Arbogast tiny Jitterbug
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replica66[]
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Arbogast tiny Jitterbug
I'm not sure if there are any old lure collectors here on this site, but maybe someone has some info for me.. Way back in the mid 1960s, I had a tiny ultralight Arbogast Jitterbug that I traded another lure for with a fellow teenage fisherman. I'm not talking about the one with a metal "spoon" bill. This little lure was all plastic and was only about 1.25 inches long and was a white with red head in color. Was it maybe called a flyrod Jitterbug? Does anyone have any information about this rare lure? I can't seem to find anything.
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africanbass
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Re: Arbogast tiny Jitterbug
http://picclick.ca/Vintage-Arbogast-Fly ... 66202.html
Is it the fly rod peanut perhaps?
Is it the fly rod peanut perhaps?
Happiness is a sore thumb
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replica66[]
- Angler
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Re: Arbogast tiny Jitterbug
That's the one. Thanks! But I'm trying to find out when they were manufactured..
Re: Arbogast tiny Jitterbug
I can't tell you exactly when the switch between the plastic lip fly rod Jitterbugs and the newer aluminum 1/8 Jitterbugs, none of my books tell me. But I can tell you that the plastics were not cataloged in the 60's, from the catalog inserts i've seen.
I suspect the change was the plastic flyrod Jitterbugs are actually quite fragile and can cast on a fly rod - however the new model aluminum fly rod Jitterbugs can't be cast (at least by me) with anything less that a stout 9 weight fly rod. The plastic lip ones can be cast with a 6 weight rod. The old plastic lip Jitterbug weighs around 2.0 grams, the much larger, later aluminum lipped one weighs nearly 4 grams.
I have heard that during WWII the regular Jitterbugs switched from aluminum lips to plastic, this wouldn't apply to the fly rod size, to the best of my knowledge, they never had aluminum lips until much later.
They also came in various finishes, not just red head, but for some reason, the redhead, the perch color and the yellow seem to be the most commonly found.
I suspect the change was in the late 40's or 50's, possibly to coincide with growth of spinning in the US.
I suspect the change was the plastic flyrod Jitterbugs are actually quite fragile and can cast on a fly rod - however the new model aluminum fly rod Jitterbugs can't be cast (at least by me) with anything less that a stout 9 weight fly rod. The plastic lip ones can be cast with a 6 weight rod. The old plastic lip Jitterbug weighs around 2.0 grams, the much larger, later aluminum lipped one weighs nearly 4 grams.
I have heard that during WWII the regular Jitterbugs switched from aluminum lips to plastic, this wouldn't apply to the fly rod size, to the best of my knowledge, they never had aluminum lips until much later.
They also came in various finishes, not just red head, but for some reason, the redhead, the perch color and the yellow seem to be the most commonly found.
I suspect the change was in the late 40's or 50's, possibly to coincide with growth of spinning in the US.
Re: Arbogast tiny Jitterbug
I'm going to have to pick one of these up. I've come to love fishing tiny versions of classic hard baits on UL casting rods.
Re: Arbogast tiny Jitterbug
Picking up one of the plastic lips or the aluminum lips?
Good luck finding one of the one plastic ones - the plastic ones, everyone I've seen that was a reasonable price has significant damage to it; from excessive plastic worm burns, to outright damage, where it looks almost like the lip was half separated from the body, to the paint being work off, and almost all of the above are usually getting prices near $20.00 in auctions. The ones in good shape are $40.00 and higher. It seems the plastic wasn't all that good.
Finding the "modern ones" (I don't know if they're still marketed) can be found on package, but they're much bigger.
I had an idea along the lines of using something like Alumalite and molding a copy of one of the better plastic lipped Jitterbugs very much like River-To-Sea appeared to do when they copied the old Mud Puppy which has been around since the 30's, with their "new" Whopper Popper.
Good luck finding one of the one plastic ones - the plastic ones, everyone I've seen that was a reasonable price has significant damage to it; from excessive plastic worm burns, to outright damage, where it looks almost like the lip was half separated from the body, to the paint being work off, and almost all of the above are usually getting prices near $20.00 in auctions. The ones in good shape are $40.00 and higher. It seems the plastic wasn't all that good.
Finding the "modern ones" (I don't know if they're still marketed) can be found on package, but they're much bigger.
I had an idea along the lines of using something like Alumalite and molding a copy of one of the better plastic lipped Jitterbugs very much like River-To-Sea appeared to do when they copied the old Mud Puppy which has been around since the 30's, with their "new" Whopper Popper.