Talk:Wobbler (fishing)

Hard Pressed to Find Formal References

You would be hard-pressed to find a formal reference describing various types of recreational fishing lures, and the names used for them. Recreational fishing, generally speaking, an informal pursuit. Hence I delete the "does not quote it's references" tag. It's simply not appropriate to ask for them. Codman 02:52, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

The above is a pretty mis-guided statement in so many ways. Of the 350+ fishing references in my library, a great many deal with lures, their names, histories and uses. To say that finding a formal reference would be "hard-pressed" is really hard to understand. Most everyone of my fishing books would meet Wikipedia:Citing sources and Wikipedia:Notability guidelines. The other part of the statement: Recreational fishing, generally speaking, is an informal pursuit is equally mis-guided. What makes a pursuit "formal"? Trust me, fishing, recreational fishing has probably got more formality associated with it than many other pursuits. Think Department of Fish and Game and Fishing Licenses. Is gardening a formal or informal pursuit? Don't think you have to have a gardening license.--Mike Cline 21:01, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Well good for you for having such a comprehensive library. I'm an extremely keen fishermen but don't have such a library. I don't really see the need to reference stated facts about fishing lures that every keen fishermen knows. If it makes you feel better though, do so. You could alternatively provide these references as further reading. Codman 02:49, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

If Merged, the article title should be Crankbaits not Wobblers

Although Wobbler may have been an early term for this type of lure, it certainly isn't the contemporary one. Both Cabelas and Bass Pro shop which are the leading retailers of fishing lures in the U.S. sell Crankbaits, they don't sell wobblers.--Mike Cline 21:01, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

The desire to merge Wobbler (fishing) and Crankbait into the Wobbler article forced me to do a bit of research. In my limited library the first reference to Crankbait is found in Advanced Bass Fishing (Weiss 1976). This corresponds with the ten year aniversary of the advent of professional bass fishing. Prior literature refers to lures known today as crankbaits as Plugs of various types. Modern Book of Black Bass (Dalrymple - 1972), Fishing For Bass (Livingston - 1974), The Complete Book of Bass Fishing (Gresham - 1966), Bass Fishing (Kesting - 1962), Fresh-Water Bass (Bergman - 1962), Black Bassing Fishing - Theory and Practice (Lincoln - 1952), Bass Tackle and Tactics (Hollis - 1945), Bass Fishing (Gasque - 1945), My Friend the Black Bass (Hawes - 1930) and earlier. Throughout this Bass Fishing specific set of references, the term Wobbler [fishing] is not used. Instead, whenever a hard bait such as today's crankbaits is talked about, it is called a plug. In broader references - Lure Fishing (Becker - 1970) a whole chapter is devoted to "Fishing The Plugs". No reference to Wobblers is made. In How to Find Fish and Make Them Strike (Bates - 1974) reference made only to plugs, not wobblers or crankbaits. Finally in A History of Angling (Waterman - 1981) makes the connection betweeen plugs and crankbaits without any reference to Wobblers as a specific type of lure. There are references to specific lures with "Wobbler" in their name (K. O. Wobbler, Wobbling Spoon, etc.).

Based on the above, the term "Wobbler" is an ill-concieved term for the lures described in this these articles. The term crankbait is contemporary and accurately describes the type of lure that has derived from the historical plugs used by fisherman. It would be interesting to learn who actually coined the term--bass fisherman or the tackle companies that sold them.--Mike Cline 00:47, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

It was not my idea to call plugs "wobblers". In fact, I was never keen on the term at all. I was just cleaning up the lure pages on Wikipedia which frankly, at the time were hopeless, and still need work now. Sure, let's rename this page, from "wobbler" to "crankbait" or "plug". Be aware that crankbait really is only a term used widely in the USA. In Australia these lures are better known as "plugs" or "divers". I think "plug" is the best, most encompassing term to use for this page's renaming. Codman 02:52, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

I am going to merge both articles into Plug (fishing) as it is the most generic term. We can then sort the whole lot as one article and fork if necessary. Bfp _(talk) 20:55, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

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Added assessment template. LaughingVulcan 23:19, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Cleaning up assessment template from previous assessment drive (this article was missed in the assessment cleanup.) Added Class=Start and Importance=Mid to this assessment template and also to WikiProject Fishing and Fisheries banner above. LaughingVulcan 01:54, 28 August 2008 (UTC)