More good stuff from the ample, overflowing treasure
trove of Jack James’ ‘files’ (this is a word that means his entire basement and
back yard garage of fishing related stuff, including a collection of old
licence plates that is truly out of this world) on Saanich Inlet fishing in the
‘good ole’ days’.
Two
things this week:
Prize
Winners
This image is a bit smudgy as it came to me as a
photocopy of an almost sepia-like piece of newsprint, presumably the Times Colonist,
that endured for decades (‘60s, maybe?) and then was photocopied to give to me.
I took a digital image and did a little ‘improving’, to find the text is more readable
in the image than original. Zoom the image to find out who is who.
Here are a few: The person standing far left is Jim
Gilbert, probably the most famous of our historical fishing confederacy. Think
of politicians we now hold in esteem like John A. MacDonald or the other guy… ah
yes, George Washington. They were nation builders, sure, but not as important
as sport fishers.
Jack James is sitting on lower right with the trophy
and box of buck-tails and hootchies. The fellow sitting on the left is Kjell
Pedersen, who won the Jim Gilbert trophy for biggest fish on a drift fishing
lure, in the Stamp River, at 44 pounds. You will note that Ken Turnbull won the
grand hidden weight prize of a CP trip to Amsterdam with his wife Margaret,
for, get this, a 7.5 pound coho. Where do we sign up to win? On the far right
is Bruce Colegrave of Scot Plastics who was one of the top fishers when I cut
my teeth in the Inlet in the mid-seventies.
Ernie
Fedoruk
After Alec Merriman, Ernie wrote the fishing column
for the TC, then Rob Waters, then me for a decade. The column below, probably
from the 1970s, tells the story of how we got UV and ‘glow’ in the lures we
fish with today. I have transcribed it verbatim, including the US spellings.
Stamp
Collector Sheds Light on Lures
The fishing fraternity would be very callous if it did
not send Joan James a dozen roses…or at least a card of thanks.
She brought light into the lives of anglers because,
being a stamp collector, she introduced the awareness of ultra violet radiation
to her lure-distributing husband.
As a result, the anglers and hubby’s business all have
improved on success.
Jack James and partner Ted Packford own Radiant Lures,
a Victoria cottage industry that now dominates sales of plastic bait – the ones
commonly called hootchies and squires – to those who pursue West Coast salmon,
steelhead and trout, not to mention halibut and other groundfish.
Benefits also have spilled off to others, including
rivals in the tackle industry.
Radiant’s almost-bizarre named lures like Army Truck,
Devil’s Tail, Zapper, Clover Leaf, Peanut Butter, Polar Mist, Mint Tulip and
Fuddle Duddle may not mean a thing to the non-fishing population. But all are
well known, understood and very popular with all who fish British Columbia’s
waters.
The ‘glow’ baits have increased catching success.
Teamed with rolling flashers such as the Hot Spot or
Oki on a 36-inch leader, hootchies are designed to imitate squid, while the
squirts resemble needlefish (or sandlance) – both relished by salmon.
Lures that react to UV rays now dominate Radiant’s
stock. Interestingly, the search for titles honors the Packford and James families
as well as Jack’s former firefighting profession (Firebrand and Fire Chief).
He declined to identify the Red Dragon’s origin but
Jack admitted he has yet to name a lure after his wife.
“It will have to be special,” he suggested, “because
she is the one who twigged the industry onto the significance of UV rays.”
While others used colors that reacted to UV rays,
James is convinced “no one in the industry related its (UV) impact to
fish-catching success…as far as I know.”
Only within the past decade were sports anglers able
to catch sockeye, thanks to small pink squirts. Before then, that salmon species
almost totally ignored sport-fishing offerings.
The choicest of the salmon species was considered by
most as a fish that could only be taken by nets.
Then commercial trollers and the sporties started to
hook sockeye. The success of tiny pink lures spread.
About six years ago, Jack, working in his basement,
wondered about why the pink color worked so well on sockeye.
“Maybe it reacts to ultra violet,” suggested his wife,
and then she asked: “Do you want me to get my UV light?”
Like all stamp collectors, Joan considers a UV lamp
important to her hobby. It helps verify the authenticity of most stamps.
Stamps from most countries are edged with a color
shade that reacts to UV rays. It began in the 1960s when post offices introduced
cancelling machines. The UV edging ‘tells’ the machine when the stamp is in its
proper place for cancellation.
Joan’s light proved the pink sockeye lure was, indeed,
a color that reacted to UV. Jack made another discovery that day. He hauled out
an old pearl pink Lucky Louie plug to see if that lure reacted. It did.
James says deer hair, a favorite with those who make
flies, also reacts to UV radiation.
Ultra violet radiation, almost surely, is one reason
why some lures are hot and some are not.
*******************
Here is an image of Radiant Hootchies, including most mentioned
above. Zoom in to read the names:
