Lefty and me......

In the book, I devoted three chapters to Lefty, The following is from chapter 8,...
I do not have to go back and read it, it was a day that is etched in my mind forever, every day I live its consequences.......
For over two years I was a forman on a bridge job not a mile from Leftys house,,
It was 1997, I had not built any lures with Lefty, but instead we were best friends...
We fished together everyday, and I handeld the crowds at the shows,, but up untill labor day 1997,
I had never built a lefty plug......

It was Laborday weekend, because, we were off, I had brought some guys to lefty's, to help me pour
an eighteen yard concrete pad and carport......I was just finishing up the job as lefty came home from the doctors...... I did not think nothin bout it, as he hustled past us to get in the house...

I was just cleaning up when Dorothy yelled out it was time to eat...
As soon as I sat down I knew there was something wrong, both of them were all teared up,
as my friend,, he broke down, and told me he had prostate cancer.. the three of us shared the most quiet dinneryou could ever imagine,, At this point no one knows, and he has asked me not to tell anyone,,,,

After dinner, he said he was going to the basement, he had started a couple of lures for the asbury show, and wanted to get some primer on them... Dorothy got very mad , and said maybe you should not being doing that stuff right now,,,,Quickly I backed her up,,, his response was I am just going to finish up the two dozen I started,,,,

I had been in the basement a hundred times,,, he was very particular to what he would let outsiders see as far as his lurebuilding. He had two chucks of wood ready to lathe, as he cut the first one he explained his technique to me the whole time, when it was done ,he told me to have a go at cutting out the second...

I was so nervous, I had cut blanks before with Gangster John, but nothing had prepared me for this...
I finished the first blank, and was admiring it when he chucked up another one, and said to keep goin, then another, and another...

Bout eight or nine o'clock lefty went ustairs to take a nap,, I cut plugs till three in the morning,,
My first plug was a150 plugs.
Lefty took 135 lures to the asbury show, the year before me,
That year we took 440 lefty lures to the asbury show....as my man kicked cancers ass.....
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awsome story skipp thanks for sharing it with us.....

its stories like that which are priceless ....that will keep the legacy of lefty going for ever


Im very sorry for the loss of your dear friend...god bless

great story Skippy....

I too am very sorry for the loss of your dear friend/extended family. May they both rest in peace.

Great story Skip, thanx for sharing w/ us. I am very sorry for your loss of a good friends... I know how hard it can be to lose a loved one....... may they both be in a better place looking down on you as 2 beautiful angels guiding you to build even more outstanding looking plugs! we are here for ya Skip if you want to talk.

condolences,

Rocco

touching story skip, you are blessed with awesome writing skills

Etch

Just browsing through all these threads and came upon this one.

Very touching Skippy. For some on this site they know your background and for others like me, well, not so much.

If it weren't for you sharing this I would have never known. Sorry to hear that you lost such a good friend and his wife as well.

I have heard nothing but great things about Lefty and you are a lucky person to have been so close. From what I know about Lefty and how he was, you seem to be carrying his spirit quite well.

Thanks for sharing that.

Jamie

thanks for sharing the story Skip. Lefty was a true master with the plugs, and its nice to see his skills were past along to you.

Skip thats a great story i'm sorry you lost a friend.

Don711 wrote:Skip thats a great story i'm sorry you lost a friend.

Donny you were around for most of it,,, have a good an understanding as probably me....

Yes skip i do

Great story, skip.

In the end, it is family and the friendships that count as life's real treasure.

Sorry for the loss of your friend. It's real nice that he left such a legacy !!!!

sorry for your friend, sad for all of us...

Lefty and Little wade were building some beautiful lures, they called them " Lazer " they were mostly spoonlips, whos action is legendary.....
Lefty moved away from the spoon because we could not get it in stainless,, He once remarked to me,,," That because of McFaddens generosity " he had enough zlips to last forever
By the time Little Wade had got the ss spoon I was hooked on my gold over brass,, I found nothing I liked better untill the rockspoon,,,,okay here are my laser lures...
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Building, a tribute can be quite therapeutic.... When I started the tribute, I could not keep the tears out of my eyes,,, All of a sudden my lessons in the basement had new meaning,,these three plugs, which I have the original templates for...
leftys plug, the signature I put on it says Big Wade,,
lilwades plug,,, The signature I put on it says Little Wade,,,
My plug in the tribute,, is my part in the basement......
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These are our blanks from 1998 they are not copys but have been cut from the original templates" Which I have. since I was cutting the blanks...my body style so angered lefty, and the time it took, it was not going to be long before I had to go.
Okay lets start with 1998... Big Wade ..... Little Wade.. Skippy

The lips are the real deal, Leftys big Z, and Little wades, ss spoon... :read:

lookin good skipp ....gets me choked up to here one of my fellow ..sbo..family members feeling like this....

im sure these will be your best by far.....cant wait to see what u produce...

AWSOME SKIPP ...

nice set bro

nice Skip..... I like

THOSE ARE COOL SKIP, ARE THEY GONNA GET PAINT???? CANT WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU COME UP W/......

Can't wait to see it.

Hey Skip, Was it that long ago. I remember going down the basement to get paid and a lure.
Lefty told us to keep clapping our hands. If it got quiet we were touching something we shouldn't
be touching. Good memories.
Johnny

Lefty invented the throuwire and seal, when the holes are plugged the lure is twice as fast without the roll.
Lefty, who was a lineman his whole life, was amazing with a piece of wire, like I said we made springs, splitrings,
hangers, he was masterful with wire.. :read:
The whole deal was keeping the plug as light as possible, we had our little competition to see who could get the biggest the lightest. Littlewade liked the bigass, gave the plug naturally a little more casting distance...
Lefty liked it fast, slow retrieve, fast action, we drilled the smallest holes we could, the bigleftys do not cast the straightest, but you you could slow the line to keep the cast straight, once on the water they looked alive...
amazing to watch, never mind catching....people would say..."What is that??? Thats Lefty.... drool ..
At this point we would primerseal the plugs, and sand them again with600grit repeat if neccessary..
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