Gene Vanderhoek tinted tube in vinyl, Kona style.

Captain Gene Vanderhoek has made small batch of these 12" tubes. As with all of Gene VanderHoek’s lures, this tube is unweighted. He has skirted them in vinyl. Inserts are genuine shell veneer.
Weight: 3.6 oz / 102 gr
Size: 12"
Condition: New, skirted by the lure maker

Captain Gene Vanderhoek Bio:
Gene Vanderhoek and Scott Crampton were great friends and started making lures in the 1970’s along with brothers and Rusty and Jimmy Unger. It was the golden age of fishing and lure making when friends shared lure making tips and molds with each other. The goal was simply to catch fish and do what they could to help each other.
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 209 lb 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!