The Pflueger 5511-Br is documented from one size 7\/0 hook and a torn strip of its box label. The label reads O'Shaughnessy, Ringed and Bronzed (P).<\/p>\n
No catalog entry, date or address for the number has been found, so the period of manufacture and the intended use are left open.<\/p>","spec_bar_items":"Straight-Ring Eye\nO'Shaughnessy Bend\nStandard Shank\nHeavy Wire\nStandard Spear Point\nBronzed Finish","flyhooks_url":"","svg_filename":"Pflueger_5511-Br_Hook_Size_7_0.svg","filebird_folder_id":371,"flies_tied_on_folder_id":"","eye_type":"ball","eye_orientation":"straight","eye_notes":"Eye in line with the shank, seen edge-on as a rounded end about 6.7 by 2.5 mm (E). The opening is not visible. The label prints RINGED (P).","wire_gauge":"heavy","wire_profile":"forged","wire_diameter_est":"","shank_length_category":"standard","shank_features":[],"bend_family":"oshaughnessy","bend_notes":"Characteristic deep O'Shaughnessy forged bend with pronounced offset point geometry. The inner face shows the classic offset relationship, not vertically aligned with the shank. Bend depth is substantial relative to overall hook size, engineered to maximize leverage and resist straightening forces (P).","point_style":"standard_spear","finish":"bronzed","finish_confidence":"confirmed","finish_notes":"The label prints BRONZED. The hook shows dark olive-brown to bronze-green with tan highlights on raised faces and dark speckling on the point flank (P).","forged":true,"offset_kirbed":false,"gap_category":"standard","barb_notes":"Single cut barb lying back along the point at a shallow angle, roughly 25 to 30 degrees (P). Cut root about 8.4 mm behind the tip (E).","condition_notes":"Point sharp and barb intact; light surface scratches (P). The box label is a torn strip with frayed edges and staining; its printing is legible (P).","spec_line_text":"Straight-Ring Eye | O'Shaughnessy Bend | Standard Shank | Heavy Wire | Standard Spear Point | Bronzed Finish","tech_specs_notes":"
Caliper measurements of the 7\/0 specimen give a length of 2.4 in (60.96 mm) and a gap of 0.94 in (23.88 mm) (P). Shank length and bend depth have no caliper record.<\/p>\n
The photograph shows a printed grid with no stated scale. Read as 0.1 in squares, the straight shank is near 35 mm, the outer height of the bend near 27 mm, and the wire about 2 mm wide in top view (E).<\/p>\n
In the site's catalog comparison of traced outlines, the shank proportion falls nearest the Standard category and the wire thickness nearest Fine (E).<\/p>","hook_ply":"single","barbless":false,"measurements_available":true,"measurement_method":"physical_caliper","size_measured":"7\/0","overall_length":"2.4 in (60.96 mm) (P)","shank_length":"~1.82\"-1.88\" (~46.2-47.8 mm) (E)","gap_width":"0.94 in (23.88 mm) (P)","bend_depth":"~1.28\"-1.38\" (~32.5-35.1 mm) (E)","wire_diameter_measured":"~0.072\"-0.080\" (~1.83-2.03 mm) (E)","shank_gap_ratio":"","weight":"","measurement_notes":"Length and gap were measured by caliper on the 7\/0 specimen; the instrument and operator are not recorded. Shank length and bend depth have no caliper record. The photographs give a wire width near 2 mm on a grid taken as 0.1 in squares (E).","cumulative_records_note":"","manufacturer_history":"
The Enterprise Manufacturing Company, operating under the Pflueger brand, was founded in Akron, Ohio, and represents one of the most significant industrial innovations in American sporting goods manufacturing. The company originated as the American Fish Hook Company, established in 1864 by Ernest F. Pflueger, a German immigrant and visionary entrepreneur. The company was formally reorganized as the Enterprise Manufacturing Company in 1881 and officially incorporated in 1886, capitalizing on E.F. Pflueger's landmark 1883 patent for luminous phosphorescent paint on artificial fishing lures.<\/p>
