Crazy for the Creek Chub Cray-Z-Fish
The Creek Chub Bait Company is one of the most famous names in the history of American fishing tackle. Based in Garrett, Indiana it was one of the industry giants from its inception in 1916 to its sale to Lazy Ike Corporation in 1978. Makers of the world famous Pikie lure and dozens of other famous lures throughout the decades, most fisherman have surely fished a Creek Chub bait throughout the years. Their baits are prized by collectors and fishermen to this day. During the 1960’s the fishing industry was going through a two-fold transformation. Wooden baits were being replaced with new plastic baits and the adaptation to spinning reels meant more versatile and smaller baits were also required. As a result, tackle manufacturers began a period of experimentation. A lot of new baits hit the market. Some were big hits, and some had a decidedly shorter life cycle. Ultimately the market would decide the winners.
Creek Chub Cray-Z-Fish in Shrimp Crab Color
Cray-Z-Fish
One of these shorter life cycle baits is the Creek Chub Cray-Z-Fish. The Cray-Z-Fish was meant as a smaller plastic replacement for the traditional heavier Creek Chub Crawdad that had been so successful over the years. The Crawdad had been around since 1917 and was one of Creek Chub’s most successful lures. In hindsight those were probably some pretty big shoes to fill. The Cray-Z-Fish first hit the market in 1963 and was marketed to “Catch fish or your money back!” (As shown in the 1963 ad). Unlike its wooden predecessor, the 2 ¾” Crawdad, the Cray-Z-Fish was an all-plastic bait. It had a small 2” long body with a metal diving lip, one belly treble hook and rubber whiskers. Upon casting and line retrieve it would mimic a retreating crayfish with the whiskers resembling moving claws or pinchers. Overall, it is a very nice design especially for the time period it was made. Durability might have been an issue though. It’s common today to find these baits missing the whiskers which I have to believe frustrated fishermen at the time. While it provides nice action in the water, a strong hit or two from a determined bass would surely do some damage to these delicate appendages. The lures originally came in a cardboard box with a plastic slide top and retailed for only $1.60 each. Later they were sold on bubble topped cards.
The original advertising push was very short lived. Ads appeared for the Cray-Z-Fish nationally only during 1963. The lure was listed in the Creek Chub catalog as #9900-P and only appeared specifically (with picture) from 1963-1968. It could however be ordered directly from the company until Creek Chub was acquired by the Lazy Ike Corporation in 1978. Given the lack of continued advertising and the short-lived life in the catalog you can surmise that sales must have been slower on this lure. One can only guess as to the reason for it. For what it is worth the bait must have had some success as I get several calls a year from smallmouth bass fishermen around the country looking for this bait. They swear by it.
Colors and Sizes
The Cray-Z-Fish came in one size and six standard colors. The colors were NC-Natural Crab, SC-Shrimp Crab, SS-Silver Shad, TC-Tan Crab, TS-Tiger Stripe, and WR (sometimes called W&R)-White Red. Later, the abbreviations would slightly change but the colors would remain the same. A recent newspaper article find from January 1974 mentions new fluorescent red, yellow and green colors for trout and salmon. However, these never appeared in the official catalog.
Cray-Z-Fish in Silver Shad
Cray-Z-Fish in Red and White
Like most Creek Chub baits there are many special-order colors that are found on this lure making collecting this bait even more enjoyable.
Collectors Value
The Cray-Z-Fish in its correct matching box sells in the $20-40 range in excellent condition. Rarer colors can go for up to double that amount.
This article originally appeared in Midwest Outdoors Magazine as written by Keith Bell in the February 2023 issue.
Keith Bell
Keith Bell and his family live in Neenah, Wisconsin but spend a lot of time fishing Northern Wisconsin. Keith has been an avid angler and outdoorsman his entire life. His passion for fishing is matched only by his passion for fishing history and preservation. He is the founder and owner of MyBaitShop.com, the world's largest online vintage tackle and history website. He writes the monthly column Fishing History for Midwest Outdoors Magazine. You can reach Keith at his website or at keith.bell@mybaitshop.com
If you are interested in collecting or fishing any vintage Creek Chub Cray-Z-Fish be sure to check out our page on them.
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