It's sad to know that some of the best lures will be lost but I can also understand why. These guys have put their heart and soul into their lures and to pass all that blood, sweat, and tears down to somebody that is just looking for a quick buck or to make a name for themselves and doesn't appreciate the time and knowledge that it took to acheive a great line of lures would probably be enough to make them turn in their graves. I think that it's that same mind set that made those great lures to begin with. If it was me I think that I could only pass it down to family or a true friend that in my heart I would know for a fact that they would carry on the quality and tradition of the lures.

I personally would like to leave my mark on trapping, what else would be a better way that making a lure that everyone would use?

a story a little along the lines of "tradition".

a very well known maker of the catfish bait "Bee-Jay" made his product just a few miles from here for decades. it made him a multi-millionaire. he passed several years ago and one of his "family" took over the business. ran it into the ground and went "belly-up".

another individual bought the business, along with the old mans "recipe" with the deal. well, right off, he changed the packaging label, containter from glass to plastic, and reduced the amount from 16 ounces to 13 ounces. this was in his first months of producing a product that has been successful for over 40 years. IT AIN'T WORKIN'!! already, i've got customers complaining about it. they're wanting the old original glass jars of Bee-Jay, with the original labeling. i tell them that the business changed hands and this is what is available. my sales of this one product has dropped by over 75% in the first year.

IF IT AIN'T BROKE, don't fix it!!

the grump.

it would be a shame if these formulas werent passed on and kept being formulated and marketed .... after all thats what all those years to get it just right were for right ?? to make sumthin that will catch the critters !!! this brings up another matter ..... the other day i was talkin to a GREAT trapper from this site .... he is VERY very low key .... but i can tell by talkin to him that this man KNOWS his stuff !!! now i dont expect him to leave this earth anytime soon (same with paul, bob, and asa) but i do think it would be a BIG loss if he did so without AT LEAST writin a book/books, or video/videos to pss on his vast knowledge .... it takes years of DOIN sumthin in order to gain the knowledge these men have ... not to mention how many years that their mentors had spent in gettin things just right !! so if ya read this .... yeah ya know who ya are !!! im still BEGGIN ya to do so .... would hate to see all the info one day lost !!!

It quite sad to think if trapping is still legal or feasible a 30-40 years from now we could no longer have Dobbins or Lenons Lures on the market. How many feel that lure making is a dying tradition?

270Jake, there are new lure makers popping up all the time. As long as there is a demand for lures, there will be luremakers.

This is about a sad post,i reckon i know what i will be stocking up on here in the next few years.

Being that lure making isn't an exact science, making lures with a reasonably close consistency from year to year is the real problem that takes experience, learning to roll with the punches so to speak, like with the different temperature range from season to season as example. I think this is where successors to names like Mast, Dailey and Nelson have failed to satisfy past customers of the originators. The list of ingredients is only half the story in lure making. Its sort of like knowing and practicing all of the important factors in trapping but not having the experience or insight into picking the best set locations. My Dad used to say one has to "think like a coyote" and everyone is not able to come anywhere near to that, never being able to place sets properly while others pick that up right away. I have had students that were overnight successes and other that failed completely for that reason alone. Ace

I say that they deserve to take their secrets with them,you don,t spend a lifetime of working at something just to give it to someone and hope they won't ruin your good name.Even the best intentioned person couldn't make a bait consistantly,exactly,and perfectly the same as the one who made the recipe to start with. A saleable lure has to have consistancy,if you bought a great lure and then bought some more and it was different you wouldn't be happy.
Hopefully we won't lose anybody too soon,but thats up to the man upstairs.
There will be new lure makers that are even now making their mark and the cycle continues.
But I do agree that it will be sad to lose the person behind the lures and their knowledge,support,expertise,friendship.

Very well stated Asa and I certainly agree. There are some constants and teachable basics and fundamentals that notes and practice in application will help you along.However in this business the variables do challenge all of us along the way with respects to consistency and a slight odor/color variation from batch to batch. I think it is almost near impossible to derive at the "exact" same odor result or consistency when using organics and natural occuring products.

Gland consistency and base materials will even vary depending on whether you buy fresh cut or ground glands for example. Some that sell you ground glands can be full of fecal matter from not being cleaned well and not knowing what good glands should smell and look like when ground. If you buy ground glands that are more black in color tint versus a tan/brown color you can rest assured they didnt strip the fecal deposits from the glands. The odor is obvious as well. So to keep things consistent you should buy and clean your own glands and then you know there isnt any filler material or fecal droppings left in that will alter the final resultant odor.

Therefore the odor from this batch of gland lure will vary in color and odor upon completion due to the fecal matter in the mix.There is just so much to teach that to do a close mimic to anothers original formula would take a least a few years of application time to see if it was a good likeness or not.Then of course the animal responses would be the next determining factor.

So from what I'm hearing. It's kinda like Gramma's Chocolate Cake, your wife can have the recipe, but it's never the same. lol.

I once grilled a t-bone to perfection, haven't been able to it since but will still keep trying.

A.J. wrote...So from what I'm hearing. It's kinda like Gramma's Chocolate Cake, your wife can have the recipe, but it's never the same. lol.

Good analogy A. J.! I've been around a long time and I haven't found anyone who could bake pies and make oustanding pie crusts like my mother. Hope my wife Maria doesn't read this, LOL! Ace

You said it Asa. Nothing like mammas cooking and baking. This younger generation hasnt a clue for the most part.

More fun than a barrel o' monkeys!

I have thought of this subject many times. I try to use different brands just in case a lure is not made anymore.

Ogorman said he'd give me his secret recipes.

You mean Dana?

Dana makes them and yea, i guess he did hand it over to her in what 84 or something?

A question for all of you lure makers.

If all of you were given a formula; let's say it is Lenon's Super All Call for Fox. Would each of you be able to have a lure that smelled the same and have the fox react to it the same as Lenon's does?