Lots of Red Eyes & Pointy Hooks!

[Montana Jim]

Lots of Red Eyes & Pointy Hooks!

I collect Hofschneider "Red Eye" Fishing Lures. 

I grew up near Rochester NY, next door to the descendants of Dr. Frederick Hofschneider, dentist, inventor, and holder of a number of "dental" related patents.  As an avid fisherman he also patented the wonderfully effective "Red Eye" fishing lure in the early 1920s.  It's a staple lure for old-school fisherman on any fresh or salt water lake, and any other waters holding lake trout, muskey, walleye, salmon, bass... they were used all over the world.  Are you familiar with them?

Several varieties were available in a dozen sizes and variations, a few different materials and a few different changes for any kind of fishing to include fly, casting, spinning, weedless, trolling... etc.

I have several lures all stamped either pre-patented, patend-pending, or patent-applied with the patent number.  I have some period paper advertisements and catalogs, with many still in boxes or displays.  The company he started sold out to other companies through the years and the product is still available today, although not with the original "Hofschneider" name on it. 

They aren't worth a hell-of-a-lot, I just knew the family which kinda' makes it interesting to me.

Anyway... here are some of my collection... thanks for looking.

 

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[fossis]

Re: Lots of Red Eyes & Pointy Hooks!

Very Nice collection, I gave my son all my old plugs, & we mounted them on a large piece of driftwood. Fossis......................

 

[TreasureTales]

Re: Lots of Red Eyes & Pointy Hooks!

I had not heard of that name prior to your post. Very nice collection! You've got lots that are NIB, and the advertising to go with your lures is outstanding. Some of those lures (the red and white ones) remind me of the DareDevils of my childhood.

I guess with these lures "the eyes have it." LOL I don't know, if I were a bass or a walleye I'd be a little nervouse seeing them big red eyes coming my way.

 

[chong2]

Re: Lots of Red Eyes & Pointy Hooks!

have you tried any of them?

 

[trusty]

Re: Lots of Red Eyes & Pointy Hooks!

I guess with these lures "the eyes have it." LOL I don't know, if I were a bass or a walleye I'd be a little nervouse seeing them big red eyes coming my way.

TreasureTales - Check this "The Eyes Have It" - my friend's shop: http://www.theeyeshaveit.com/

Jim - Somewhere...in a box.......in a closet..... I have a few of those lures.

 

[Montana Jim]

Re: Lots of Red Eyes & Pointy Hooks!

have you tried any of them?

You betcha... they are awesome as advertised...

 

[chong2]

Re: Lots of Red Eyes & Pointy Hooks!

too cool! on the ads pictured, there are some with dual treble hooks, where does the string tie?

 

[UnEarthed72]

Re: Lots of Red Eyes & Pointy Hooks!

Great collection of spoons and plugs Montana

I'm an avid angler..well wait..lets put it this way...........from the time i was able to go fishing with my father it has been my 1st love..that was until one day late summer 2007,when i picked up a metal detector and dug up my very first clad penny....but hey' second place ain't so bad is it....lol

the nickel colored spoons you have in the last few pics will slaughter the walleyes here in Oneida Lake...NO DOUBT ABOUT IT...first Saturday in may the season opens back up again..

Shawn

 

[Montana Jim]

Re: Lots of Red Eyes & Pointy Hooks!

too cool! on the ads pictured, there are some with dual treble hooks, where does the string tie?

The spoons were there are two sets of hooks still tie from rthe front... a leader or a swivel works best with al lof these. The front set of double hooks lays flat against the spoon's belly while being retrieved while dragging the treble hooks.

Great collection of spoons and plugs Montana

I'm an avid angler..well wait..lets put it this way...........from the time i was able to go fishing with my father it has been my 1st love..that was until one day late summer 2007,when i picked up a metal detector and dug up my very first clad penny....but hey' second place ain't so bad is it....lol

the nickel colored spoons you have in the last few pics will slaughter the walleyes here in Oneida Lake...NO DOUBT ABOUT IT...first Saturday in may the season opens back up again..

