Vintage Tackle Contest: Borgen Weedless Casting Spoon

This week’s winner in our vintage tackle contest was submitted by Garrett Wood. Garrett acquired this spring-loaded spoon from a friend’s dad who was looking to get rid of some old gear. Garrett writes that, “as soon as I saw this thing I was intimidated. This beast of a lure is pretty gnarly looking and acting in the water.” But does it have a pretty gnarly price tag? Dr. Todd Larson of the The Whitefish Press and “Fishing For History” blog has the score.

Dr. Todd says:

“Ah, to build a better mouse trap…spring loaded hooks and lures have been around since the dawn of American fishing (seven of the first ten fishing tackle patents issued in this country were for spring loaded hooks). The object, of course, is to make sure you hook every fish that hits your lure. You have a simple yet effective lure called the Borgen Weedless Casting Spoon, patented on 20 April 1954 by Leif I. Borgen of Chicago, Ill. It came in several configurations; yours is the earlier one resembling closest the patent images. It’s a cool and interesting lure worth around $20-$30 in today’s market. To see the patent for this lure, click here.”

Sweet lure, Garrett…but I’d watch my fingers when handling that thing. It’s kind of a like a grenade and I could totally see myself accidentaly opening it in my hand. 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).