There are two books out on South Bend lures and only one of them even mentions this rare South Bend lure and none picture it! The Ozark-Oreno is a metal bait produced by South Bend in the late 1930's and early 1940's. Jim Bourbon, in his book "South Bend - Their Artificial Baits and Reels" indicates that the lure was cataloged only in 1939 under South Bend #544 and a weedless version under the same catalog number for the years 1940-1942, pictured here.
The "Trout-Master" by L&S Bait Company is a pretty scarce lure and these two examples, courtesy of Cap'n John (Kolbeck) were found in their original boxes! These came in three models, the shallow runner (#55), the medium runner (#60) and the deep runner (#65). This model also exists in the solid opaque eye as well.
This plastic lure is not marked. It has belly hardware identical to Heddon one piece on the belly.
This metal lure is not marked. It could well be homemade but there is a lot of craftsmanship in it to merit a look! (Picture courtesy of Bernie Lipinski!)
UNKNOWN UPDATE: Collector Mike Rolf has identified the lure as a "Francois the Frog", made in 1947 by the Anderson Animated Bait Co. - thank you, Mike!
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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