Vintage Tackle Contest: Heddon Crazy Crawler
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This weeks entry into our ongoing vintage tackle contest comes front Brent Glowa. Brent sent in a ton of photos of old lures passed down from his dad who sadly passed away. Brent says that he has fond memories of playing with these lures whenever his dad opened his tackle box, and fishing these classic made a lasting impression.
I left it up to resident appraiser Dr. Todd Larson of the The Whitefish Press and “Fishing For History” blog to choose which of Brent’s lures he’d give a history lesson on. It seems this Heddon Crazy Crawler was the coolest. Dr. Todd says:
“You have a classic Heddon Crazy Crawler in a 1950s plastic slide top box. The Crazy Crawler is one of my favorite fishing lures, with its rollicking topwater action leading to explosive strikes. Based on a 1920s design by New Jersey luremaker Jim Donaly (early Crazy Crawlers came with what is called the “Donaly” clip holding the wings on the side of the lure), it was introduced in 1940 as Heddon’s alternative to the Arbogast Jitterbug. A best selling lure for many years in both wood and plastic, there are a dozen standard colors and three sizes. Yours is a wooden “bass” sized model and looks like it has been fished fairly hard. It is worth $20-$30. The Crazy Crawler Spook is still being produced today, and still has a loyal following in America and Japan.”
Fantastic find, Brent. I’d take this lure and all the others, get a custom case made and hang them up. Keep passing them down through the family and keep your dad’s angling legacy alive! Thanks for sending, and enjoy the Berkley Digital Tournament Scale that’s headed your way
If you’ve already sent me photos of your vintage tackle, keep checking every Thursday to see if I chose it for an appraisal by Dr. Todd. If you haven’t and want to enter the contest, email photos of your old tackle to fstackle@gmail.com, along with your name, mailing address, and story of how you acquired the gear. If I use it in a Thursday post, you get a Berkley Digital Tournament Scale (left, $40).