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July 5, 2001 - Vol. 6, No. 4

Ozark-Oreno South Bend Lure

Ozark-Oreno
Rare Ozark-Oreno South Bend Lure

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.

Dart-Oreno
South Bend Dart-Oreno

The lure is very much like South Bend's Dart-Oreno, having a flat metal face with eyes. The difference is that the face is heart-shaped rather than oval like the Dart-Oreno. Both have raised painted eyes on the face.

Drake Sea-Bat
Authentic Sea-Bat Lure & Box

Fakes and frauds are not rare in tackle collecting (and this is not unique to just this collectible...) and this lure's box is one example. Fake boxes for the Drake Sea-Bat lure have been produced and I've personally seen a couple in antique malls. The original box shown has 2-color printing while the reproductions have a label made from a photocopy of the original. The fake boxes have a identical label but it is in black and white only.

L&S Trout-MasterL&S Trout-Master
L&S Trout-Master Lures

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.

UNKNOWNS

Unknown
Unknown

This plastic lure is not marked. It has belly hardware identical to Heddon one piece on the belly.

Unknown Unknown
Unknown

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
Copyright ©2001 by Tom Jacomet - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED