Creme
The Creme Lure Co. The Birth of the Soft Plastic Revolution
The History: The Humble Kitchen that Changed Bass Fishing Forever
The year was 1949, and the setting was the kitchen stove of Nick and Cosma Creme in Akron, Ohio. A humble machinist with a relentless passion for angling, Nick Creme was profoundly dissatisfied with the stiff, unrealistic rubber worms of the era. He and his wife began experimenting, meticulously cooking up the perfect combination of vinyl, oils, and pigments. Their goal: to create a lure that was not only soft and alive to the touch but would remain pliable over time.
This kitchen alchemy gave birth to the modern soft plastic worm.
In 1951, the first commercial offering, the Creme Wiggle Worm (later famously known as the Scoundrel), was sold by mail. Its success was immediate, selling thousands of packs at the Cleveland Sportsman's Show. The demand quickly outgrew Cosma’s kitchen, leading the Cremes to set up a small plant in Akron.
The true transformation of the industry occurred when the Wiggle Worm became a sensation among bass anglers in the Southern United States. In the early 1960s, the emergence of the legendary Texas Rig technique unlocked the full potential of the soft plastic bait. To be closer to this exploding market, the Cremes moved their operations to Tyler, Texas, in 1959, where the company remains a cornerstone of the fishing tackle industry.
The company continued to innovate, becoming one of the first to sponsor a professional angler (John Powell in 1967) and establishing a nationwide network of expert field testers. After Nick Creme’s passing in 1984, the company eventually merged with Knight Manufacturing in 1989, and today, under the continued stewardship of the Kent family (Chris and Ann Kent), the legacy of the original plastic worm endures.
The Scoundrel - Still King of the Cover
The Creme Scoundrel (originally the Wiggle Worm) is more than just a lure; it’s a living piece of bass fishing history.
The Defining Action: What sets the Scoundrel apart is its natural, life-like movement. Unlike its rigid predecessors, this vinyl formula allows the tail to quiver and dance with the slightest rod twitch, mimicking a struggling nightcrawler with deadly realism.
Versatility of the Rig: While initially sold pre-rigged, the lure truly shines when rigged with the Texas Rig (weedless), allowing anglers to penetrate dense cover—logs, brush piles, and heavy vegetation—where the biggest bass stage.
The Unmatched Appeal: When pulled slowly through the cover and paused, the Scoundrel sinks and sways, triggering an unmistakable territorial strike from a mature bass. It is the bedrock upon which all modern soft plastic fishing is built, proving that the original formula often remains the most effective.
