Charlie
Campbell

Nick
Creme

“Buck”
Perry

Virgil
Ward

Nick Crème – Invented the modern plastic worm in 1949 while living in Ohio.  Nick and Cosma Crème cooked up the perfect combination of vinyl, oils and pigments to produce a molded worm that not only looked and felt soft and alive, but also stayed that way when exposed to air over time.  The first marketed worm was the Crème Wiggle Worm.  It was sold by mail in 1951 at a cost of $1 for a pack of 5.  When the product was shown at the Cleveland Sportsman’s Show, a distributor sold 9,600 in just a few days. 

The demand soared and quickly outgrew the kitchen.  That’s when the Crème’s set up a small manufacturing plant in Akron, Ohio.  

In the late 50s, word of the soft plastic worm began to spread to bass anglers in the South.  Crème decided to move his company into the center of the bass activity and built a plant in Tyler, TX.   When professional anglers began winning early B.A.S.S. tournaments on Creme Scoundrels and Shimmy Gals, his business really took off.

Nick began to work with avid bass anglers who came up with many product innovations and rigging techniques.  Crème was one of the first lure manufacturers to utilize a field staff network, and Nick used expert anglers nationwide to introduce his worms to other fisherman.  He also became one of the first companies to sponsor a pro when, in 1967, Nick offered John Powell $18,000 a year to fish Crème worms.

Seldom does one individual in our industry have such a major impact.  Nick Crème’s invention of the plastic worm in 1949 actually revolutionized bass fishing.

Nick Crème died in 1984, but today the tradition continues.  Crème Lure Company continues to produce the original Scoundrel worm as well as new and innovative products.

Elwood Lake (Buck) Perry - Widely acclaimed as the “father of structure fishing,” his theories changed the way very serious angler approached the underwater world. 

His theories on structure fishing were based on his direct observations of fish behavior.  As a lifelong fisherman, he repeatedly observed that fish travel both in schools and along predictable paths between deep and shallow water.   These paths are determined by the bottom structure of the lake. 

Buck Perry opened up our lakes and rivers to a different style of fishing than anyone before him had ever enjoyed.  He was the first to talk about how weather affects the fish, specifically the “cold front”.

In 1946 he invented the Spoonplug lure in his North Carolina garage and the lure has remained on the market for more than five decades.  Spoonplugs are lures (tools) specifically designed to find productive structure, locate fish, and make them strike.

Even before the days of sonar, Perry was using his Spoonplugs and trolling tactics to catch deep water and offshore bass that others did not even know existed.

He spent his life educating others about bass migrations, habitat and deep water methods.   Perry published Spoonplugging: Your Guide to Lunker Catches in 1973 – considered one of the most influential fishing books ever written. He also published a nine-volume Home Study Series in 1981 and his bi-monthly newsletter, Buck Perry's The National Spoonplugger, is still published today.

Though he passed away in 2005 at the age of 90, his Spoonplugging school is still a serious educational institution for anglers.

Virgil, one of nine children, attended grade school in Easton and then moved with his parents to Amsterdam, Mo where he attended high school, graduating in 1931.  On December 3, 1933 he was united in marriage to Cleda Irene Thornbrugh and to this union, four children were born.  He was a member of the Church of God (Seventh Day).  Virgil began his working career by selling, installing and servicing Delco 32 volt light plants after which he owned and managed Ward Electric Company.  In 1950 he and his son began the Bass Buster Lure Company in Amsterdam.  Virgil was a devout fisherman and built his reputation through several tournament victories including the 1962 World Series of Sport Fishing, the 1964 National Championship of Fresh Water Fishing and the 1964 Outdoor Writers and broadcasters National Fishing Tournament.  By 1963, Virgil was writing a column that appeared in 455 newspapers, was host of a radio show on 200 stations and delighted viewers for years with his nationally syndicated television show “Championship Fishing” which was the #1 rated television show for 24 out of 27 years.  He belonged to the Outdoor Writers Association, bass Club and American Federation of Television and Radio Association.

Virgil had a great sense of humor and a strong will.. all the way up to the end.  He possessed a competitive nature, but was honest and giving.  Outdoor pastimes included deer and quail hunting,, and fishing, of course….especially on the private lakes he built on his farm.  He enjoyed the companionship of his bird dogs as well.  Virgil, a devoted Christian family man, made memorable annual fishing trips to Canada. As one of the nation’s best-known fishermen, Virgil was an everyday person who became a legend, leaving precious memories to family and friends.

Virgil is survived by his wife of 70 years, Cleda Ward.

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Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, on the future of fisheries in the United States!

John Morris, of Bass Pro Shops, pays tribute to Charlie Campbell!