Buck Perry
Elwood "Buck" Lake Perry (born July 15, 1915, in Hickory, North Carolina; died August 12, 2005, in Taylorsville, North Carolina) was a pioneer of modern angling. He is remembered as the inventor of the "Spoonplug" lure and an influential author and theorist.
Perry had a strong educational background, earning a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from Lenoir-Rhyne College, after which he taught and coached at Hickory High School. During World War II, he served as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Transportation Corps in the European theatre. Following the war, he returned to Hickory to work in the family business.
In 1946, he invented and patented the Spoonplug-a hybrid lure that merges elements of a spoon and a plug (crankbait). With his first wife, Marjorie, he started a business selling the lures. Initial sales were slow, but the tide turned in 1957 following a successful promotional effort.
Convinced by an airplane pilot named Don Nichols, Perry began promoting the Spoonplug in Chicago. His demonstration fishing trip on Lake Marie, which was reportedly "fished out," alongside outdoor writer Tom McNally, yielded incredible catches. Word spread quickly, leading to promotions throughout the Upper Midwest.
However, it was his "Spoonplugging System" and the theory of "Structure Fishing," rather than the lure itself, that became his core legacy. He believed that success hinged on understanding fish migration, underwater topography, weather, and water conditions. Buck Perry sold millions of his lures, but his name is forever linked to his profound fishing philosophy.
Perry was a prolific author, publishing:
A 31-page guide "Spoonplugging: for fresh water bass and all game fish" (1965).
A 275-page book "Spoonplugging: your guide to lunker catches" (1973).
A nine-volume "Home Study Series" (1981).
Buck Perry's Philosophy and Innovations
The Theory of Structural Fishing: Perry's greatest contribution is his groundbreaking theory that fish, particularly bass, are not randomly distributed but are tied to underwater "structures" (submerged slopes, ledges, breaklines, river channels, humps). He argued that these structures are the fish's "highways" or "homes," and success depends on finding these spots, rather than just casting randomly.
Deep-Water Fishing: Before Perry, most anglers fished in shallow water. He scientifically proved that most large predators spend the majority of their time deep, relating to structural elements. This effectively pioneered the entire field of deep-water fishing.
Lures: The Spoonplug: While his ideas transcended his physical baits, Perry developed his own lure—the Spoonplug.
Feature: The Spoonplug is a unique hybrid of a spoon lure and a deep-diving crankbait, designed less for catching and more for exploring depths and structures. Anglers used the bait to map the bottom and precisely determine the depth at which the fish were holding.
By knowing the depth and speed where a predator is biting, anglers could then find similar structure elsewhere on the body of water, leading to consistent catches.
His methods and tools (sonar, depth charts, specialized baits) are today the standard in competitive fishing. His structural theory is the bedrock of modern tournament angling and fisherman education.
