Some collect coins or stamps - but for Mike Kennedy, it started with a weathered wooden tackle box and a lifelong bond with the Texas coast. Though a native Houstonian, Kennedy grew up combing the sands of Galveston’s West End, where his parents built a beach house from scratch in the early 1970s.
Kennedy now resides in a home he built on the West End in the Terramar Beach subdivision - fondly dubbed "Terramup Beach" in his childhood.
Tucked away in the storeroom of that beach house sat a wooden tackle box once owned by Kennedy’s grandfather, “Pop.” Inside lay a trove of classic Texas-made fishing lures - many now considered prized antiques. What began as a quiet curiosity soon became a lifelong hobby Kennedy couldn’t put down.
“Those old lures had a certain magic to them,” said Kennedy. “You could tell they had stories.”
Kennedy’s hobby didn’t truly take hold until 1994, when his brother-in-law began collecting Texas saltwater lures - sourcing them from estate sales, garage sales, and, most dangerously for Kennedy’s wallet, on eBay. It was his first time on the site, and like any fish with a curious eye, he took the bait.
“Once I was in, I was all in,” he shared. “I started learning about the makes, models, colors, and rarities. What began as curiosity became full-on obsession.”
Over the years, Kennedy has curated a focused collection of Texas coastal lures, especially those crafted before 1990. Still, he admits that certain discontinued models from the ’90s have become just as sought-after.
Among his most prized pieces are hand-carved wooden lures from the 1930s - cedar-bodied, hand-painted, and built with a level of craftsmanship that grows rarer with each passing year.
“I model-collected,” Kennedy explained, describing his pursuit of every color variation in specific lure styles. At one point, he catalogued 58 colors including special editions made for tournaments or gifted at banquets.
And rarity, he discovered, isn’t always tied to age. Some of the most collectible finds in his tackle trove are plastic lures from the post-World War II era, quietly steeped in their own slice of fishing history.
“The ones that didn’t catch fish or the fishermen’s eyes didn’t sell well. That low production is what makes them rare now.”
As Kennedy’s collection grew, so did the community around it. His first lure show was in Austin, back in 1994, where he discovered a subculture of enthusiasts swapping tackle, stories, and hard-earned wisdom.
He quickly picked up on “room trading,” a pre-show tradition in which hotel rooms transform into makeshift trading posts - open for buying, selling, and deal-making.
“It’s part flea market, part fish camp,” he said. “And the friendships that come out of it? That’s the real value.”
Kennedy wasn’t just a collector - he was a dealer in his own right, funding his growing hobby by buying extra lures to resell. Before long, rods, reels, and vintage tackle boxes joined the mix.
At its peak, his collection boasted over 1,000 lures, each displayed in custom cases and accompanied by tales of mail calls and eBay conquests. His kids affectionately dubbed his home office “The Lounge.”
“One special reward has been my kids telling me how much they have enjoyed watching me grow my interest and collection over the years. They were very young when I started, so they witnessed the mail I opened with new lure arrivals and the room at my old house where I displayed the cases of lures,” Kennedy shared.
Today, Kennedy’s collection is down to about 75 lures, a few of which are rare and valuable. Now retired, he lives full time in a newly built home in the same West End subdivision where his passion first took root.
Since last February, he has co-hosted the Houston Antique Lure Show alongside a longtime friend and makes it a point to attend nearly every Texas show - from Houston and Temple to San Antonio and the newest addition in Grandview.
When offering advice to newcomers, Kennedy keeps it simple: “You can dive in and learn as you go, or do research first. Either way, collect what speaks to you - what you fished with as a kid, what your granddad used, or just what looks cool. It’s like art.”
There’s no shortage of lures out there - some are valuable, commanding top dollar among collectors, while others are more common, treasured less for their price tag and more for the memories they carry.
“Take old MirrOlures, for example. Tons of them exist, and most don’t hold much value. But that doesn’t mean they’re not collectible to someone.”
Even with much of the collection now sold, Kennedy hasn’t lost the thrill. He still recalls the big scores like 600 lures from a Houston dentist or a Corpus Christi tip that sent him chasing leads across southeast Texas. The lures may be fewer, but the memories and friendships keep stacking up.
For Kennedy, it’s never just been about the lures. It’s about the journey, the people, and the passion that continues to reel him back in.
Kennedy is still on the lookout for old fishing lures and tackle to add to his collection. He can be reached at terramupbeach@gmail.com.