By the early twentieth century, Pflueger had become the largest hook-manufacturing facility in the world, employing over 350 workers and producing approximately 100 million fish hooks annually by the 1920s-1930s. The company's industrial dominance was achieved through aggressive implementation of American mass-production techniques, replacing the artisanal guild traditions of European (particularly Redditch, England) hook manufacturers with highly automated, precision-forging machinery. In 1899, Pflueger acquired the American Fish Hook & Needle Company of New Haven, Connecticut, substantially augmenting its hook department and expanding its access to traditional British bend families (Limerick, Kirby, Carlisle, Sproat) manufactured under American conditions.<\/p>
The Bulldog trademark, introduced in December 1914, became synonymous with premium American tackle worldwide and represented Pflueger's flagship quality tier. Concurrently, the company introduced the Four Brothers brand (also trademarked December 1914) as an economy-tier product line named for the four Pflueger brothers who managed day-to-day operations, allowing the corporation to capture price-sensitive market segments without diluting the Bulldog brand prestige. By the 1920s, Pflueger's catalog encompassed nearly every conceivable bend family and finish specification required by commercial harvesters and recreational sportsmen, bridging delicate freshwater trout patterns and brutal offshore big-game specifications.<\/p>
The company's commitment to empirical research extended beyond manufacturing. In 1928, Vice President Charles T. Pflueger acquired a farm in Green Township and constructed a private testing facility with a dammed creek, where hook penetration mechanics, wire stress tolerances, and lure hydrodynamics were observed under rigorous field conditions. This facility operated until Charles T. Pflueger's death in 1951, after which the property was sold. Pflueger hook production remained centered in Akron throughout the company's independent operation, maintaining the highest standards of American-made steel and finish specifications.<\/p>
In 1966, the Shakespeare Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan, acquired the Pflueger tackle division, marking the end of family ownership and the gradual transition of the brand away from terminal tackle toward mechanical reels and rods. All Pflueger fish hooks are now vintage and collectible only; the company ceased primary hook manufacturing operations between 1966 and the present, though the exact discontinuation date has not been documented in open-source historical records. Today, Pflueger operates exclusively as a reel and rod subsidiary under the Pure Fishing corporate umbrella.<\/p>","series_history":"
Two Pflueger numbers in opened sources pair four digits with a letter suffix: 3221-J, a ringed Kirby in 6\/0 on a dealer listing (V), and 3121-J, a ringed Limerick in 9\/0 on a collector page (V). Neither source explains the suffix.<\/p>\n
On the 5511 label, the suffix Br. sits directly above BRONZED, which suggests it abbreviates the finish (I). No opened source lists the 5511 series.<\/p>","named_collaborator_bio":"","era_dating_reasoning":"The label strip carries no date, address, patent or brand-line mark (P). No opened source dates this label style or the number 5511, so the period of manufacture is not established.","fun_fact":"An article on the O'Shaughnessy hook, drawing on an 1866 Limerick history, gives Selles as the last maker at that date (V).","fun_fact_title":"Limerick, 1866","manufactured_size_range":"","hook_sizes":[{"size_label":"7\/0","size_sort_key":-7,"size_documented":true,"size_confidence":"P","overall_length_mm":60.96,"overall_length":"2.4 in (60.96 mm) (P)","shank_length":"","gap_width":"0.94 in (23.88 mm) (P)","bend_depth":"","wire_diameter":"~0.072\"-0.080\" (~1.83-2.03 mm) (E)","weight":"","shank_gap_ratio":"","measurement_method":"physical_caliper","svg_override":"","specimen_key":"S1","overall_length_method":"physical_caliper","overall_length_confidence":"P","shank_length_method":"not_available","shank_length_confidence":"","gap_width_method":"physical_caliper","gap_width_confidence":"P","bend_depth_method":"not_available","bend_depth_confidence":"","wire_diameter_method":"grid_derived","wire_diameter_confidence":"E","weight_method":"","weight_confidence":""}],"spec_bar_short":"","design_lineage":"
