the History:
Lure building started out as a hobby of mine. As with many lure makers, I began making baits for my own personal use and also just for the pure enjoyment of it. I soon realized that there was no way I could use all of the plugs that I had made so I started giving some away to friends to use.
the First plugs:
The two pictures on the upper left is the very first plug that I ever completed. This plug is my imitation of a Heddon King Basser. I tried to roughly copy how the line tie worked, not an exact replica, but it worked and it is very strong! Soon after this plug was finished I made my second plug shown in the bottom two pictures. This plug is identical to the first but with different paint. These two were obviously hand painted and the only two that I made before I was brave enough to try out my airbrush.
the Name:
For as far back as I can remember, my grandmother would tell us about how we were related to the Native American Chief Massasoit. Massasoit was the chief of the Wampanoag tribe when in 1621, the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations. The Wampanoag were the first inhabitants of Martha’s Vineyard and located off the island of Martha’s Vineyard there is a Cape Pogue. One of the sons of Massasoit and later chief of the Wampanoag himself was named Metacomet or King Philip. One day while doing research on the arts and history of the Wampanoag I came across King Philip’s mark. He could not write so this mark was his signature. This is the capitol “p:” with the two dots. When I decided to market the Pogue Plug and get a business license I had to give it a name and chose Pogue (Plugs). There are two other reasons I chose this name. The first is that my favorite band is the Pogues, and second the GMU that I hunt here in Washington is in the Pogue unit. It all started to piece together!
the Plugs:
After the purchase of a new airbrush, I started painting old beaten-up plugs and lures for friends. Through that process of repainting/repairing older plugs and lures (wooden, plastic, and metal) I was able to see the many ways in which various lures were constructed as I disassembled them. I set up a small shop in my garage and started out with my first few plugs that were imitations of the Heddon King Basser and other Northwest classics like Martin Plugs. I figured, if they used to catch salmon, they still should. I grew to appreciate the look, feel, and craftsmanship of a well built classic wooden plug. I made quite a few of these for fishing, but mainly to practice painting by trying to copy the older classic original paint patterns. These plugs were fun to make but I decided that I wanted to make something different. That is when the Pogue 4" canldefish was born.
