Antique Wood Plug Fishing Lures, Early–Mid 20th Century — Group of 3

Three hand-painted wood plug lures, each a distinct pattern and form, united by decades of hard use and the kind of surface character that only comes from actual time on the water. The largest is a torpedo-body surface lure — heavily built, with a blue-to-teal back shading down through yellow and into a red gill slash at the tail, a metal lip plate soldered at the nose, and three cup-rigged treble hooks. The finish carries a dense scatter of what reads as original glitter or mica flake — a flash-bait technique common in American lure production from the 1920s through the 1940s. The middle plug is a slimmer minnow-form diver in blue-over-silver with scale texture, a painted yellow tack eye, translucent wooden diving vane, and two trebles — elegantly proportioned for its type. The third is a broader, blunt-nosed body in solid slate blue with a red belly stripe, yellow tack eye, a distinctive kite-shaped spinner blade at the front line tie, and two trebles; the supplemental close-up of the eye detail reveals paint flaking around the socket consistent with years of storage and use.

None of the three carry legible maker marks, and bodies are unsigned, but the construction signatures — cup-rigged hangers, soldered lip plates, painted tack eyes, and hand-blended finishes — point to early-to-mid 20th century American production, consistent with small regional tackle makers or larger houses such as Creek Chub, South Bend, or Heddon working in that idiom. The spinner-bladed third lure is the most distinctive of the group; blade-at-line-tie designs were used by several makers for surface agitation and flash. Together, these three represent a compelling cross-section of classic American wooden plug design — each a different body type, each a different action, all three clearly fished.

CONDITION

Good overall with age-appropriate wear throughout. All three show chipping, scuffing, paint loss, and surface oxidation to hooks and hardware consistent with working use. The largest lure has a notable gouge to the belly wood near the front belly hook hanger and heavy mica-flake loss across the back; the middle lure shows significant paint thinning along the silver sides; the blue plug has scattered flake loss to bare wood around the eye socket and along the dorsal surface.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Largest: 9" L × 3" W × 1½" D
• Smallest: 7" L × 3" W × 1¼" D
• Materials: Wood, steel
• Count: 3 lures
• Campbell's Soup Can (4" H) Shown for Scale — Not Included