April 14, 2008

Lure-loving local has impressive collection

By Roy Mitchell

CENTRE — As a kid, Robert Farrar didn't fish often. He didn't own a lure or any tackle until he was almost in high school. He's since made up for it, though. Today, Farrar owns what may be the largest lure collection in all of Cherokee County.

In his early years, Farrar possessed the outdoors in his soul, though the outdoors of the Farrar family house was in the urban streets of Rome, Ga. Finally, when Robert was in 8th grade, he moved near Collinsville to help care for an ailing grandfather, and the boy's rural spirit was released upon the surrounding hills.

An angling eagerness soon began. Inheriting tackle boxes from his grandfather and a great uncle provoked young Robert to borrow an old Zebco rod and reel. Since his lure inheritance proved quite crude -- even by fishing standards of the 1970s -- Farrar supplemented his equipment by purchasing his first lures.

These first plugs, Cordell Spots and Baby Big O's, weren't bought for the sake of collecting. Robert just wanted to bag big bass in local ponds; he didn't develop a passion for collecting until adulthood.

When he was 21, Farrar moved to Leesburg and though he still purchased plugs for the purpose of the catch, he developed a penchant for picking up antique tackle at flea markets.

“I bought several boxes full of very nice old lures,” he said. “Back then it was not uncommon to pay as little as 50 cents apiece.”

In the decades following, Robert would attended numerous tackle shows, peddle lures on eBay, and buy and sell more fishing equipment than he can remember. While some of his most valuable acquisitions had benign names such as the100 Minnow and the Slope Nose, others boast more cavalier monikers like Night Radiant, Spindiver, and Killer. Despite the curious names, some of Farrar's collectables have the potential to gather hundreds of dollars each in lure markets.

Farrar not only totes around tons of tackle, he channels his fishing passion to aiding young, local anglers. He hosts Weiss Lake Junior Bassmasters meetings once a month, assisting future fisherpersons with their techniques. He also arranges entry and transportation for the juniors to the annual state tournament.

Farrar also knows how to use his tackle. He has fished bass tournaments for 16 years and even won the 2004 Angler of the Year. When he started fishing tournaments in 1992, he was in two different clubs and two different tournament trails at the same time.

“I fished nearly every weekend, sometimes both days,” he said.

Though heart and back surgeries have slowed his fishing pace, his passion for the pursuit of bass sometimes overcomes the advice from his doctors. In fact, Farrar climbed back in the boat, rod in hand, in January after undergoing open-heart surgery a month before.

Since he still actively angles, correctly gauging the size of Farrar's collection is a challenge. He has sets of lures available for actual fishing, but a parade of other plugs, either too old or too precious to rip over Weiss's rocky points, abide in boxes that never see the fiberglass of his bass boat. Still, the only lures Farrar truly considers part of his “collection” are those on actual display in wooden cases with glass fronts.

A few years ago, he finally counted the display lures, which he houses in an undisclosed location. They numbered over 6,000.

“I don't know if I have met all the collectors in the county,” he said. “Of the ones that I know, I have the largest collection.”

Robert pointed out what collectors often seek in antique tackle.

“The condition of an old lure is most important,” he explained. “Only the lures in mint condition will bring the very best prices.”

He added that wooden baits and glass eyes are preferred, while particular colors may also peak the collector's curiosity. He advised that the latest edition of “Old Fishing Lures & Tackle” by Carl Luckey is of immeasurable assistance to the novice collector.

Farrar, 51, has seen a drastic increase in lure collecting since his first ventures with flea market finds. He credits the Internet with the newfound popularity of lure collecting.

“It's extremely rare now to find antique tackle at the flea market” because of the Internet he said. “Most is now bought and sold on eBay

Farrar said lure collecting isn't a hard hobby to pick up, either.

“Joining the National Fishing Lure Collectors Club at www.nflcc.org and going to a lure show is a good way to get involved with lure collecting,” he said.

arrar recently attended a regional lure show in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. and will travel to another in Decatur this fall. Undoubtedly, he plans on increasing the size of his collection.