Joseph Pepper of Rome, New York, began making lures in the late 1800's. Although many of his lures were marked on the metal parts, many were not. One unusual characteristic was that he painted gill marks on lures in the opposite direction of normal gill marks. Another characteristic was the forward-looking glass eye on his lures. One such lure is the one pictured here which bears a striking resemblance to Heddon's "Artistic Minnow", referred to by the owner of this lure as a "Feathertail Minnow."

The lure measures 1-1/4" long and was made around 1908. Note the iris of the eye which looks both forward and up. It is in rainbow color and also came in solid yellow. The owner valued it at between $700 and $800 but indicated that due to it's rarity, it may be higher in value.

The two unknown lures pictured here are made of plastic and have painted eyes. The lure on the left measure 2" in length. The lure on the right is marked "Super Secret" on the belly and "shallow" on the lip.

Unknown Update: The lure on the left has been identified as a Bud Stewart Crawdad, a 1970' plastic bait and is pictured in Stewart's book on page 138. Thanks to Tony Nedela for the information!

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!

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Web Author: Tom Jacomet
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