Robert J Samples Loc: Round Rock, Texas

I have one unusual catch that is a record that no one can ever take away or duplicate. My father-in-law, Ike Walker and I were trolling a proto type of a new Bomber that later would be called the Water Dog. As all older largemouth bass fishermen know, the original Bomber ran backways like a crawfish. The original Bomber was dubbed the #600 and came only in black. It was introduced during World War II and was difficult to acquire because the parts were had to find, which made the early editions also hard to find. The original Bomber resembled a 100 lb. bomb.

During W.W. II, the parts were so scarce that Ike would scour the country side in Oklahoma and Texas, driving from town to town, looking for any hooks or other hardware he could find by visiting sporting goods stores and hardware stores. The first one, a black lure that ran backwards was given the nomenclature of the #600 and was a bass killer. Fishermen were reported to stand in line and wait for their turn to fish off a point with this magic lure and catch a limit of black bass.

After the war was over, there were both the relaxed supply of parts and Bomber had an explosion of sizes, colors and even different types of both diving and top water lures, all of which were aimed primarily at the southern bass fisherman. Along with this rapid growth was an ever-present demand for a Bomber deep diving lure that ran forward, rather than backward like the old reliable #600. And the answer was the Waterdog.

The lures we were testing weren’t even painted, just had a white base coat. The reason was Bomber wanted to determine if the use of an aluminum diving bill would experience too much wear. All the earlier Bombers had bills made of brass. To work properly, the Water Dog had to have a larger bill, and a brass bill was too heavy to be suitable. So, we were testing these water dogs by trolling in Texoma.

I had out a lot of line and was using a Shakespeare direct drive reel. Suddenly, I caught something that really hit hard and since the reel did not have the modern braking system, but was a direct drive, the fish pulled out a several yards of line and did it so fast it burned a sizeable blister on my left thumb while I was trying to stop it. The scar lasted for years. I finally reeled it in. It was a Kentucky Spotted bass of about 3 pounds and the first I’d ever seen. It was the very first fish ever caught on this lure. Just Sayin...RJS

OJdidit Loc: Oak Creek Wisconsin

Nice story Robert, you’re a part of Bomber history! Not many people get the chance to be first.

Iowa Farmer Loc: Iowa City Iowa

Great story, RJS!

Dreamminejoe Loc: Spanish Fork, Utah 84660

If you like his story, get his books. I did and really enjoy them. He is one funny old coot .

Jeffchow88 Loc: San Francisco

Thank you for sharing. I have a good number of bombers and water dogs in various sizes and colors. Anybody else have any of these classics?