Raindrops collide with the kitchen window and fall like little rivers down the pane as water vapor on the inside condenses against the cold surface of the glass. Inside, two contemporary alchemists mix and stir a concoction of vinyl chloride and coloring in a saucepan on the stove. Once the goo is heated to the correct temperature, they take the pot and run to the basement of their Akron, Ohio, house. There they pour the thick material into open cavity molds resembling earthworms. After many months of experimentation with different forms of plastic, the two have finally found a way to turn lead into gold.
In The Beginning
Origins of the plastic worm, as we know it today, occurred just this way in the kitchen of Nick and Cosma Creme in the late 1940s. Nick Creme, unhappy with the texture of the “rubber” worms available at the time, set out to develop a new lure that not only looked real but also felt real. Fortuitously, a chemical called polyvinyl chloride was being developed in laboratories around Akron, and Nick received samples of this material to experiment with. By 1951, the Cremes were selling their worms by mail order, hustling to keep up with demand.
In the late 1960s, injection-molded plastics hit the market. Unlike hand-poured baits, these plastic lures were rounded, lacking the trademark flat side of hand-poured baits. But injection molding meant that plastics could be produced faster and cheaper, thus greater availability. Sales of hand-poured plastics fell.
The Western Renaissance of Hand-Poured Plastics
Southern California bass fishing inspired new interest in hand-poured plastics in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In the small reservoirs of San Diego County, men like “Lunker” Bill Murphy and Rip Nunnery were catching huge bass on 12- to 16-inch worms poured by Dave DeLong. The introduction of Florida bass had started a blitz of giant bass, and it didn’t take long for other fishermen in the area to realize the benefits of such plastics.
Although anyone could go into a tackle shop at that time and buy Creme and DeLong worms, most people were not content with baits so commonly available. At about this time, Don Iovino, a local guide and tournament fisherman, contacted a couple named Jim and Carol Smith who had been manufacturing a bait called the “Tally Wacker,” a soft plastic shrimp-like bait used in the Pacific Ocean to catch calico bass and sand bass. The Smiths and Iovino developed a series of worm styles and colors for use in the lakes around Southern California.
Why the West?
Although probably other people have been hand pouring worms all over the US since the Cremes started their company in the 1950s, the West, particularly Southern California, has been at the forefront of this cottage industry. The reason lies in part with the deep clear waters of this region, coupled with the intense fishing pressure these small reservoirs receive.
Few large manufacturers of plastic were making the minute finesse type baits that had become popular in the region. Hand-poured products catered to this fancy. Anglers also wanted plastics that were softer than injection-molded baits and that were available in more subtle colors. They found all these attributes in hand-pours.
Not long after Jim Smith (Smitty) gained popularity within the circle of local bass anglers, two other local anglers, Al Numora and Joe Heathcoat, began marketing their lines of plastics to a few local tackle shops. Their baits came in unique colors and styles that hadn’t been seen before. The western hand-pour industry was born.
