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This week in our vintage tackle contest we have a lure that all you hardcore walleye anglers will get a kick out of, and probably recognize because the lure style is still popular today. This June Bug belongs to Paul Stuart, who found it at a flea market near Nashville. This lure also reminds Dr. Todd Larson of The Whitefish Press and “Fishing For History” blog of his guiding days near the Canadian border.

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Dr. Todd says:

“As I grew up a hop, skip and jump from the Canadian border and once held a job as a fishing guide on the Gunflint Trail, I love Canadian made tackle. You have a classic carded walleye spinner known as a June Bug because the blade was reminiscent of the nocturnal insect of the same name. Many companies manufactured June Bug spinners, as they were (and are) massively effective fish catchers. Dominion Fishing Tackle (later Owens-Dominion) was one of the popular Ontario makers from the 1920s to the 1960s, manufacturing a complete line of spinners from Fluted to June Bug, many of them marked “Dominion” or “D.F.T.” I would guess yours dates from the late 1930s or early 1940s, and should be worth around $10 to a collector of Canadian tackle. To see a 1950s carded Dominion spinner, click here.”

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Nice find, Paul. Thanks for sending and keep an eye on your mailbox, because there’s a set of Berkley Aluminum Pliers 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 pair of Berkley Aluminum Pliers (above) worth $50.