KONA, HAWAII — ACTIVE YEARS 1970s – PRESENT

Gene VanderHoek is a Kona legend twice over — once as a captain, once as the man behind the most influential lure shape of the modern era. A Southern California native, he began fishing Kona in 1970 and built one of the most decorated records on the coast: more than thirty IGFA world records across various classes, and the rare distinction of having weighed four Pacific blue marlin granders in Kona waters, with at least one more released. He's also a noted mentor — a long line of his former crew now run their own top boats out of Kona — and he still fishes the grounds aboard his 39-foot Rybovich, Sea Genie II.

His lasting mark on the sport is the plunger. By his own account, the shape came from a stainless jet head with the nose cut off; out fishing with brothers Rusty and Jimmy Unger (of Lollipop Lures), he ran two of his own creations, one hooked a 209-pound marlin, and Rusty Unger tagged the shape a "plunger" for the way it plunged up and down through the wake. The IGFA dates the breakthrough to 1978, and while Bart Miller is sometimes credited alongside him, VanderHoek is the name most associated with the lure that reshaped big-game trolling worldwide.

The thread runs straight from his bench to the most famous marlin lure ever made. Capt. Pete Hoogs had been fishing VanderHoek's roughly 12-inch plunger and asked Joe Yee to build a larger version; when Yee's bigger rendition hit the water, Hoogs declared it a "super plunger," and the name stuck. VanderHoek never chased commercial production — he was too busy fishing to pour enough, which is in fact how fellow Kona maker Wes Leslie got his start, supplying lures to keep up with him. To this day VanderHoek still works Kona waters and still pours from the same grander-catching mold he's used since the 1980s.

As a museum and archive, we're honored to document the work of Gene VanderHoek and his foundational role in the birth of the plunger.

Notable shapes: Plunger (the original); tri-fold / "Machine" insert plunger

Identification tips:

• The plunger profile is the signature; many feature his chrome tri-fold ("Machine") insert
• Because he fishes far more than he pours, authentic examples are scarce — provenance matters

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