JOE YEE LURE-MAKING LEGEND

In the multibillion-dollar sport-fishing industry, driven by technology and the latest in innovation, some of the coveted tools of the marlin trade are produced in a dusty basement workshop in Hawaii, just as they have been since 1960.

The Super Plunger, Crackerjack, Apollo, Evil, 24/7 and 501—among others—are some of the most famous marlin lures of all time, accounting for several world-record billfish and numerous thousand-pound marlin. They remain among the most-sought-after lures in the game, whether you’re a collector or captain.

And yet, what started as Joey’s Custom Lures, the same Joe Yee lure you buy today is made in essentially the same fashion, and by the same now-weathered hands, as the first lures that Yee turned out 60 years ago in his home workshop in Honolulu.

At 92, Yee is still going strong, crafting his lures by hand with the help of his grandson, Steven Kegley, in his basement. He is still on the water on a regular basis, roaming the world’s hottest fishing locales and fishing the waters off Kona, where he developed and honed his wares. Yee is already a legend, with