Daily photo by Gary Cosby Jr. Steve Glenn and Billy Prince talk fishing lures in front of Prince’s collection of antique lures. Prince is the National Fishing Lure Collectors Club Region 3 vice president. The NFLCC show will be at the Holiday Inn in Decatur this weekend.

Bring old lures for a look by pros

By Ronnie Thomas
rthomas@decaturdaily.com · 340-2438

Careful. Don't prick your fingers while reaching into that dusty old box in the attic.

Or that one over there, stacked against the back wall
in the garage, underneath the table with all that other stuff.

Who knows? You might pull out an old fishing lure that Gramps left. And it might be worth more than you can imagine.

Billy Prince of Decatur and about 60 fishing tackle vendors from at least 14 states would like to see you this weekend at the Holiday Inn. Prince, as Region 3 vice president of the National Fishing Lure Collectors Club, is host of Decatur's 12th annual show.

Doors open Friday at 9 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. The hours Saturday are 8 a.m. to noon. Admission is $5 each day.

Prince invites the public to bring not only vintage lures but any type of fishing-related tackle — rods, reels, catalogs, advertising, minnow buckets and creels.

He and NFLCC members will give free appraisals and, if you choose, auction the items. The non-profit international organization, founded in 1976 to foster an awareness of fishing tackle collecting as a hobby, gets 10 percent.

Prince recalls a Guntersville man in 2006 bringing in so many items that the appraisal took four hours.

"He brought one tackle box with 250 lures," Prince said. "He also had several other items, including a fishing catalog dating to the 1920s, and duck hunting and fishing paintings. He auctioned every piece, bringing about $4,500."

Prince said the man wasn't a collector, but a gatherer of vintage pieces.

"He picks them up at yard sales, estate sales and finds them walking alongside the lake," Prince said.

Prince's region, one of 10 throughout the country, covers seven Southern states, but he also expects vendors from Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Missouri.

National Fishing Lure Collectors Club show

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