quite an uproar on-line about how badly one of the owners, Rick Harrison, got taken when he spent $1000 on the fishing tackle.

But did they really get screwed?

Being the anal-retentive kind of guy I am, I broke down the segment to see what exactly the Harrisons bought for their $1000. Taking a variety of screen shots, let's break down the segment to see exactly what they bought.


Rick checks out the whole display.

Looks like about 100 lures.

Starting off nice with a pair of Heddon Punkinseed Spooks.

Our first blurb.

First strike--reproduction beer can lures.

A look at some of the baits. One sticks out to me. Can you guess which one?

Close up of the bottom of the case.

The right side.

There she is: Heddon Torpedo Spook in Green Crackleback--and that idiotic Mac Daddy lure reference.

Bingo! Wood Heddon Punkinseed and Mouse Crazy Crawler.

Close up of the Heddon Torpedo Spook.

A nice River Runt Spook Sinker in Red Head/Silver Flitter.

Close up.

Heddon Hep Spinner -- nothing to look at here.

Crazy Crawler spooks.

Nice pic of about 2/3 of the case.

Again.

Aerial shot.

A happy owner; $1000 richer.

So having looked carefully at this case, here's what I think is there:

Heddon Crazy Crawler in Grey Mouse
Heddon Punkinseed Spook in Crappie
Heddon Punkinseed Spook in Bluegill
3 Modern Beer Can Lures
Heddon Crazy Crawler Spook in Bullfrog
Shurkatch Bass Oreno Style Wood Lure
Bomber (Possibly Wooden)
Heddon Crazy Crawler Spook in Bullfrog
Heddon Crazy Crawler Spook in Bird
Heddon Tiny Tad
L&S Shiner
Heddon Torpedo Spook in Green Crackleback
Bomber
Rapala
Thin Fin
Heddon Spinner
Heddon Baby Lucky 13 Spook in Red Head/Perch
Heddon Mouse Spook
Heddon River Runt Spook Sinker in Yellow Shore Minnow
South Bend Midget Bass Oreno in Silver Scale
Heddon Baby Lucky 13 Spook in Bullfrog
Heddon Baby Lucky 13 Spook in Perch
Heddon Baby Lucky 13 Spook in Perch
Heddon Torpedo Spook in Red Head/White
Heddon Torpedo Spook in Red Head/White
Heddon Torpedo Spook in Smokey Joe
Heddon Midget River Runt Spook in White Shore Minnow
Heddon Midget River Runt Spook in White Shore Minnow
Heddon Midget Digit Spook in Black Shore Minnow
Bomber Water Dog in Yellow Shore Minnow
Paw Paw Fly Rod Oreno-Type in Perch Scale
Heddon Midget River Runt Spook in Red Head/Silver Flitter
Arbogast Hula Popper in Yellow Shore Minnow
Heddon 740 Punkinseed in Sunfish
Eger Dillinger
24+ Metal Spoons and Spinners

So…if you had to buy these individually on eBay, what would you pay? Or if you sold them, and got an average to above-average return, what would you get? From what we can see there are 35 collectable lures (with the chances that there might be more not pictured as the far left side was never completely pictured). There are two valuable lures--the 740 Punkinseed and the Torpedo Spook in Green Crackleback. There are some very nice lures, including the 9630 Punkinseed Spooks, Crazy Crawler in Mouse, River Runt Spook, etc. If you allocate $150 for the 740 and $100 for the Green Crackleback Torpedo (a rare color on any Heddon spook), and $50 each for the 9630s, Crazy Crawler, and River Runt Spook, you are at $450 and have 30 collectable lures to go. Average $10 each for these (not a stretch) and you are at $750, not counting any metal and spinners, or the case.

So my best guess is $750-$1000. Which means that in my opinion, Rick paid market price for these baits. With a little luck on the big five (I've seen 740s in that shape go over $200 on eBay), he might actually make money on this deal.

Would I have bought it? Not at that price. I certainly would have thought about it for his original offer of $600. But although the $1000 was a high price, it was not a ridiculous one…

Don't believe me? Check out the episode in its entirety by Clicking Here.

