View attachment 45476
Thought I would add some pictures.
A friend suggested I add some advice about the lucky Louie Shovelnose Plug, for someone trying to find one online. All I can do is pass on my experience.
1. There are no wood Lucky Louie Shovelnose fishing plugs. The shovelnose was only ever made in plastic in the late 1950's and early 1960's. There are some other Louie wood plugs that have similar heads and have always been known to fish well in the pool, but they are not Shovelnose plugs. If someone is advertising a Lucky Louie wood plug as a shovelnose, send them a message and move onto the next seller.
2. The Lucky Louie shovelnose is 5 1/4 long, but occasionally, usually by a collector, a shovelnose will be advertised as 5 1/8 long. Do not be scared off. In the language of the shovelnose, 5 1/4 does equal 5 1/8. They are the same plug and if you talk about a 5 1/8 long shovelnose online, no one will know what you are talking about. I have seen a shovelnose that measured short of 5 1/4 but I suspect short plugs were manufacturing errors. We are not talking rocket science construction.
3. Lucky Louie Shovelnose plugs are expensive. If the seller does not accept returns, move onto the next seller.
4. I have never seen a lucky Louie Shovelnose plug that has the words "Made in USA" printed on it. The regular Louie does. A collector friend says the same thing. Until someone produces an unaltered, true shovelnose, with those words on it, treat it as false shovelnose, send the seller a message and move onto the next seller.
5. Watch out for rope the dope advertising. Lots of sellers have become adept at making their plug sound like a shovelnose with statements like "this is the rare and highly sought after Louie plug by the rowers in the Tyee Pool in Campbell River," When you ask whether the plug is a shovelnose, either you will not hear from them or you will receive a terse note that the seller never said that it was, which is true. Even if the seller outright miss describes the plug as a shovelnose, there are so many false pictures and descriptions purporting to be the shovelnose on the internet, that the seller will still say that it is, because they have seen the pictures. Never buy from a seller who does not accept returns for any reason.
6. Unless you know and really trust the seller or the plug passes all of the above tests, move on. Even then there is no guarantee.
My recommendation is to buy your first shovelnose from a reputable collector or a mentor in the club. Once you have seen one, you have seen them all. It makes it less likely that you will get taken on the internet. I tried loading some more pictures but they would not post. I will try again.