Shawn

Oneida Lake... I msis fishing htere terribly... I used to spend a lot of time looking for walleye there. *sigh* I was a fishing freak when I lived there in Rome, and now wish I spent more time detecting there... oh well...

 

[chong2]

Re: Lots of Red Eyes & Pointy Hooks!

The spoons were there are two sets of hooks still tie from rthe front... a leader or a swivel works best with al lof these. The front set of double hooks lays flat against the spoon's belly while being retrieved while dragging the treble hooks.

 

[chong2]

Re: Lots of Red Eyes & Pointy Hooks!

did you sleep the beer off jim :P

 

[Montana Jim]

Re: Lots of Red Eyes & Pointy Hooks!

did you sleep the beer off jim :P

LOL... er, I'm suppossed to sleep it off?

 

[chong2]

Re: Lots of Red Eyes & Pointy Hooks!

just thought id return the saying
by the way, awesome your smoke free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[capndan151]

Re: Lots of Red Eyes & Pointy Hooks!

 

[TheRockCollector]

Nice

 

[curlyhorse]

Mr. Jim, just saw an old post of yours - i grew up in Buffalo and my Dad used red eyes all the time. I am trying to find some to fish for salmon in Oregon where I now live. Would you have any that you could part with? thanks for a reply

Chuck Ljungberg

 

[gillious]

Absolutely amazing collection! i have never seen or knew they made the plugs. and only recently discovered the spoons which are killers on the pike here on Round Pond near Charlotte. Oh just a quick tip the south side of the bridge on Oneida Lake is a killer spot for the Walleye.

 

[Rkamola]

Hi Montana Jim. Leo Hofschneider was the real creator of the red-eye wiggler, and I am his grandson. The Hofschneider family lived at #70 Penhurst St. In Rochester, NY, with children Joe, Rob, Dorrie, Morma, Chick, AnnMarie, and Carolyn, who is my mom.
I can tell you the real story behind the Red-eye Wiggler...

 

[Rkamola]

The Hofsncneider brother were Leo( my grandfather) and his brother Frederick, the dentist. Leo was a a gifted metalworker with hand tools and a creative genius. He was the father of seven kids and, among other jobs, to make ends meet he would sharpen re-usable scalpel blades and make and repair medical/dental instruments for hospitals and doctors in Rochester. My mom can remember watching him making Red-eye Wigglers by hand out in the garage on Penhurst St.
The real story according to my mom, goes like this: Leo was on a fishing trip in Lake George, NY, and no one he was with was catching much. So he found a metal can on the ground, and cut out a spoon-shaped piece of the can and made a lure out of it with the tools he had on hand. It worked, and he started catching fish!
When he got back home, he decided to improve the lure by adding the red eyes, and a metal wire snap for attaching it to the line. They didn't have much money, so Leo approached his brother, Frederick, who was considerably better-off being a dentist, to help him secure a patent on the lure. Frederick secured a patent and rights to the lure in HIS name. The lure was successful for a while, and was made by the Hofschneider Lure Co., as is stamped on the original Red-eyes. Now the company is long gone but copies of the lure are still being made and sold today. Leo died on November 27, 1967 without ever making a dollar on HIS Red-eye Wiggler, as Frederick owned and controlled the patent and the rights to the lure.
I have a 6 year-old boy now, and we are starting to go on father-son fishing trips together. I sure would love to have a few original Red-eye's, to keep and fish with myself, but also to pass down to my boy, Conrad, that connection to his great-granddad, Leo Hofschneider. Would you be willing to sell me a few lures from your collection, or know anyone else who has originals that would ?
P.S. I told my mom, Carolyn Hofschneider, that I saw your post on TreasureNet, and if you would like to, she would very much like to speak with you, to authenticate this story, and give you the whole background.
Hope to hear from you soon - Roman Kamola