And thanks to Pawn Stars for spreading the gospel of vintage fishing tackle! Check them out on their web site linked above and on the History Channel, check your listings for times.

So what do you think???

-- Dr. Todd

RESPONSES

That didn't take long. Our first response comes from Colby Sorrels, who writes:

SEED MONEY! Yes, they paid what seems like a lot of money for that group of lures and Dr. Todd has shown that it is only marginally too high and maybe not at all. But if you think of it as seed money it does not seem high at all. Just think, they bought a country wide TV commercial that shows they buy old fishing lures and pay well for them. Who among us would not gather up $1,000 to run such a commercial? Looks like well spent seed money to me. Think of all of the people that have old fishing lures and they are thinking " Wow. I've got a bunch of old lures to get rid of. I think I'll find a way to get them to Pawn Stars". It only takes one really good lure walking in to pay for that $1,000. That commercial would have cost maybe millions if they had bought the time. Not a bad investment at all.

Nine Reels and a Really Big Rod, Part I

Nine Reels and a Really Big Rod, Part I

By

Dr. Todd E.A. Larson

As a child, one of the things I most looked forward to was the arrival every Friday of my copy of The Sporting News. In the days before the internet, it allowed me to follow the sports that I loved in the kind of depth that you simply can’t get from watching the same sound bites repeated every half hour on cable TV. One of TSN’s regular columnists occasionally wrote an article along the lines of “Things I Found While Looking Other Things Up.” This idea has stayed with me all these years, and occasionally I would like to share little bits of fishing reel history I discovered while researching something totally different. The subject for this episode is famous fishing reels.

I once wrote a Reel News article about Talbot (January 2006) that noted two intriguing reels by this classic Missouri reelsmith, including the first reel W.H. Talbot ever turned out and a fabulous silver, gold and diamond-set reel Talbot made for casting champion Fred N. Peet. Clearly this pair of reels—wherever they may be—are among the most important ever made. Writing the article got me thinking about more historically important reels, and this article will outline nine additional fascinating, important, or eclectic fishing reels, and as a bonus the background of perhaps the world’s most famous rod.

The first is not a reel from an important maker but rather a fishing reel owned by a historically important individual. A correspondent writing to the journal Forest & Stream in March 1878 noted that he had seen a salmon reel that “belonged to Dr. [Stanley] Livingstone, and was used by him during one of his journeys into Central Africa.” This large bronze reel of 4.5” in diameter and 1.75” wide was now “in the possession of Mr. John P. Loeser, of Denver, Colorado, and was presented to him by the Rev. Horace Walter, Vicar of Leytonstone, England, who accompanied Dr. Livingstone upon one of his exploring trips to Africa.” No other information was given about this reel except it was personally used by Dr. Livingstone on his African explorations. Such a reel with provenance would be exceptional indeed; perhaps someone in the Denver area might look up the descendants of Loeser to see if the reel survived?

A second reel of historical importance was discussed in November 1889 in the same journal, a brass double multiplying click reel with counter balanced handle once owned and used by Dr. Theodatus Garlick. Who was Dr. Garlick you might ask? Garlick was a pioneer in the study and science of fish culture and the author of Artificial Propagation of Fish, the seminal early work in this field. With this reel, Dr. Garlick caught the Naiad Queen, “the first trout ever used for artificial propagation of fish.” The chances are very good that if you catch a trout on the East Coast this fishing season, it was the product of a stocking program begun with the Garlick’s Naiad Queen. The reel Garlick used was entrusted to Thomas H. Chubb, the famous Post Mills, Vermont tackle maker. So although not as famous as the Livingstone reel, from a purely fishing standpoint, the Garlick reel certainly surpasses it in historical importance.

On 26 October 1902, The Boston Globe ran an article about Elbridge Gary of Stoneham, Massachusetts, a collector with an eclectic bent. The list of his possessions was sufficiently obscure—including the liquor box of Captain Oliver Porter, who was murdered in the Fiji Islands—but the most interesting was the wooden fishing reel of Daniel Webster’s guide. As the article noted, “A wooden fishing reel, bearing the initials of Branch Pierce, the famous hunter of Long Pond, Plymouth, is one of Mr. P. Gerry’s most highly prized mementoes. Pierce was the favorite guide of Daniel Webster and other celebrated men when hunting, and his gun is carefully preserved in Pilgrim Hall.” A wooden reel marked “B.P.” would certainly be an important find.

