Crazy Legs Fishing Lure

"Action" fishing lures have long been popular with fishermen. The old saw that many baits were made to catch fishermen and not fish often apply to these types of lures. Fishing tackle collectors often refer to such lures as "novelty lures". These make great collections and who knows, maybe even catch fish!

The feature lure this week is the Crazy Legs lure, made by Crazy Legs, P.O. Box 2322, St. Louis, Missouri, according to the label on the box. As far as I've been able to determine, it came in two sizes, the smaller numbered 350 and weighing in at 3/8 ounce and the larger numbered 500 at 1 ounce.

This surface lure is made of plastic, has moulded plastic eyes and a metal prop on the rear, mounted on a shaft which runs into the body. 4 wire legs, 2 on either side, are coated with a fuzzy material to give the impression of a bug's legs. As the lure is retrieved, the rear prop turns, causing the legs to move forward and backward.

The instructions for fishing the lure state that after casting, one should keep the rod tip elevated between 10 and 11 o'clock position and take up all the slack in the line, keeping it taut. The rod tip is then to be moved in short swift jerks to the 12 or 1 o'clock position while reeling in the excess line, allowing the lure to sit for 30-40 seconds between moves. The whole idea is to simulate a bug trying to fly off the water!

Crazy Legs Lure in Action!

As a side note, on the larger size, the rear treble is smaller than the front one, apparently to insure it didn't interfer with the rear prop.

I know of three colors for this lure, green with silver ribs, yellow with black ribs, and red with yellow ribs, but there are probably more. The two shown are in plastic boxes. Date of manufacture is unknown but is probably from the 50's or 60's. Collector value is likely in the $25-$35 range in the box.

UPDATES: Dan Ross writes to say that he has had this lure in 3 sizes, one of which was black with white ribs, similar to Heddon's Black Shore Minnow color. He also noted that it was his understanding that the lure was made in a boy's reformatory!

Tim Koeszar also wrote, saying "...I have a NIB black with silver ribs Crazy Legs #350 3/8 oz. Made by Mueller-Perry Company 4210 Carr Lane Court, St. Louis, Missouri 63119..." This is also the same manufacturer of the lure which Carl Luckey lists in his book Old Fishing Lures and Tackle #4.

Dave Massetti wrote to say that the lure also came in a 2 1/4" size, number 250. He has one in orange with gold ribs and is looking for one in the 250 size.

Jim Hull wrote " I also have a Crazy Legs Black & Silver about 3½" still new in the plastic box and has lure #500 and copyright 1971 patent pending. With original instructions. The address on the cardboard reads Mueller Perry Company 1198 South Florissant Road, St. Louis, MO."

 1973 Crazy Legs Ad

-As you can see from the above ad, the lure came in three different sizes as well as five colors.  The colors were: Black, Gold, Red, Orange and Yellow.

If anybody has additional information or paperwork such as early advertisements they would share it would be greatly appreciated.

Unknown Lures

These are two very old lures, probably from the late 1800's or early 1900's. They appear to be made of copper although a metallugy test has not been done on them. They are quite similar to the Pflueger Maybug which is pictured below.

If you have any further information on any of the items displayed on this page which you'd like to share, please send your comments to me and I'll update the page accordingly. Contributions of interesting items and/or unknowns are encouraged.

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