Catch All

Original Lure Lore Article:

 

The Catch-All Frog is the only known lure made by Catch-All-Inc., of Hiles, Wisconsin and was produced from 1955 to 1957. According to The History & Collectible Fishing Tackle of Wisconsin by Bob Slade, the company produced over 50,000 baits during that time in a school house in Hiles, Wisconsin and distributed the lures at a Milwaukee, Wisconsin location.

 

This wood lure has plastic eyes and comes in four sizes, the #100 fly rod (1-3/4"), the spinning #200 (2-1/4"), the regular #300 (2-5/8") and the Muskie #400 (4-1/2"). All but the 'spinning' size are shown in the accompanying pictures. The Muskie size is considered the toughest size to find. Note the nifty case in the advertising piece which came with 12 of these lures in various sizes.

Colors for this lure are green frog, red and white, black and orange, yellow and brown (uncatalogued color), yellow frog, solid black and a yellow & brown scale pattern. The yellow & brown scale pattern is considered the toughest to find. Because of differences in paint batches, there are differences in shades in many of the colors from lure to lure.

The lures came in a cardboard box with a red spiderweb design on it and the company name and had a plastic top and paper insert.

Value range for this lure ranges from $25 to $50 with the musky size and fly size commanding the higher prices. (Additional note:  these price estimates are from the original 1996 article.)

 

When I first started collecting fishing lures, Lure Lore was one of my favorite websites and this article was one of my personal favorites.  In fact it inspired me to collect Catch All lures and do some additional research on them.  I have even written an additional history page on the Catch All Inc. company and their lures.  You can find that page with additional information, pictures and more here:

Catch All history page at My Bait Shop 

Here is an interesting article that appeared in the Green Bay Press-Gazette in 1955.  It references setting up the Catch All Inc. in Hiles, Wisconsin.  See the newspaper clipping here.

 

Unknown Lure

Due to the distinctive metal lip on this lure, I have a feeling this lure won't be 'unknown' for long! It measures 4 1/4" long and has painted tack eyes (yellow with black center). There is a dark green stripe running down the back of this lure which starts at center at the head but is off center at the tail; this is some indication the stripe was not originally on the bait (or perhaps the lure maker was just having a bad day?)

Unknown Update:Identified: It is a uncataloged Sure Strike River Runt/pikie or a Surestrike paw paw pikie made by Chub Creek Bait Co. Check out the baits illustrated in White's on p. 49, B13 & B14.

Extra Credit Unknown??

 

Sometimes people come to you with the strangest stuff! (That's why we love this hobby, right?) In keeping with this site's theme, this item is definitely in the 'other such stuff' category. Found washed up on the shores of Lake Michigan, this item measures 5" long, 4" of which is the wood base. It is hand carved, with at lead knob on top. The top portion of the knob has grooves around it. Whatever this was carved from was originally painted black. Best guess so far: Used as a needle for sewing large fishing nets...??
Identification Status to Date: Unknown

If you have any further information on any of the items displayed on this page which you'd like to share, please send your comments to me and I'll update the page accordingly. Contributions of interesting items and/or unknowns are encouraged.

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