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October 24, 1999 - Vol. 4, No. 10

Rinehart Tackle Co. Baits

Rinehart Baits
Rinehart Chuby and Chuby Mouse Lures

Normally, I feature one lure in Lure Lore but in this edition I decided to feature an entire company, the Fred Rinehart Tackle Co. of Newark, Ohio. To most collectors, the Rinehart baits refer to very popular Jinx lures that the company made and most collectors are probably not aware of the other lures also made such as the two shown in the lead picture!

This company had it's beginning around 1939 and produced tackle until approximately 1961. The company address changed a number of times during that period and included:

Rear 40 Decrow Ave., Newark, Ohio (1939-1952)
15 Forry Ave., Newark, Ohio (1952-1957)
Gahanna, Ohio (1957-1960)
Marietta, Ohio (1960-1961)

In the early years, they made fly rod lures and flies including such items as Water Beetles, Strutters, Whizzers, Streamers, Mousies, Tempters, a Fluff-Tail, a Floating Fooler, bucktails, and others.

Bass size Jinx Bait
Bass size Jinx Lure

Best known, however, are the Jinx line of lures. The Jinx lures basically came in two sizes, the Bass size and the Musky size. The bass size Jinx is 2-1/4" in length and is a plastic lure. It has surface hardware on the belly and a eye-screw hook hanger on the tail. The bass size Jinx also came in a version called the "Buzzer" that has a spinner on the nose and tail.


Rinehart Lures Collections


Bass Jinx Collection - contributed by Angel Gabriel!

These lures came in a wide variety of colors and are a favorite among color collectors.

Jinx Musky size Baits
Buzzer, Diver, and Surfacer Musky Jinx Baits

The musky size Jinx measures 5", has two belly trebles attached with surface hardware and a tail treble attached with screw-eye hardware. It came in four varieties, the 'buzzer' with the front and rear spinners, the 'diver' model that sank when retrieved, the 'surfacer' that wiggled on the surface when retrieved, and a saltwater version (not shown) that had extra big hooks and heavy duty hook hangers. A fifth model is also believed to exist that had a flap-tail.

Not as well known are some of the other lures made by Rinehart. Included and shown above in the top picture are the Chubby and the Chubby Mouse lures. The Chubby looked much like a Heddon River Runt but has raised eyes and used screw-eye hook hangers on the belly and tail. It measures 2-1/2" in length. The Chubby Mouse measures 2-1/4" in length, has surface hardware on the belly and screw-eye hardware on the tail and a molded eye. Both lures are plastic. The Chubby is considered scarce, and the Chubby Mouse is ultra-rare as very few examples are known to exist.

Another lure made by Rinehart was the "Chief", which also was similiar to the Heddon River Runt. It came in 5 different sizes. Unfortunately, I don't have much more information or a picture of this lure.

Jinx Boxes
Musky & Bass size Jinx boxes

Jinx lures came 4 different boxes. The first was the 2 piece cardboard box with white and blue lettering. The next was the 2 piece cardboard box with yellow and red lettering (shown in top picture). The third was also a 2 piece cardboard box but had multi-color printing mainly in yellow and green. Last was the 2 piece plastic boxes with black lettering on the musky size and gold lettering on the bass size.

Jinx lures have risen in popularity recently and their prices are rising. Estimated values are:

Bass size Jinx: $25-$30 ($50-$60 in box)
Musky size Jinx: $50-$60 ($100+ in box)
Chuby in box: $100+
Chuby Mouse: To rare to price.

Things I'd like to know/add to this page about these lures:

1. A color listing including codes & lure numbers.
2. Pictures of Flaptail and Chief models (in different sizes).

Saltwater Version

UPDATE: Steve Hash sent along a picture of the Saltwater version. Note the heavier hardware configuration.

UPDATE: A recently discovered color chart displays several different Jinx colors and a corresponding color code for each. (Special thanks to Mike Major for contributing this picture!)


Top to bottom: Musky Jinx and Saltwater Jinx


Saltwater Jinx

12/29/2009 - UPDATE: Gerald Garrett provided these pictures of the Saltwater Jinx with the bar rig. Note the different hardware as compared to the standard Musky Jinx.

UPDATE: Though mainly known for the line of Jinx lures, the company also apparently produced fly rod lures such as the Water Beetle pictured above. Another such fly rod lure, the "Naturalife May Fly" is pictured on a similiar card stock in the book "Old fly rod Lures" (2nd Edition) by John and Jim Muma. (Special thanks to collector Donna Tonelli for providing the Water Beetle picture!)


7-26-2017: Boxed assortment of Rinehart's Naturalife Water Beetles (Picture courtesy of Ellen!)

UPDATE: To learn more about Rinehart and the company's lures, pickup a copy of the book, "There's Something About A Jinx - The Fred Rinehart Company" by Cecil Douglas Carpenter published in January, 2013. This book is available from the Whitefish Press!

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. Lures pictured in Lure Lore are not for sale.

Comments? EMAIL ME!


Web Author: Tom Jacomet
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