Heddon Zaragossa Jr. - 2006

Japan Market Find - sourced directly by Wilder's Fishing & Supply Co. from the Japanese tackle market during a sourcing trip in 2026.

Specifications

• Length: 90mm
• Weight: 10g (3/8 oz.)
• Type: Wooden Pencil Bait
• Action: Walker
• Buoyancy: Floating
• Dive Depth: Surface
• Hooks: Original trebles

Condition Notes

• Lure: near mint - the lure presents excellent, but has a decent crack in the wooden body through the paintwork on the lure stamp (image 5). Ideal display piece. 
• Packaging: mint  

Description

The Zaragossa is one of Heddon's most important topwater designs. The original wooden Zaragossa of the early 1920s is widely regarded as the forerunner of the walk-the-dog pencil bait, and it later evolved into the Zara Spook. The Zaragossa Jr. has a quite different history. Heddon never sold it in America. It was made exclusively for Smith Ltd., Heddon's Japanese distributor, who commissioned a body roughly 20% smaller than the original to suit the pressured, finesse-oriented waters of Japan. First released in 1984, the Jr. became a cult item among American collectors because it simply couldn't be bought at home. In 2006 Smith released this second-generation model to refine the finish of the original run. They tracked down a retired German eye-maker and had the traditional three-layer glass eye reproduced in the Czech Republic, bringing a genuine vintage-style detail back to a modern wooden lure.

The 2006 model carries a dated "HEDDON 2006 ZARAGOSSA JR." belly stencil. The Perch (L) colourway is one of Heddon's oldest and most recognisable patterns. It has a yellow-green scale finish with bold dark vertical bars under a black back, a red gill flare and a cream belly, and it has appeared across Heddon's wooden lures for generations.