Suffice it to say, however, that while I have resolved the naming issue, I've also created a question or two I still can't...and perhaps never will be able to...answer. More precisely, my problem centers on just who really should get the credit for inventing the lure. Until today, I always had thought Bill Lewis was that person (and there's plenty of ink to make you believe that way), but now, I'm not so sure. Here's why.
Upon beginning my research today, I first came across an article about John C. Boucher, Jr., a fisherman from East Texas who is credited with inventing the Gay Blade lure, which has been on the market since 1956, and according to some, "is still a favorite among fishermen." According to the facts I uncovered, Boucher started this project with only a pair of tin snips, a tin can, and some solder.
Immediately, the Gay Blade was a hit with all the inventor's friends. Once the word got spread around about this new lure, it became so popular that a company went to Boucher and volunteered to build it for him, entirely at their cost, along with a request to then buy rights to and sell the lure, allowing him to keep "a little royalty," of course. That company turned out to be owned by Cotton Cordell, who made the purchase in 1954.
Boucher then built the Hot Spot lure in 1959, which also was a hit, but not as much as his next lure: the Rattletrap, which became one of the most coveted of all fishing lures.
"But, hey, just a minute here," you may be saying about now. "All the Rattletraps I buy today has the name of Bill Lewis on them." And you would be right. Therein lies the problem I created for myself today that, at least so far, I haven't been able to unravel completely.
However, it gets even better. In the article I read today about Boucher, it notes that he attributed much of the Rattletrap's popularity to its name. He said that most people thought the name came from the fact the lure's leads hit together, producing a slight rattle. However, the truth is that the name came from an early salesman's car...an old Ford station wagon that rattled...which happens to coincide, in general terms, with what I read in an online article about Lewis.
Meanwhile, nobody seems to know exactly when the Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap was invented...the generally agreed-upon timeframe is 1968-69. Because he was constantly experimenting with new lure designs, the one that later would become world famous was, to Lewis, just another in a pile of lures he planned on taking to Toledo Bend Reservoir for testing.
Shortly after he and a fishing buddy arrived there, a rather heavy shad-type lure filled with BBs started getting their attention with the sound it made. The buddy described it as "sounding like a locomotive, rattling down a loose section of railroad tracks." In any event, that sound produced a large number of bass that day, including some 6-, 7-, and 8-pounders.
During the drive home that day, one other thing happened, which always was attributed as "one of Bill's most creative moments." As he was manually operating a broken-down windshield wiper on his old car (the "old Ford station wagon" referenced earlier?), with one hand on the wheel and the other out the window, he thought to himself: "Rattletrap--that's what I'll call it."
As far as I'm concerned, there's an unanswered question here: Did Lewis and Boucher have the same kind of arrangement that existed between Cordell and Boucher for the Gay Blade? If so, I've not seen any confirmation of it. Hmm...
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