The Middle School plug masters

[bababooey]

Field and Stream did a great article on these kids who are learning the craft early. Great read.




http://www.fieldandstream.com/plugschool



The Middle School Plug Masters



The Middle School Plug Masters

Photo Gallery by Joe Cermele. Uploaded on March 09, 2009




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A wooden plug is more than a fishing lure. It’s a piece of art. And just like conventional artists, the people who build them are both revered and criticized. Snoop around on any striper-fishing message board and you’ll find anglers and collectors arguing over which builders make the best-swimming plugs. Which do better paint jobs. And which have the best methods for through-wiring their lures. Certain builders that produce only a handful of baits a year can expect up to $100 for one of their beauties, and lines to get them at local tackle shows can stretch a mile.

I once tried my hand at turning, sanding, wiring, and airbrushing wooden plugs. I gave up after the second one – it just took too much dedication. But when I asked Danielle Kraemer if making them was difficult, she smiled and gave a shrug as she flipped on the lathe. “Not really,” she said. “It’s pretty easy. I’m actually just starting on my second lure.”

Danielle is one of about 160 seventh-graders at Bordentown Regional Middle School in New Jersey taking teacher Greg Poole’s industrial design class. All of these kids are turning plugs. And some of their creations rival those of professional builders in both quality and design.

Photo by Joe Cermele


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The seventh-graders at Bordentown Regional Middle School in New Jersey are turning out some serious striper plugs in shop class. It's a project dreamt up by New Jersey teacher and angler Greg Poole, and with a little help from a master plug-maker and a group of kids genuinely interested in learning the craft, the result is some impressive poppers and Danny swimmers that any surfcaster worth his salt would agree will catch. This is their story.

[williehookem]

What a cool thing for them to be involved with, fantastic story.

[basshunter]

Sounds like they had a lot of fun as well.

[surfwalker]

Wish there were more stories like these. Mr. Poole and Mr. White have to be thanked for such a great class. Keep the young ones busy and interested. The youngsters looked pretty enthusied and happy about thier projects. Who knows, someday one of them may be a major plugmaker that we as pluggers may all benefit from.

Happy Trails

[DarkSkies]

I think it's great, it gives these kids an appreciation of the outdoors, and teaches them they can make good stuff with tools and their hands. These kinds of skills are being minimized as society focuses on books and advanced degrees. Kudos to those teachers for helping these kids make works of art that are practical.