The invention of soft baits

Here I want to talk about the small town of Akron, Ohio.

To be honest, I would have never heard of Akron if I hadn't been writing about the history of road fishing. After looking it up, I found out that this is actually the hometown of LeBron James and Curry.

In the 1920s, Fred Arbogast, who invented the wave crawler, grew up in Akron.

Nick Creme invented soft lures here in the 1950s.

It's not really a coincidence.

Akron is the home of the famous Goodyear headquarters, which was known as the "rubber capital of the world" at the turn of the last century. In addition to rubber, plastics, chemistry and electricity were also well developed.

Arbogast graduated from high school is in the Goodyear factory as a worker, amateur tinkering with some mimetic bait. 1941 launched the Hula popper on a classic Hula skirt, that is, the rubber group. I believe it is not a coincidence that the former Goodyear employees, in the environment of the "rubber capital of the world", chose rubber to make this skirt.

Creme invented the soft lure wiggle.

In the most important choice of material for the invention of the soft lure, Creme sought help from the lab of DuPont, the world leader in chemical materials.

This lab is in Cleveland, just a few dozen miles from Akron. As you can imagine, it would have been difficult for Creme to be this history maker if not for the convenient opportunity of being close to the water, being a good learner, innovative, and artisan.

In addition to providing technical support, Akron's well-developed industry makes the locals have strong purchasing power as well. Regardless of Jitterbug and wiggle, it is necessary to have spare time and money. Contemporaries in Europe were still rebuilding their homes from the ruins of the war, while most of the Chinese could not even get enough to eat.