The story of the famous actor Joseph Jefferson’s legendary Kentucky reel is familiar in collecting circles. Upon his death in 1905, he willed his favorite reel to his great friend and fishing companion, the two-time U.S. President Grover Cleveland. The story of this remarkable Benjamin Meek Kentucky reel was famously chronicled by Joseph’s widow Eugenie Jefferson in the May 1909 Outing Magazine, but what is not common knowledge is that Jefferson was not universally beloved, and on the occasion of his will and the famous reel making national news, some scribes seized upon the reel to make a parting salvo at Jefferson. The Atlanta Constitution noted acerbically in an editorial of 28 September 1905 that “A copy of the will of Joseph Jefferson has been filed in Baltimore. He leaves his favorite fishing reel to his friend, Grover Cleveland. ‘Tis a pity he couldn’t leave his histrionic mantel to somebody.” Despite the cheap shot, no amount of acrid commentary can take away from the importance of the famed Jefferson Kentucky reel. Most commentators were like the Massachusetts Ploughman and New England Journal of Agriculture, which reported in its 30 September 1905 issue that “Joseph Jefferson bequeathed his best Kentucky reel to Grover Cleveland. This is not surprising, for the distinguished pair of fishermen have had many a reel good time together.”

One of the most important women in fishing history was Maine’s Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby. On 07 February 1897, The Washington Post ran a lengthy profile of Fly Rod, who was in town to bump elbows with politicians and promote the Maine woods which she so frequently wrote about. The article noted that she “has a small fortune in fishing tackle…[which is] worth more than $1000, and it is a compliment to her pluck that none of these things have cost a penny…There’s a real gold reel that Miss Crosby is so proud of she carries it with her on travels. It is adorned with mother of pearl.” Unfortunately, the article did not describe what kind of reel it was, although one can be fairly certain it was a fly reel. Anyone with a gold fly reel with pearl insets might just have an item from the most important female anglers of the nineteenth century.

Next Wed: Part II

-- Dr. Todd

A Little History of Louisiana's B.F.W. Bait Company, Inc.

A Little History of Louisiana's B.F.W. Bait Company, Inc.

I was reading Adrian Delbasty's third volume of his Collector's Guide to Louisiana Lures when I ran across a truncated selection for the B.F.W. Bait Company of Shreveport, Louisiana. I thought I'd fill in a few gaps for this interesting company.

B.F.W. Bait Company of 6204 West Canal Boulevard of Shreveport sold two kinds of baits under the "Wilson's Special" brand. I've been told that the "W" in B.F.W. stood for B.F. Wilson, hence the name of the lures.


B.F.W. Letterhead dated 5/2/1960.
The first lure was "Wilson's Special Snake" which was a rubber lure shaped, not surprisingly, like a snake. It was made in one size, 11" (WW-1) and 3/8 ounces, and came in six colors: red (R), black (B), blue (BL), yellow (Y), brown (BR), and black with white tail (BWT). It sold for $9.00 per dozen ($5.40 wholesale) in 1960.


The second lure is the "Wilson's Dragon Fly" which came in two sizes, the regular size (3.5" length, 3.5" wingspan, and 5/8 ounces -- company code WW2) and the "Wilson's Fly Rod Dragon Fly" (2" length, 2" wingspan, 1/4 ounce). They came in six colors: natural (N), clear wings and blue body (C&BL), clear wings and black body (C&B), black wings and black body (B&B), and clear wings and yellow body (C&Y). The regular size retailed for $12.00 per dozen ($7.20 wholesale) and the fly rod size sold for $7.80 per dozen ($4.68 wholesale).


The history behind this firm is murky, but as far as I can tell they were in business as early as 1958 when they showed up in the Straus-Frank Company catalog. Straus-Frank was a San Antonio, Texas wholesaler.

