Newspaper Page Text
American^
, Artisan^
by MARTI ATTOUN Contributing Editor
Working at his kitchen table bathed in natural
light, Tony Smith of Holland, Mich. (pop. 35,048), skillfully carves a piece of
basswood the size of his thumb into a lure so beautiful—and valuable—that
it will never be used to hook a fish, only a collector.
“I like creating something that will outlive me," says Smith, 60, about
the lures and spearfishing decoys that he has handcrafted for 33 years.
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Whittling a lure into shape
Smith's realistic lures resemble a good day s catch in miniature.
Each masterpiece he creates, from the 2-inch trout lures to the foot
long frog decoys—used for spearing fish through a hole in a frozen
lake—features glass eyes, handmade copper or brass parts, and
sometimes hardware salvaged from antique tackle. The jointed
wiggly-legged frog has 30 parts.
Smith, a retired engineer, began carving lures and decoys
in 1973 as a hobby that combined his love of fishing with
collecting and researching antique
tackle. Buoyed by the popular-
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Wood shavings, some as delicate as
threads, curl from his knife as a tiny brook
trout takes shape in his hands. With preci
sion cuts, he slices grooves for copper fins
and drills l/64th-inch holes on the fish's
sides, mouth and tail for hooks and propel
lers. He sands and seals the wood, primes
it, then paints—eight coats in all—the
red, green and yellow markings of a genu
ine brook trout. Strung on a wire to dry,
ity of his contemporary lures
(among collectors at fishing tackle shows,
Smith founded his home-based business,
Macatawa Bait Co., three years later.
"They’re distinct. They’re beautiful
baits," says Herb Proctor, 80, of Topsail
Island, N.C., who met Smith eight years
ago at a National Fish Lure Collectors Club
show. At the time, Proctor collected antique
tackle, but he fell hook, line and sinker for a
bluegill lure made by Smith. Since then, he’s
collected 87 Macatawa-brand baits. "I feel
like it’s a good investment.”
Tony Smith holds one of
his handcrafted fish decoys.
Prices range from SBS to S2OO, depending on the size and amount of
work invested in each lure. Smith devotes up to six hours carving and paint
ing a 6-inch lure, while creating a 20-inch decoy may take several days.
Along with fish lures and decoys, Smith carves replicas of trophy-size
catches based on photographs and measurements supplied by the angler. In
June, he completed a reproduction of a 35-pound, 55-inch-long tiger muskel
lunge for a fisherman who paid S7OO for the wooden keepsake.
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them, for their sentimental value.
"I bought a frog back and had to pay three times as much" as I sold it
for, Smith says.
When he’s not carving lures, Smith's favorite pastime is fishing. Once
or twice a week, he and his buddies fish for walleye, salmon and sheepshead
from a pier on Lake Michigan, a few miles from his home.
And what does the artistic lure maker pack along for bait.-'
“Worms,” Smith says. "I mainly use live bait."
Visit www.macatawabait.com or call (616) 886-0326 to learn more.
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Each year. Smith makes about 70 of what he calls
i the "world's most expensive lures": exquisite wooden
I beetles, crawfish, grasshoppers, perch, pumpkinseed,
catfish, turtles and whimsical species, such as patriotic
red, white and blue frogs and fish. He sells and swaps
them, along with rare antique lures from his collection
of 2,000, at shows across the nation. Sometimes he
buys back his own early creations, when he can afford
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