Should I fish with my vintage lures?
Should I fish with my vintage lures?
This is not an uncommon question among newer members of the vintage fishing lure collecting arena. Most collectors would answer no to this question if the goal of the collection is to maintain or enhance financial value or even to maintain the current condition of your lures.
A lure in excellent condition is likely not going to have been fished before, or at least very often. The contact with debris and structure in the water along with hook marks and pointers caused by casting, reeling, and fish striking are not going to be conducive to maintaining the quality a collector is looking for in a top notch lure.
The answer is going to start to change as the value and condition of the lure in question goes down the scale. Lures that are not in good shape to begin with aren’t going to lose as much value (if any) from being fished. A low value lure will probably not lose anything by being fished.
This question can arise because of the emotional potential involved in some collectors’ motivations. Someone who collects because it reminds them of lures they used to see their grandfather fish with is more likely to want to put the lure in the water than a collector who enjoys mainly the aesthetics of vintage lures or the possible financial rewards of collecting.
This is a question that each collector will ultimately have to answer for themselves based on the value of the lures in question and their own personal motivations for collecting vintage fishing lures.
If a collector decides that the right decision for them is to fish with the lures, then a recommended course of action would be to buy some vintage lures specifically for this purpose that are in poorer condition with more wear with a lower value so that loss of financial value can be minimized.
