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| A Vamp on the left, a Wounded Spook on the right. The brochure is a Florida fishing guide from 1990. The licenses are from Indiana, circa 1980 and 1981. |
I was fortunate enough to have known all of my grandparents very well. In fact, my grandmother Patty Perkinson is still living in Shelbyville and doing well. My grandfather, Robert Perkinson, passed away in 2008. On one of our visits he gave me his old tackle box, which was filled with all sorts of old lures, a couple of reels and a collection of the random odds-and-ends that all fishermen acquire over the years.
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| A Heddon Wounded Spook, designed to float on its side and imitate a struggling baitfish. One of my favorite topwater lures to this day is the Heddon Torpedo, which features spinning propellers like the Spook. |
A few years ago I cleaned up some of the hooks and tied them into flies, which I gave to family members as Christmas presents. The tackle box has sat untouched on the back porch for a long time since, but I decided that I should give these old lures a chance to get wet again. After a Father's Day filled with bluegill fishing with my older son off the dock behind our house, I tied on the Spook and Vamp for another swim. I did not catch anything, and only tossed each lure a couple of times, but they both work well in the water and appear no worse for the wear after many, many years.
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The Vamp resting on a 1980 Indiana fishing license.
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I must admit that I was a little worried about losing the lures, so I used wire leaders to fend off any pike that might take the bait. Since both lures float, my backup plan was to swim out to get them if I lost one due to a busted swivel or broken line.
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| The Wounded Spook on a 1981 Indiana fishing license. |
It was fun to see those old lures on the water after so many years. I think that my concern was unwarranted, however. As sure as I'm sitting here right now, I know that, had a monster pike stolen one of these lures, Perk would just look down from heaven, chuckle quietly and take a long draw of Half-and-Half from his favorite pipe.
