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Bob Hart's Saltwater Lure Page
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This Months' Featured Lures! This time we cross the Hudson river and travel to East Paterson, New Jersey for a look at some rare and interesting lures made by a little known company named Emmerson & Ruhren. Starting in business in the late 1940's they made many different lures for the growing Striped Bass lure market. Following their counterparts across the river in Manhattan and Brooklyn they made lures in many similar configurations as the Russo's, Snook Baits and Masterlures of the same era. This year a large significant find of Emmerson & Ruhren Floating Surface Lures came into being and we'll start with them. It is not known if this is the first lure of theirs to go into production but after a little detective work and some discussion with other collectors the consensus is that it might very well have been. Approximately two to three dozen of these lures were found but only a hand full of boxes have surfaced. This was a historic find for saltwater lure collectors as it is one of the only picture type boxes to ever have been made for a saltwater lure. Most saltwater lure boxes are very generic and plain looking except for a handful but this one with the lure pictured is very different. I've always admired the early picture boxes made by Heddon, Shakespeare and the other companies of the early 1900's with their lures pictured on the box tops and now saltwater lure collectors have something like those early boxes to admire too. Onto the lures..
This is a large surface lure with a front spinner in their rainbow color which is stamped on top of the box. The lure itself has no markings on it of any kind unlike all of their later lures that are marked on the belly. If the box wasn't found with it I think it might have been mistaken for a SO-CO or Pt. Jude Bait lure as the paint pattern is similar to their Mullet pattern. This large glass eyed lure measures 7" long and weighs 3.1 oz. It is thru-wired but the two belly hooks are held in place with screw eyes. The hooks are about 2/0 in size. This is the only lure made by them that I've seen with screw eye hook holders and that is another reason I think it was an early production lure. Screw eyes didn't hold up well in saltwater unless they were massive and these aren't. In the next few pictures are the various paint patterns that were made. (Thanks to Roy Curley for the use of his beautiful lures for these pictures.)
(Check out those great looking gill marks) The next lure is a large surface swimmer in a yellow scale color. This paint pattern is almost identical to a Russo paint pattern I've seen. The swimmer lure bodies look to be made similar also. This lure is almost 8" long and weighs 3 oz. Thru-wired it is stamped on the belly "Emmerson & Ruhren". Almost all Emmerson's came in the box pictured below, although some didn't have the label on top.
The next lure pictured is a very large popper in their "Fireplug" color. Almost 9' long and weighing 3 1/2 oz. is was a very large lure. Most of the lures they made were marked on the belly "Emmerson & Ruhren Fireplug". They also used the Gantron Corp. fireplug finish like Creek Chub did in the same era. It also helps date the lures to around 1950 as that is when Creek Chub started to produce their lures in those colors.
The next lure pictured is a darter, also in Fireplug color and about 8" long and 3 oz. in weight. This is the only one I've ever seen. (Thanks Bob for the use of your lure.)
Pictured next is a mid-sized popper in a White Fireplug paint pattern. This lure is only about 6" long and weighs about 2.2 oz.
Last up is a straight Eel in blue Fireplug finish. It is 9" long and weigh about 2.8 oz.
That's it for now. Come back in a month or so for another Saltwater lure.
If you'd like some help with identifying a saltwater lure you're not sure about or if you have any saltwater lures for sale or trade you can email me at:
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Color
collection of Surface Lures 
Surface
lure in Herring color
Surface
lure in Spotted Trout 
