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Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive MarineTournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine


(Provided by Blue Heron)

Indiana to Recognize Creek Chub Bait CompanyIndiana to Recognize Creek Chub Bait Company

Garrett, Ind, will celebrate the founding of Creek Chub Bait Company with the placement of an Indiana Historic Marker August 12.

The ceremonies will be conducted on the site where the factory once stood. Creek Chub celebrated its 100th anniversary last year.

The state marker ceremony will begin at 8:30 am, half a block east of city hall which is located at 130 S. Randolph Street. Todd Fiandt, Mayor of Garrett, Casey Pfeiffer from the Indiana State Historic Bureau and author Dr. Harold Smith will be honorary speakers for the program.


A group of antique tackle collectors will be gathering for its monthly informal meeting at the Heddon Museum Sept 13.

The gathering is open to anyone interested in old antique fishing tackle or who has old gear that he or she would like to be appraised.

The group meets monthly at 6:30 p.m. at the former Heddon factory, 414 West St. in Dowagiac, Mich., that now serves as a museum. It’s located two blocks north and two blocks west of the McDonald's.

The get-together of antique lure collectors is mostly a show-and-tell with some selling, trading, and buying of old tackle taking place.

For more information, email Doug Bucha at ndBucha@yahoo.com.


The annual Southern Michigan Sporting Collectibles show will be held Oct. 29 at the Sturgis, Mich. VFW from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

There is no admission charge.

The show will feature a selection of vintage and contemporary fishing lures, rods and reels, spearing decoys and other outdoors collectibles.

Anyone wishing to display should contact Ron Kurtz, 517-227-0216.


p>By Doug Bucha

Paw Paw Bait CompanyPaw Paw Bait Company

In 1924, Clyde Sinclair and Floyd Phelps purchased the Moonlight Bait Company and changed it’s name to the Paw Paw Bait Company of Paw Paw , Mich. four years later.

Moonlight was a lure manufacturer from the early 1900’s until 1924 and manufactured many lures, which are now called Classics, by lure collectors. The Moonlight Company got its name from the fact that the first lures that it made were designed for night fishing. They even glowed in the dark.

Over the years, Paw Paw would expand their catalog of offerings to include items such as ice spearing decoys and duck decoys. All are highly prized by collectors.

Paw Paw sold to the Shakespeare Tackle Company of Kalamazoo in the early 1970’s and a few years later, Shakespeare sold to the Creek Chub Bait Company of Garrett, Indiana.

If you have any questions or need help with the identification of Paw Paw lures or for that matter any other lures, please feel free to contact me at dbucha@att.net


Did you come across some old fishing gear while preparing for this season’s garage sale?

It’s possible that tackle is more valuable than what you’ll get for it in a flea market. You can find out by attending the next gathering for antique tackle collectors at the Heddon Museum April 12th.

The group meets monthly at 6:30 p.m. at the former Heddon factory, 414 West St. in Dowagiac, Mich. The Museum is located two blocks north and two blocks west of the Mc Donald's.

The informal meeting of antique fishing lure collectors is mostly a show-and-tell with some selling, trading, and buying of old tackle taking place.

It’s open to anyone interested in old antique fishing tackle or who has old gear that he or she would like to be appraised. For more information, email Doug Bucha at ndBucha@yahoo.com.