NJ Custom fishing plug makers: A History

[DarkSkies]

Some of the best Custom plugbuilders on the East Coast came from, or live in, New Jersey. In this thread you'll get to meet and hear about them, from the smallest to the largest.

Let's hear what you've got. Even if the guy built a few plugs and never really wanted to become commercial, it's still part of fishing history and merits talking about.

So don't feel your entry or post is not significant if the person you're posting about isn't nationally known. Post up and let's see it, anything you want to post regarding NJ plug builders, from 1900 to present day.

[DarkSkies]

Please if you use info from a copyrighted source, cite the source. I do reserve the right to edit where I feel it's appropriate.

Articles, pics, comments, all are welcome within the above parameters.

To promote harmony here, there will be no critiquing or bashing of a guy's plugs. If you don't like them, that's fine, but this is not a review thread. It's an attempt to document a history of plugbuilding in NJ, and I appreciate any help you guys can offer. Thanks guys and girls.

It's gonna be a long winter, I think this could be an informative thread.

[DarkSkies]

I had an extensive conversation today with Tom Clayton, who with his son Tel runs Shoreline B&T in Wall, NJ.

I believe Tom to be a stand-up guy. Although I don't know him well, our conversation touched on many areas, among them the old time plugmakers, the state of striped bass fishing, his passion for collecting old plugs and fishing memorabilia, and some memories of him fishing the Long Branch fishing pier back in the late 1960's and 1970s.

We have some links to his site, and pics some members have posted
www.shorelinebt.com in other threads.

Based on the conversations we had, I'm going to ask our members not to post any more of the specific pics from his site in ANY thread here

As I mentioned, Tom is a very generous guy, and has agreed to let us link to his site in specific instances where the material might be helpful to our members.

He has given me permission to let our members post the links, but NOT the pics. I hope this is clear.

He wants to increase traffic to his relatively new but growing site, and I'm going to try to help him do that.

He recently registered as a member here. His member name is Surfsters.

I'm sure he would be glad to answer any questions any member or guest would have about the old-time plug makers.

He has quite an encyclopedic knowledge of these, and travels around the state at various shows offering free appraisals of old plugs and collections. In addition to that, he has written several in-depth articles for nationally recognized antique plug websites and publications.

So let me be the first to give a warm welcome to Tom Clayton of Shoreline B&T to the site!

[DarkSkies]

I hope Tom doesn't mind me posting his intro here, without the pics. This will give guys and girls who don't know him an idea of the passion he has for collecting, and maybe entice them to click on his links to see more. As we discussed, his site is growing. The pics and stories represented there are only a fraction of his collection, and the great tales he hasn't yet put down on paper.

So be sure to stop by his site often and check out what's new!

http://www.shorelinebt.com/

The intro: (notice how humble he is when he talks about his "limited" knowledge. The guy is literally a walking encyclopedia on tackle and plugbuilding history in NJ and most of the Stripercoast! )

Hello and Welcome,
This site is about two of my passions:
"Striped Bass" [ Morone Saxatalis ] and the "Saltwater Lures" that were used to catch them during the 1940's - 1960's, this time period is also known as the "Golden Age Of Surf Fishing." Being an avid striped bass fisherman and collector of antique saltwater fishing tackle; specializing in "East Coast Striper Lures." I will try to share some of my limited knowledge with you.
I will also be posting "Fishing Tips" from many of the top striper fishermen on the east coast. So, whether you are an expert or novice; or whether you fish the beach, rivers, bridges, or canals; this is a place where you can find out many of those well kept secrets that the pro's use.
While you are here, please visit the "Photo Gallery". It's always nice to check out pictures of "Striped Bass" just about anytime. But maybe, you are one of those guys or gals that needs a little motivation to get in the fishing mood during the season. Well if you are, this is a great place to get it!
Also, check out the "Tackle Store"; It is loaded with the newest surf fishing tackle available at hard to beat prices. The store also features custom wooden striped bass lures from many of the major builders.

