His early fishing days include having been  a deck hand  for Bart Miller and Scott Crampton.  According to Captain Gene,“Bart Miller had forgotten more about fishing than most people knew.”  

So how did the most popular saltwater lure shape come about? 

As told to us by Captain Gene Vanderhoek –

"In the 1980’s I was out fishing with brothers Rusty and Jimmy Unger (Makers of the Lollipop Lures). I brought along 2 lures that I had made, the shape came from a stainless jet head but with the nose cut off." 

"There were 2 Lollypop lures starboard and 2 of my lures Portside.  Rusty Unger called it a plunger because it was “plunging up and down”.  My lure caught a 209lb marlin and the rest is fishing history. Today nearly every lure maker has a plunger in their line, including the Joe Yee who made it bigger and called it the  Super Plunger."

Today Captain Gene VanderHoek is still fishing Kona waters and running his plungers and using the same original grander catching mold from the 80’s!