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Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg. Co.

Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg. Co. - St. Petersburg, FL

Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg Co (Barracuda Brand) was founded by Jack Reynolds and first offered stock in his new company in 1928.  They started out making bamboo rods and then made fishing lures from the early 1930's up until the 1970's. He incorporated the company in 1933. The beautiful graphics on the Barracuda box was copyrighted in 1934. This long period of manufacture gave us a wide range of lure designs and level of quality. The earliest Barracuda lures were high quality and had glass eyes. Later versions had painted eyes. Perhaps the most interesting of the Barracuda lures was the one named "Torpecuda". The first version of the lure had glass eyes and a feather for a dorsal fin. Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg Co lures are considered to be one of the great Tampa Bay area lure makers.

Jack Reynolds entered into a agreement with Porter Dalton in the mid 1950's to make the Dalton Special. Dalton had already received a patent for his "Dalton Special" on September 19, 1939. The first Dalton Specials are marked Tampa, Fla. They were later marked St. Pete, Fla. Newer ones are marked Clearwater, Fla. The lure was made for a long time and is still popular today.



Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

Florida Fishing Tackle BARRACUDA Lures


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

BARRACUDA Glass Eyed Lures


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

BARRACUDA Glass Eyed and Blue-Green Pattern Lures


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

The #30 BARRACUDA Lure, circa 1940


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

The #40 BARRACUDA Lures, circa 1940


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

The #50 TORPECUDA Glass Eye Lures, circa 1940


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

The #50 TORPECUDA Glass Eye Lure, circa 1940


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

The #50 TORPECUDA Glass Eye Lure, circa 1940


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

The #60 TORPECUDA Glass Eye Lure, circa 1940


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

The #60 TORPECUDA Painted Eye Lures, circa 1950's


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

The TORPAHU Lure, circa 1940


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

The POPEYE FROG Lure, circa 1940's


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

The #10 TIPSY CUDA & #40 TWITCHIN' CUDA Lures, circa 1940


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

The #77 KINGCUDA (SILVER KING) Lures, 6 1/2", circa 1950's


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

The #20 REYHU TROLL Lure, circa 1940


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

The #20 REYHU TROLL Lures, circa 1940


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

The FLORIDA SHINER Lures, circa 1940


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

The CONVICT 9999 Lure, circa 1940


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

The #88 BLOOPER Lure in Blue Boy (BB) Color, circa 1940's


Barracuda Scobo Lure Barracuda Scobo Lure

The SCOBO Lure in Blue Boy (BB) Color


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

SPARK-A-WIGGLE, SPARK-A-MIDGET and SUPER DEEPER Lures


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

Dalton Specials


Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg

Dalton Specials


Photos of Porter Dalton Circa 1940 1 Photos of Porter Dalton Circa 1940 2

Photos of Porter Dalton, Circa 1940's


The Original Barracuda Factory at 2100 - 1st Ave South in St Pete Today

The Original Barracuda Factory at 2100 - 1st Ave. South in St. Pete Today


Carl E Reynolds - Florida Fishing Tackle Secretary-Treasurer and Traveling Salesman

Carl E. Reynolds - Florida Fishing Tackle Secretary-Treasurer and Traveling Salesman


Early Barracuda Brand Lure Box Insert Catalog

Early Barracuda Brand Lure Box Insert Catalog


Later Barracuda Brand Lure Box Insert Catalog

Later Barracuda Brand Lure Box Insert Catalog


Later Barracuda Brand Lure Box Insert Catalog 1 Later Barracuda Brand Lure Box Insert Catalog 2

Later Barracuda Brand Lure Box Insert Catalog


Florida Fishing Tackle Co Letterhead

Florida Fishing Tackle Co. Letterhead


February 12 1928 Tampa Bay Times Newspaper Article

February 12, 1928 Tampa Bay Times Newspaper Article


November 24 1929 Tampa Bay Times Newspaper Article

November 24, 1929 Tampa Bay Times Newspaper Article


August 14 1930 Tampa Bay Times Newspaper Article

August 14, 1930 Tampa Bay Times Newspaper Article


June 18 1931 Tampa Bay Times Newspaper Ad

June 18, 1931 Tampa Bay Times Newspaper Ad


Florida Fishing Tackle Co 1939 Tampa Bay Times Newspaper Ad

Florida Fishing Tackle Co. 1939 Tampa Bay Times Newspaper Ad


Florida Fishing Tackle Co 1940 Tampa Bay Times Newspaper Ad

Florida Fishing Tackle Co. 1940 Tampa Bay Times Newspaper Ad


Florida Fishing Tackle Co 1940 Tampa Bay Times Newspaper Ad

Florida Fishing Tackle Co. 1940 Tampa Bay Times Newspaper Ad


Florida Fishing Tackle Co 1956 Florida Wildlife and Salt Water Sportsman Ads 1 Florida Fishing Tackle Co 1956 Florida Wildlife and Salt Water Sportsman Ads 2

Florida Fishing Tackle Co. 1956 "Florida Wildlife & Salt Water Sportsman" Ads


1939 patent

The PORTER DALTON 1939Lure Patent


JACK REYNOLDS Featured in Karl Grismers 1948 Book - The Story of St. Petersburg 1 JACK REYNOLDS Featured in Karl Grismers 1948 Book - The Story of St. Petersburg 2

JACK REYNOLDS Featured in Karl Grismer's 1948 Book "The Story of St. Petersburg"


Link to other Florida Fishing Tackle Mfg. site is given below

Link to State of Florida archive photo of Barracuda Display - ca. 1950


To see the May 1948 Florida Wildlife Magazine Article about Florida Fishing Tackle Co., click on the link below.

Link to Florida Wildlife 1948 Article


To see the December 1954 Trucking Magazine Article about Florida Fishing Tackle Co., click on the link below.

Link to Trucking 1954 Article


To see the St. Petersburg 1960 Article about Florida Fishing Tackle Co., click on the link below.

Link to St. Petersburg 1960 Article



If you have a vintage antique fishing reel or lure, I can tell you what it's worth.

For any questions about vintage antique fishing reels, lures or tackle, please feel free to Email or Call me. I always like to talk about old tackle.

Remember, I'm always buying old vintage fishing lures and reels!

Email me at: ron@luresnreels.com or Call or Text me at: 407-496-7940

Thanks!

Ron Gast

Frostproof, FL



To see another great vintage fishing tackle website, click on the link below.

Link to reelsnlures.com Website


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