"This Site Will Be An Ongoing Process"
"So Please Check Back Often"!!!
Thanks For Visiting,
Tom Clayton

[DarkSkies]

Tom has quite an extensive collection of pics and documentation about antique plugs, the pioneers who made them, and the old-time salts who fished them.

Take a look at his page, and click on any of the links to further explore some of the old time names you used to hear thrown around the tackle shops as the guys sat around the wood stoves for a morning of BSing after a tough night of fishing.

http://www.shorelinebt.com/id3.html

[DarkSkies]

Background:
Stan Gibbs was an old-time plug maker from Buzzard's Bay, Mass. The business he originally started in the 1940's, having changed hands several times after he first sold it in 1972, is still running today.

He was known for several specialties... among them the Canal Special Pencil Poppers, 3 1/8z pencil poppers designed to give him an edge in the Cape Cod Canal, his plug testing grounds. There was also a 5 1/4z popper designed specifically for Canal use.

He's also responsible for such innovations as the "Cast-A-Lure", Mackerel paint finishes, differently designed bottle poppers and bottle darters, the California special pencil popper, at 5+ oz one of the heaviest pencil poppers at the time.

However, the original pencil popper he improved and personally marketed up and down the Stripercoast was arguably one of his most successful plugs.





Originally, he had friends that made and were using a similar plug, and got their approval to design and market it further. Stan Gibbs pencil poppers gradually gained popularity and respect in the fishing world because they casted farther than anything else you could buy at the time.

From an original start where young Stan, an avid fisherman, made a few plugs at a time for friends, finished with nail polish as a sealer, he grew a little every year. His first big runs of pencil poppers were around 1946, when his production numbered into the hundreds. He branched out as his different plug lines began to gain popularity.

He started visiting other states as the personal ambassador of his company, to market his plugs. This story begins when one of those trips took him to NJ in the late 1950's, when he visited Cap Colvins B&T in Seaside Park, and some other old-time NJ shops.

Fishermen, who had only been used to slinging bucktails, tins, and some very light wooden plugs, raved how these "pencil poppers" could get out further and cast better in strong winds. They began to see that the pencil poppers gave them an edge, and the rest is plug building history.

[ledhead36]

I hope Tom doesn't mind me posting his intro here, without the pics. This will give guys and girls who don't know him an idea of the passion he has for collecting, and maybe entice them to click on his links to see more. As we discussed, his site is growing. The pics and stories represented there are only a fraction of his collection, and the great tales he hasn't yet put down on paper.

So be sure to stop by his site often and check out what's new!

http://www.shorelinebt.com/

The intro: (notice how humble he is when he talks about his "limited" knowledge. The guy is literally a walking encyclopedia on tackle and plugbuilding history in NJ and most of the Stripercoast! )

Hello and Welcome,
This site is about two of my passions:
"Striped Bass" [ Morone Saxatalis ] and the "Saltwater Lures" that were used to catch them during the 1940's - 1960's, this time period is also known as the "Golden Age Of Surf Fishing." Being an avid striped bass fisherman and collector of antique saltwater fishing tackle; specializing in "East Coast Striper Lures." I will try to share some of my limited knowledge with you.
I will also be posting "Fishing Tips" from many of the top striper fishermen on the east coast. So, whether you are an expert or novice; or whether you fish the beach, rivers, bridges, or canals; this is a place where you can find out many of those well kept secrets that the pro's use.
While you are here, please visit the "Photo Gallery". It's always nice to check out pictures of "Striped Bass" just about anytime. But maybe, you are one of those guys or gals that needs a little motivation to get in the fishing mood during the season. Well if you are, this is a great place to get it!
Also, check out the "Tackle Store"; It is loaded with the newest surf fishing tackle available at hard to beat prices. The store also features custom wooden striped bass lures from many of the major builders.

"This Site Will Be An Ongoing Process"
"So Please Check Back Often"!!!
Thanks For Visiting,
Tom Clayton

Shoreline store is no more. Don't know if he is a victim of sandy or the economy. Anyway you look at it it sucks. Hope to see him at the shows this spring.

[7deadlyplugs]

I think it is awesome that there are so many guys who arent happy with the standard fare available and had the drive to build their own. Must be touch to make a living at tho.