LARRY WOLFE

This is an assortment by Heddon. When I was at Knoxville a few years ago, two PROMINANT collectors said they had never seen this before (at first, they just thought it was something I hade made up, but I assured them that I DID NOT . . . it one of my prize possessions from the late Cliff McDaniel).

My BIO

Hello. My name is Larry Wolfe. I was born in Fort Worth, Texas and moved close-by to Arlington while quite young and have lived here ever since. I have taught school since 1969 and currently teach both Algebra II and Geometry at Lamar High School here in my city. The two delights of my life are my daughter, Lisa and son, James. This stage of my life finds me single and remodeling a home I bought a little over a year ago. I am working on the tackle room sanctuary, but most items are not yet on the new walls.

My venture into collecting fly baits began differently from Henry and other folks. Although having several fly rods and a sizable amount of Heddon “Bass Bugs,” I have NEVER been fly-fishing in my life! Needless to say, my “neck of the woods” does not have any pristine streams that are the haunts for “Rainbows,” “Browns,” “Brookies” and the like. Here is how it evolved. At first, I just bought a few random baits (not fly baits) that happened to speak to me. Nothing special and certainly nothing of consequence. Each came from one vendor at a fairgrounds in East Texas. But, I also met another vendor/collector (Joe Grohmann) who told me about the NFLCC. I went to a swap meet in Dallas and was “hooked.” Next, items with buck-tails and feathers started getting my interest and my first significant purchase was a Heddon “Artistic Minnow” in Sienna Crackleback. What a beauty! This was at a National in Little Rock, Arkansas. While there, I was going from room to room with a tackle box of miscellaneous items. One fellow took note of a Bomber I had and said “Let’s make a trade for something.” I looked about and saw a beautiful Heddon 975 “Bass Bug Spook” in Yellow Shore. We made a deal . . . and with that transaction, my course was set. Over the next years I bought all color patterns in both sizes of these “Bass Bug Spooks” . . . all the “Wilder-Dilg Spooks” . . . all the 740 “Popper Spooks” . . . and all the “Runtie Spooks” (with the exception of the Black Shore). I have not yet tried to get “Bug-a-Bees” nor “Punkies.” During this time period, I also got a complete set of “Widgets,” both “Pop-eyed Frogs,” and most all of both sizes of the “Flap-tail Mice” (need both sizes of the black ones). In addition, I am only lacking a couple of the cork-bodied “Bass Bugs” and a couple of the cork-bodied “Wilder-Dilgs.” Also have, 3 of the wood “Runties” and just 3 “Fuzzy Bugs.” I am proud to say, that perhaps over 95% of these items are EX+ to NM! A few kind folks have said I have some above-average pieces, however, I have seen various collections FAR, FAR GREATER than mine and I am in awe of what I have gazed upon.

There have been many persons who have been gracious in sharing their knowledge and expertise, most notably Gene Meisberger and the late Cliff McDaniel. Perhaps my most prized possessions came from Cliff and they hold great significance and sentiment to me.