As I usually do, I brought the examples from my plug building articles to the RISAA Show as conversation pieces and so I could answer questions from anyone attempting the builds. As I was standing there, a guy walked by and picked up one of the Mini Weasels and said, “Hey, it looks like a Snook Bait Co. Weasel!” So that launched us into a conversation about the history of old fishing lures and it turned out I was talking to a guy who took collecting plugs very seriously. In fact, that guy had most of the Big Weasels known to exist in the world!
In passing, I mentioned that I had become very intrigued by the lineup pf plugs made by Walter Krystock under the name Connecticut Yankee. You may remember that I covered building the Connecticut Yankee Dual Action Swimmer in March of 2024, a very cool design that was said to be Walter’s answer to the darter. You may also remember that I got some info on that plug from a guy on Instagram known as @GooGooEye_Mike, his real name is Mike Meloy and he was standing right behind the gentleman I was talking to. Together, this dynamic duo buys collections of old plugs and scours the internet, yard sales and estate sales for ‘scores’ of antique wooden lures.
I told them that I wanted to get some CT Yankee Plugs with the intention of fishing them and collecting some as well. They gave each other a ‘knowing glance’ and said, “You came to the right place!” As it turns out, they tracked down Walter’s son and arranged to buy all of the lures he had left, which turned out to be hundreds of plugs in a wide range of styles. They asked me if I’d be at the Saltwater Lure Collectors Club (SWLCC) Show, which I answered in the affirmative, and they vowed to ‘take care of me.’
Fast-forward one week to the SWLCC Show and I saw a familiar face walking over to shake my hand, it was Dave Philips, the same guy with that incredible collection. He instructed to me “wait here” while he went out to get something for me. Upon his return he placed a 1-gallon freezer bag that was stuffed with CT Yankee Plugs into my hands. There was a little of everything in that bag, three types of Dual Action Swimmer, a Reverse Squid, a heavy Round-Nosed Swimmer and a little spook-like plug that I think he said was called the Nautilus. Then he handed me another bag with original SoCo Chief Bodies (unpainted) and several sets of the original glass eyes used in SoCo Plugs. For a guy like me, these gifts will not be topped for a long time. And I don’t know how to thank these two for their generosity. Well, I do know one way, and let’s just say that this is “in the works” for now.
Being the obsessive guy that I am, I acquired another 10 CT Yankee plugs at the show, eight still in their original boxes and two ‘beaters’ that I will refinish and use this season.
I have a strange relationship with any kind of artifact. Whether it’s an antique lure or an arrowhead plucked from the stones of a backwater beach, I find myself staring past the patina of time and seeing the hands of the maker doing their work. It almost feels like if I could grasp the item in just the right way, I might see a flash of the past. Maybe hear what Walter was listening to on the radio when he wired this plug. Or maybe see through some wormhole to the day those native hands chipped out the stone blade. In either case, how different the world must have been. And in either case, these items lay just as untouched on the day of my birth as they were when I first laid them in my palm.
The interesting thing is, in the case of an arrowhead, I’m fascinated because they lived in a world I couldn’t begin to comprehend. In the case of the CT Yankee Plugs, I’m fascinated because I can understand every little tweak and flourish that exists in their construction. We are connected through a kinship, a love of fishing and an obsession with building things to support our fishing habits. Our lifetimes barely intersected, but somehow, some of his consciousness awakens and becomes part of mine when I look at these plugs through my builder’s eyes.
And I’m hoping this consciousness follows me to the beach when I swing the rod back to cast one of his plugs into the dark ocean, where it belongs.
