There are two Little Piney Rivers in Missouri, one flowing into the Gasconade River near Arlington and the other flowing into the Big Piney west of Houston Missouri. Because of declining water levels and the drying up of Ozark springs you would never believe we once floated and fished the latter. Today that Little Piney is more of a creek, than a river but once it was quite a float fishing stream, at least the lower half of it, which flows in the Big Piney near the Dogs Bluff bridge on Highway 17.
What memories I have of that stream! I actually guided a few of my float fishing clients on that little river in a 14-foot wooden johnboat when I was a boy. It was a super smallmouth stream and my dad’s biggest brown bass came from one of its eddies when I was about fourteen or fifteen years old. But he didn’t land it… it jumped out of water only a few feet from the boat and threw the lure.
It is the lure I want to write about today. That lure was a four inch long ‘Cisco Kid’, brown and white, jointed and with a metal bill that made it run about three feet deep. I still have it and can’t catch anything on it today, but you can understand why I keep it in my office. Of course there are many lures in my office, not kept there because of their value but because of the memories that go with them. There is that wiggle wart that we used on a teal-hunting float-trip one September day years ago when we put one fishing rod and one lure in the boat not expecting fishing to be much good. Were we wrong about that. All day long that little brown and orange wiggle wart caught bass to the point we forgot about the teal ducks. It is worth five times what I paid for it.
If you have wiggle warts, I have seen them selling from ten to fifteen dollars at lure shows. I have an old rapala lure that was made in the fifties which has the name “rapala-finland’ across the bottom. It is worth some money because it is in the box it came in. Old lures do have value but those in the box they were sold in are worth even more. Also, any of the old 1920’s and 30’s wooden lures with glass eyes that are in good condition will bring some money. Some of those have four trebles, which was eventually outlawed. I saw one of them sell for 250 dollars.
This sounds preposterous and I wouldn’t have believed it either, but I have seen lures sell for hundreds of dollars when lure collectors get together. There are some which bring thousands. Old friend Dennis Whiteside sold hundreds of old lures to collectors from Japan and made a small fortune doing it. He can tell you about that if you come to my big swapmeet at my newly finished nature center-museum near Houston, Mo. But there is a bigtime lure collector who will be there too… Jerry McCoy of Bull Shoals, Arkansas. I have fished with him on occasion and I have never known a man who has his knowledge of antique fishing and hunting gear. One of the most knowledgeable and colorful of fishermen, Jerry will be selling antique items and lures and also buying some.
If you have old lures or outdoor items, bring them by and tempt Jerry with them. He purchases a lot of antique outdoor gear for a shop he has a mile west of Bull Shoals dam. That Opening Day precedes the bringing in of exhibits. We have antique johnboats in place already and a 1920 pool table. It is this Saturday, Oct 26 from 9 to 3. In addition to Jerry, there will be Duane Hada, on of the best wildlife artists in the nation. He will paint a picture of the Big Piney and we will raffle it off. Some of his original paintings sell for thousands so if you go home with it you will have some valuable art. I will be there selling off some of my office collections and my books and magazines, and I think I will have 200 old lures for sale. If you want to bring your own outdoor gear to sell, just bring it. I think it is going to be a good day and I am anxious to show off our new building. There is no charge for admission.
For more information call me at 417 777 5227 or email me at lightninridge47@gmail.com See Duane Hada’s website too.
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