Heddon Go-Deeper River Runt Spook

Although I've written about this lure in my River Runt article, I've wanted to expand on the information for some time so I thought I'd do it with an edition of Lure Lore.

In 1940, Heddon introduced the first in a series of lures called the "Go-Deeper River Runt Spook". Using the bodies of both the Midget and the standard Sinking lures, Heddon attached a large scooped metal lip in place of the regular diving lip and a wire leader to the nose line tie. The Heddon numbers for these two new models were prefaced with the letter "D" in addition to the Heddon number for the lure and color. Thus, D9119L represented the Go-Deeper standard sinking size (2.5" body) in Yellow Perch while D9019L represented the Go-Deeper midget size (2.25") in Yellow Perch. Unlike their counterparts, however, both lures were identically marked "Heddon Go-Deeper River Runt" on the belly and no distinction was made to size.

These early scooped lip Go-Deepers came in 2 piece hardware and were produced thru 1948. In 1947, Heddon changed to 1 piece hardware so one can find these scooped lip models in 1 piece and transitional hardware configurations as well.

In 1949, Heddon changed the lip style to what I refer to as the right-angle or step-lip. The nose line screw ring disappeared with this change as the wire leader was now riveted to and part of the metal lip. As with the scooped lips, these also came in both midget and standard sizes, all with 1 piece hardware and with the same belly marking. Both sizes were made with the step-lip thru 1961.

In 1951, Heddon introduced a new Go-Deeper model, the Jointed Go-Deeper, model #D9430, also with the step-lip. Measuring 3.25" in length, the body was a cross between the regular jointed sinking model and the jointed floating model. The front part was identical in length to the jointed floater but the back part was the same size as the jointed sinker. Interestingly, the belly marking for the Jointed Go-Deeper reads "Heddon River Runt Spook Sinker", the same as the jointed sinking model. I suspect that rather than create completely new molds and masks for this model, Heddon used existing ones from the jointed sinking model! The Jointed Go-Deeper was made thru 1956 and was discontinued after that along with all of the other jointed River Runt Spook models.

In 1953, a year after the introduction of the Tiny Sinking River Runt Spook, Heddon added the Tiny Go-Deeper River Runt Spook to it's line. Again, using the same body size as that of the Tiny Runt, the step-lip was added. Like all of the Tiny models, it has surface cup rigging. The Tiny Go-Deeper with the step-lip was made thru 1961.

With the acquisition of Heddon by Daisy in 1962, the line of Go-Deeper lures were renamed "Deep Dive" and all the Heddon numbers now were prefaced with "DD" rather than just "D". The lip style changed for the third time to what I call the "flat oval". Unlike all previous models, the design of the lip hardware was such that it provided for the front hook hanger in lieu of seperate hardware. The wire leader was replaced with a double-eye line tie that was also part of the diving lip. Another significant change was that these new style lips were gold colored rather than the traditional silver color of all previous style lips. The Deep Dive came in three sizes, the standard 2.5" (DD9110), the midget 2.25" (DD9010) and the Tiny (DD340) and was made for 4 years thru 1965 and had 1 piece or surface cup hardware.

In 1966, the lip style again changed. Though very similar to the "flat oval", this lip had a 45 degree bend in it approx. 3/4" from the front of the lip. I call this the 'angled step lip'. Like it's predecessor, it had the same line tie. However, the integrated hook hanger disappeared and instead, Heddon-Daisy used an eye screw to hold the lip hardware and the front treble hook. This lip design was used thru 1971 and came in standard, midget, and tiny sizes and also was gold colored as a general rule but I've seen some in colors matching the lure as well, i.e., a Black Shore with a black lip.

After 1971, Heddon-Daisy discontinued making Deep Dive River Runt Spooks for five years and then in 1977, introduced yet another version, this time made only with the 3" body size of the standard floating River Runt Spook. It was assigned the Heddon-Daiy #DD9400 to reflect this body style change. Thus, the standard sinking, midget and tiny sizes were gone. Using the 'angled step lip' as in the 1966-1971 version, these Deep Dive lip models all were painted in colors to match the lures. As a general rule, painted lip Deep Dives are from this time period. Another significant change was that the bodies of these Deep Dives contained beads which gave the lures a 'rattle'. This was the last of the Deep Dive River Runt Spook lures made by Heddon-Daisy and they were made thru 1982 and then discontinued.

Overall, not counting variations in hook hardware, there are 13 different Go-Deepers and Deep Dives, consisting of 2 sizes of scooped lip (standard, midget), 4 sizes of step-lip (standard, midget, tiny, jointed), 3 sizes of oval lip (standard, midget, tiny), and 4 sizes of angled lip (standard, midget, tiny, floater). Picture index:

1. Go-Deeper, scooped lip, standard size, D9119XGF (Greenfish Shore)
2. Go-Deeper, scooped lip, midget size, D9119R (Natural Scale)
3. Go-Deeper, step lip, jointed size, D9430XBP (Pearl & Black Shore)
4. Deep Dive, angled lip, standard size, DD9110YCD (Yellow Coach Dog)
5. Deep Dive, angled lip, midget size, DD9010GSD (Green Shad)
6. Deep Dive, angled lip, floater size, DD9400CBO (Crackleback Orange w/colored lip)
7. Go-Deeper, step lip, standard size, D9110FF-GB (Fish Flash, Gold/black scale)
8. Go-Deeper, step lip, midget size, D9010FF-GB (Fish Flash, Gold/black scale)
9. Go-Deeper, step lip, tiny size, D340FF-GB (Fish Flash, Gold/black scale)
10. Deep Dive, oval lip, midget size, DD9010YCD (Yellow Coach Dog)
11. Deep Dive, oval lip, tiny size, DD340CD (Coach Dog)
12. Deep Dive, angled lip, midget size DD9010XBW (Black & White Shore w/colored lip) 

Test Your Knowledge:  Heddon Go-Deeper River Runt Spooks FAQ's:

Unknown Lure

This wood lure is just over 2" in length and has metal wings on either side. Both wings are angled somewhat to cause the lure to spin as it was retrieved. It is black/yellow with gold glitter on the body.

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