I got my first soft plastic fishing lure in the mid 1960s when I was about 14 years old. It was a plastic worm that had a propeller on the front attached to a stiff wire with an eye to attach to the fishing line. It had a heavy monofilament harness that held three hooks through the soft plastic body.  It looked just like a live night crawler. The package read, “SENSATIONAL “CATCH ‘EM QUICK” LURE, WITH BUILT IN FISH APPEAL. Effective on Bass, Pike, Walleyes, Trout and Panfish: Ideal for Casting, Spinning, Trolling, Cane Pole Spatting: Retrieve SLOWLY! Made in Marion, Indiana.” There was no zip code on the package in those days.

I remember the first time I used it. We drove down to the flowage (that is no longer there) on an old farmer’s road on what is today Willow River State Park and fished from shore. The flowage was full of bass, pike and panfish. I was catching some nice bass fishing with the new propeller worm lure that my older brother Dean had given me. I spotted a big flat rock just a few steps from shore and got up on top of it so I could cast out a little bit further.

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