Appraisals, auction help lure collectors to Decatur

By Ronnie Thomas, Staff Writer, The Decatur Daily

Billy Prince takes two views of the economic downturn when considering the 14th annual National Fishing Lures Collectors Club show this weekend at Holiday Inn.
And both, he said, are positive.
“With the economy like it is, the people who have such a passion for collecting fishing lures come to the shows more or less as a family thing, like a mini-vacation,” said Prince. “They do this rather than taking two weeks and going to the Bahamas.”
Prince said also there are collectors who’d like a little extra change in their pockets to see them through until the economy strikes full force, like a largemouth bass attacking attractive bait.
“That’s the other side to the economy we’re seeing,” said the Decatur man who has been involved with the club about 28 years. “People are turning loose of the old tackle they’ve had for years and selling it.”
Prince, vice president of Region 3, which covers seven southern states, said both philosophies will be at work in Decatur, where the show runs Friday for the public from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon.
Registration for the show is $10, for members only. Non-members can get a temporary membership for $5 that covers both days. Nonmembers cannot bid in the auction.
Those who come as temporaries will get free appraisals and identification on lures they bring.
“If they want to sell them, we’ll run them through the auction at the show,” Prince said. “The club gets 10 percent of what the lures bring. It’s their option to sell or not to sell after the appraisals.”
Prince said the show has been sold out for months, and that it was 85 percent sold out at the end of last year’s show.
“We’ve added 10 more tables, bringing the total to 100 tables. That’s all that we can possibly get in the banquet hall,” he said.
Economic impact
Each year, the show is a stimulus for the local economy.
“We book around the same number of room nights every year,” said Donna Oliver, director of sales at Holiday Inn. “Last year, we booked 125.”
Lori Boger, group sales director for the Decatur-Morgan County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that number translates into an economic impact of almost $77,000.
Prince said collectors come to sell, buy and trade, and that one is coming from as far away as West Palm Beach, Fla., another from Chesapeake, Va.
“We’re anticipating collectors from about 14 different states,” he said.
Prince said some collectors don’t exhibit anything. They come only to buy.
“They don’t rent tables,” he said. “We usually have more than 40 in that category.”
Trend
Prince gives himself as an example of the trend when he traveled to shows in Grand Rapids, Mich., Peoria, Ill., and Denver, Colo.
“I travel light,” he said. “I don’t have room in the trunk to load it down. I don’t carry much at all to sell, just what I can get in a briefcase. That’s what these people coming to Decatur will do. They also will be looking for stuff to add to their own collection.”
Prince will display two of his recent acquisitions at the registration table. They are mechanical type, spring-loaded lures, a Johnson Automatic Striker from the 1930s and an Anderson Minnow from the 1940s.
“They’re not for sale,” he said. “They’re just pride and joy.”
About the club
The National Fishing Lure Collectors Club is a 5,000 member non-profit, educational, international organization founded in 1976. Its primary objectives are to foster awareness of fishing tackle collecting as a hobby and to assist members in the location, identification and trading of vintage fishing-related equipment.
It is the largest group in the world devoted to this hobby.