If you're watching this video, there's a good chance you've got at least one pack of Evil Claus snilled hooks lurking somewhere in your tackle box. There's no telling how many core memories have been built with nothing but a tub of night crawlers, a couple of plastic bobbers, and a pack of hooks just like this. This pack has not changed much since I was a kid, which might be why it's so iconic to anglers of all ages. Well everybody knows this photo, which has actually become a registered trade bark of the Wright McGill Company, few know who this man is. Well on today's episode of Retro Basin, we're not only going to take a look at the history of Evil Claus hooks, but we're also going to reveal who is that mistre man holding up perhaps the most iconic fish stringer ever photographed. Stick around. Retro Basin kicking some ass in wearing ray on jackets, thinking about building, watching these fish pranks through my ray band glasses. Ain't nothing better than 40 year old lures, coming off a Zepco 33. And on the bass boat making beer cans flow, doing some dress bassin, fishing needle school, this old stuff, who's welcome to Retro Basin. Welcome to Retro Basin, and if this is your first time here and you like the fish at old school, talking about classic rods, wheels, lures, and equipment from fishing days gone past, we'll stick around, consider subscribing, and be sure to hit that bell icon. Otherwise you won't know when we post a new video just like this one. And before we get going, I do want to give a big thank you and shout out to Stefan and the entire team over at EagleClaw. He was great at providing both information and photography used in this history of episode. Now let's jump into the history of EagleClaw hooks. By the way, this is a new old stock pack of hooks I picked up from Gents Fish Tackle in Austin, Texas. And look at how glorious at old school packaging is. I'm not going to open these by the way. As its name might suggest, Wright McGill formed in the 1920s, who is a result of a collaboration between two young avid anglers, one by the name of Drew McGill and the other Stan Wright. Both are products name and design, with the result of one fateful fishing trip, the Drew McGill took to the upper Colorado River. While native trout were hungry and rising to fly that day, for whatever reason, Drew McGill was having trouble hooking them. Taking a break after a missed fish, he observed a pair of bold eagles flying above him before the pair landed on a dead cottonwood. McGill noticed how easily the eagles talons pierced into the weathered wood. This gave McGill the idea to test the piercing ability of his own hooks. And as he slid them across his leather creel, the hooks made a mark, but they would not pierce. He then used a pair of pliers to bend the hooks into a shape that more closely resembled in eagles claw, and would you know, the hooks immediately pierced the leather. McGill hastily modified all his hooks that way, and soon began hooking and landing trout he had previously missed. The talent pen was one of the biggest innovations and fish hooks in hundreds of years, and in 1938, eagles claw became a registered trademark of the Wright McGill Company, employing a growing number of workers in the Denver, Colorado area. By 1949, the Wright McGill Company owned and operated the world's only automatic hook-making machines. The new machines barbed, shaped, eyed, and pointed the famed eagles' hooks in one operation. Wright McGill soon produced thousands of hooks on the new equipment. In addition to hooks, the company would go on to produce a line of flies, fishing lures, and rods and reels on their state-of-the-art equipment. Now let's get to that Mr. Mann on the package. I always thought that this photo was either Drew McGill or Stan Wright, one of eagles' two founders, but in fact, he is neither. The Mr. Mann on the package is actually an eagles claw employee by the name of Paul Mount, who joined the company in 1938. Among his other duties, Paul was in charge of arranging VIP fishing trips. And in 1942, he was tasked with organizing an excursion on the Colorado River, with actor Dennis Morgan and eagles claw founders Wright and McGill. The fish represented the group's daily Creole of Rainbow Trout, the floppy hat owned by Drew McGill, and the stinger was actually an eagles claw grain or fly rod that sold for $100 in 1942. Now when you adjust for the rate of inflation, that is a $1,875 fish stringer. It is no wonder that Drew McGill often joked that Paul is not very particular with what he used to string up fish. With over a billion packs of eagles claw hooks sold since that fateful day in 1942, Paul's likeness could well be one of the most duplicated personal photographs on a consumer product ever. And nearly 100 years after Drew McGill first observed a pair of eagles that inspired his design, eagles claw hooks remains a leading manufacturer of fishing hooks and fishing-related equipment. Now the next time you pass a peg of snout hooks, you'll know the name and story of perhaps the most famous fish stringer ever photographed. If you enjoyed this history of episode, be sure to drop some video ideas down below in the comment section. And if you would like a walkthrough of this 1968 eagles claw catalog sent to me by Stefan, definitely let me know. In the meantime, if you're looking for some more old-school content, click right here. Otherwise, I'll see you right back here, same time, same place. Until then, keep the carpet side up and definitely fish at old school.