Serendipitous moment leads to heartwarming story; stars line up once again for 'Big John'

Trust me, I’m not making this up.

A couple weeks ago, I came across a box of old magazines in my barn, one of those old copy paper boxes that felt heavy and was always in the way. In fact, I didn’t even know what was in it, but I finally opened the lid while moving things around and found it to be filled to the brim in old Ohio Fisherman magazines.

To an outdoor writer, it was like finding gold. I have no idea where they came from, most likely my father bought them at an auction and saved them for me, but I never had much interest in reading them at the time, and put them away and forgot about them.

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The mailing address is ripped off of each one of the magazines, and as I leafed through the first one on the top – a June, 1984 edition, I found it interesting to see stories on Lake Erie walleye methods and hot spots, a stream guide to southern Ohio, tactics for early summer bass, a feature on the Grand River, a panfish story and how to catch bass in East and West Harbors.

I even kept the magazine out to show my brother the Lake Erie story, seeing how we were going to be headed up to the big pond in another week.

So, I dumped out all of the magazines and started to sort them out by years, and found I had 97 Ohio Fisherman magazines in the box, starting in 1981 and running up to 1992. The magazine was published monthly, but only the years 1987 and 1988 did I have all 12 editions.

In the process of putting all the magazines in order, I forgot what edition had the Lake Erie methods in, and started going through every magazine to find it. To my surprise, I found a very similar article in the June 1988 edition, but knew it wasn’t the original story that I had read. I finally found the 1984 walleye story (written by Jerry Pickrell), but here’s where my story gets good.

In flipping through the 1988 June Ohio Fisherman, I came across a submitted story in the back of the magazine, tucked between a host of advertisements, of a tribute to "Big John” Lape. I don’t even know why I decided to read it, but I am so glad I did.

'Big John' had his own twist to the walleye killer

The story, submitted by his family, tells about how Big John came to design, paint and sell the “Big John” weight-forward spinner for walleye fishing on Lake Erie. Of course, everyone knows about the original Erie Dearie, developed by Captain Dan Galbincea, but Big John had his own twist to the walleye killer, something lots of lure making companies did in the early 1980s. Other versions were made by Walleye Specialties, Reef Runner, Hildebrandt, Mepps, Hot Spots and West Sister Twister just to name a few.

John Lape, the article says, because of his size could no longer work a factory job, so back in 1974 he started making jigs and selling them during the walleye run on the Maumee River. One thing led to another, and Big John eventually had his Big John lure in nearly every tackle shop along the southern shores of Lake Erie.

Big John passed away in 1988. He was 65.

So, now comes my serendipitous moment.

Just days after reading about Big John Lape in Ohio Fisherman magazine, I stopped at a yard sale and saw this old tackle box for sale. I don’t need a tackle box, but I opened it just to see what was inside. You guessed it – A Big John weight-forward lure in its original packaging.

There was just one Big John lure, along with two dozen jigs, a bunch of bags of split shot, some wire leaders, an old bobber and some Panther Martin spinners. Without hesitation, I bought the tackle box for the measly sum of $5, and vowed to catch a walleye on Big John’s pride and joy.

One cast, one walleye and part of Big John is at peace in Lake Erie

This past Monday, I fished Lake Erie out of Rocky River, and although the waves were a little bigger than I like for my small 17-foot boat, things set up perfectly for drift fishing the swing with weight-forward lures. With a half a nightcrawler on the back of my brightly, hand-painted in five colors Big John 5.8-ounce lure, I quickly caught a walleye. It was just a 14-incher, though, so back to Lake Erie it went.

In my excitement to get a keeper, I hastily opened the bail on my spinning reel and chucked Big John out again. I must not have fully opened the bail, though, as it closed midway through my cast and my new, 10-pound leader line snapped, and Big John was sent to its resting place, 38-feet down in Lake Erie.

As disappointed as I was, actually a calm came over me. One fish was all I really needed. I caught a walleye, which was Big John Lape’s dream, that he would create a lure “everyone could use and catch fish with, no matter what age or what fishing skills that person had.”

What’s the chances that all those stars lined up perfectly? I don’t know, but I’m glad they did.

As for the Ohio Fisherman magazine, it went out of business in 1992. It had a 17-year run. If you ever get a chance to read some old editions, you’ll probably have just as much fun looking through the vintage ads for paper graph fish finders, Roland Martin fishing glasses, Kwikfish lures, Crème plastic worms, truck caps that double as boats, fishing and hunting lodge ads and of course, Lake Erie charters.

Outdoor correspondent Art Holden can be reached at letsplabal@yahoo.com.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Serendipity: Prize lure found at yard sale gets final cast in Lake Erie