KAILUA, OAHU, HAWAII — ACTIVE YEARS 1960s – 1980s (Chester Takeo Kaita, b. c. 1921, Lahaina, Maui – d. Jan. 26, 1990, Waimanalo, Oʻahu)

Chester Takeo Kaita was one of the founding figures of the Honolulu side of Hawaiian lure making. Born around 1921 in Lahaina, Maui, he served as a welder for the U.S. government before marrying his wife, Ruiko, and settling in Kailua on Oʻahu, where the couple built Kaita Lures alongside a second family business, the Kaita Anthurium Nursery. While Kona's calm water rewarded the flat-faced straight runner, the rougher seas off Oʻahu called for more bite — and Kaita, working in the same era as George Lum and Johnny Abreu, became known for big, scoop-faced heads that dug and tracked through chop.

His signature was the large old-school scoop, built for the slow trolling speeds of the Japanese and "haole" sampans that worked Hawaiian waters through the 1960s and '70s. Collectors prize them today for their materials as much as their shape: shell-slab inserts, salt-and-pepper coloring, and the crushed-shell "countertop" look that's become a Kaita hallmark. His earliest lures carried no label; after he gained a reputation, he allied with the Honolulu distributor Izuo Brothers and his lures began appearing under the labels "Izuo Bros," "Trolure," and occasionally "Pax Pacifica."

His reach extended well past Oʻahu. After a charter customer connected him to Peter Fithian — founder of the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament — Kaita's lures found their way into the Kona fleet and quickly became favorites of the island's best fishermen, Henry Chee among them; by several accounts, Chee landed his own first grander on a custom scoop Kaita built for him. According to lure-making lore, Kaita's reputation reached far enough that he was flown to Japan to show Yo-Zuri how to build trolling lures — a story that fits the documented fact that Yo-Zuri's big-game designs trace back to Hawaii's early resin makers, though the specific account hasn't been confirmed in print. His influence carried into the next era through the plunger and through his son, David Kaita, a respected maker in his own right. Chester died on January 26, 1990, at age 68, in Waimanalo — and tellingly, his own obituary remembered him not only as a U.S. government welder but as a "well-known big game fishing lure maker," a rare public nod for a craft that was still very much a cottage trade.

As a museum and archive, we're honored to document and preserve the legacy of Chester Kaita, one of the foundational makers of the Honolulu scoop-faced tradition.

Notable shapes: Large scoop (sampan-speed); early plunger; shell-slab & "countertop" inserts

Identification tips:

• Material signatures — shell-slab inserts, salt-and-pepper coloring, crushed-shell "countertop" faces
• Classic profile: large, scooped head for slow trolling
• Later pieces carry "Trolure," or "Pax Pacifica" labels; earliest pieces are unlabeled
• Collector-grade; confirm significant pieces through provenance

Below, you’ll find our ever-growing digital archive showcasing every lure that has come through our shop. This collection is constantly evolving as new lures arrive, making it a living record of rare, limited-production lures. We will continue updating this database regularly, building what we aim to be the largest digital archive of offshore trolling lures in the world.

If you have any further information or any lures you believe deserve to be showcased, please reach out to us at ren@luremonger.com