The B.F. Wilson baits seem to be pretty rare. Adrian Delbasty's book shows a "Wilson's Special Snake" and I've seen a "Wilsons Dragon Fly" at a show before. But I've never seen a fly rod model.

Does anyone have one of these in their collection?

-- Dr. Todd

Remembering Larry Koller, Catskill Fly Tier

Remembering Larry Koller, Catskill Fly Tier

Last week, Gary Deppe posted a boxed lure on Joe's Board marked "Ruff-Nek Lures, tied by Larry Koller, Middletown, New York." I thought I'd spend a little time expositing on the history of this fascinating gentleman, who started his career as a Catskill fly tier.


Larry Koller in the mid-1950s with a black bear he bagged with a .308.
Larry Koller (1912-1967) was a Brooklyn-born writer who rose to fame in the 1940s and 1950s as one of the most prominent outdoor writers in America. Having moved to Orange County, New York in 1919, he took to the woods like the proverbial fish to water, and by the mid-1930s was a popular local guide as well as a budding gunsmith. His expertise was so great that he was hired by the Middletown Times Herald as an outdoor writer, his first experience in the field. He wrote a regular column for the paper until the start of World War II. We'll have some of his early writings from these columns in forthcoming Voices from the Past features.


In the middle-to-late 1930s (I believe around 1936 or so), Koller opened up a sporting goods store in Middletown. It was from here that Koller sold hand-tied flies and bass bugs under the Ruff-Nek name. When World War II started, he closed the sporting goods store and went to work in New Haven, Connecticut as a barrel department foreman, which honed his gunsmithing skills to the point that from this period he would become a renowned American gunsmith and gun designer.

After World War II, Koller's fame spread widely as both a fishing and hunting writer. As outdoor editor of the popular magazine Argosy, he had a unique finger on the pulse of the sporting nation. He began publishing books (his hunting books far outnumber his fishing ones), and some of his most popular titles include Treasury of Hunting, Larry Koller's Complete Guide to Handguns and Shots at Whiteails. The latter is still in print today, forty years after its first publication. He founded Guns and Hunting magazine in 1957 and lived to see it become a successful publication.

He wrote a number of fishing books, too, and these include Treasury of Angling and The Complete Book of Tackle, among others.

Koller was a prominent Catskill fly tier even at a relatively young age. For example, when he was 24, the August 19, 1936 Middletown Times Herald noted that at the State sportsmen's exhibit that year "Larry Koller who featured last night with a varied demonstration of fly tying and bass-bug making will return Thursday and Friday." It is not known when he began tying commercially, but the earliest advertisement I could find is dated 1937, although it referenced the lure as available in 1936.


Gary Deppe's Ruff Nek lure was clearly the Bug pattern, as there were two styles of bass bugs made by Koller (Bug and Minnow). Each was available in ten patterns.



They were .75 each, which was not cheap for the time (that same year Pflueger offered the Pal-O-Mine wooden, glass eyed lure for .75). Koller also noted it "accounted for nearly all catches of large bass on the fly rod" in the region the previous year.

There is an interesting mystery tied to Larry Koller. Bill Stuart asks:

"What relation was Larry Koller to J. J. Koller of Goshen, NY (it says on his box that the lures were designed by Larry Koller, who later moved to Florida)? J.J. Koller continued to sell some of his hair baits in the Goshen box with Goshen marked out and a Miami, Florida address written in hand in pencil under the crossed out Goshen address.

Well, I don't have a definitive answer. I believe, however, that John J. Koller of Goshen, New York was Larry Koller's brother. My current theory is that when Larry shuttered the sporting goods store in 1941 to take over as barrel foreman at Winchester, his brother (who was living in Goshen in the time) began selling his excess stock for him. He had the address changed to his Goshen home, and when the war ended and J.J. moved to Florida, he took what remaining stock he had and sold it in the same boxes, crossing out the old address and adding a new Miami one. Koller's sister Mrs. Frances Craig also lived in Miami at the time.

Regardless, Larry Koller was a great outdoor writer and, for a brief time, a prominent local tackle maker. His Ruff Nek lures are rare as hen's teeth, and the owner of one, like Gary Deppe, is lucky indeed. I believe they date from 1936-1941.

-- Dr. Todd