Jim Rizzuto

Jim Rizzuto Lures were handcrafted in Kona, Hawaii by Jim Rizzuto, who had been making lures and catching fish on them since the mid-1940s. His interest in Kona-style skirted big-game lures began in the early 1950s, when they were still secret weapons used only by a few Hawaii experts, and he began finding ways to make his own in the early 1960s.

Rizzuto was also one of the most important chroniclers of Hawaii fishing history, writing about the sport since 1964 for publications including Marlin, Field & Stream, and Salt Water Sportsman, and authoring the acclaimed Fishing Hawaii Offshore along with his instructional Lure-Making 101/102 and 201/202 series. He died in 2018, leaving behind a legacy of lures, lessons, and decades of Kona fishing chronicles.

View the full history and identification guide for Jim Rizzuto in our Digital Archive