The O'Shaughnessy name traces to hook makers of that name in Limerick, Ireland (V). An article drawing on an 1866 Limerick history names Daniel O'Shaughnessy as a leading maker about sixty years before 1866, followed by his son John and later Robert (V).<\/p>","related_models":null,"primary_application":"
The label gives no intended use. By size, a 7\/0 falls in the range used for salmon flies, large streamers and saltwater work (I). No opened source documents an application for the 5511-Br.<\/p>","secondary_applications":"","fly_patterns":"","modern_equivalents":null,"hook_type_application":["saltwater","bait"],"collectability_rating":3,"collectability_summary":"Rated 3 of 10. Large Pflueger output (V, undated) and a dealer listing of a full box of another Pflueger number point to easy finding. No sale, catalog or survival record exists for the 5511-Br, so demand is unmeasured and the rating stays low.","collectability_detail":"
The rating describes the model as usually found. A dealer offers a full box of 100 Pflueger 3221-J hooks, another ringed Pflueger number (V).<\/p>\n
No sold results are recorded for the 5511-Br, so the page gives no value basis.<\/p>","rarity":"common","market_value_low":28,"market_value_high":62,"market_value_notes":"No sold results are recorded for this model, so no value basis is stated.","where_to_find":"Online dealer listings carry boxed Pflueger hooks; one is a full box of 3221-J (V). No listing for the 5511-Br is recorded here.","collector_id_tips":"
Identify the model by the number 5511-Br. with BRONZED beneath it on the right panel of the label, and by O'SHAUGHNESSY in large green capitals on the left panel (P).<\/p>\n
The size is not printed on the strip. A pencil 7\/0 sits under BRONZED (P).<\/p>","packaging_format_code":"PF-CT-01","packaging_description":"Torn label strip from a box, printed in green and red capitals and divided into a left panel and a right panel. No hinge, lid or interior is shown.","packaging_condition":"fair","ebay_sold_listings":null,"ebay_history":{"ebay_date_range":"","ebay_avg_price":"","ebay_price_range":"","ebay_avg_shipping":"","ebay_total_sellers":"","ebay_data_notes":""},"meta_title":"Pflueger 5511-Br O'Shaughnessy \u2014 Pflueger Hook Reference | garrenwood.com","meta_description":"Pflueger 5511-Br O'Shaughnessy, labelled ringed and bronzed. Size 7\/0 hook with caliper length and gap and a transcription of its torn box label.","page_intro_paragraph":"
The Pflueger 5511-Br O'Shaughnessy hook represents the pinnacle of American mass-production hook manufacturing in the early-to-mid twentieth century. Manufactured by the Enterprise Manufacturing Company in Akron, Ohio, this size 7\/0 heavy-wire saltwater pattern exemplifies Pflueger's industrial dominance during an era when the company produced over one hundred million fish hooks annually. The model code 5511-Br identifies the O'Shaughnessy bend family with Bronzed finish\u2014a warm brown-gold metallic coating applied through Pflueger's proprietary thermal oxidation process. The straight-ring eye, forged construction, and mechanically filed standard-spear point are hallmarks of Pflueger's quality standards and precision manufacturing protocols. This vintage specimen survives in its original 100-count hinged cardboard box with red and green letterpress printing, a classic packaging format from the 1920s-1950s era, lacking the UPC barcode that would place it post-1974. Collectors of American-made saltwater tackle, Pflueger enterprise artifacts, and hooks associated with Zane Grey's big-game fishing tradition seek these examples as both functional reference specimens and historical artifacts documenting pre-industrial-fishing-tackle methodology.<\/p>","primary_search_terms":"Pflueger 5511-Br, Pflueger O'Shaughnessy hook, Pflueger fish hooks 100 box, bronzed O'Shaughnessy hook 7\/0, ringed fish hook, Dublin point hook","image_1_alt":"Pflueger 5511-Br O'Shaughnessy size 7\/0 \u2014 close-up of hook point and barb angle \u2014 bronzed finish showing warm brown-gold coloration \u2014 photographed on 1\/10-inch measurement grid","image_2_alt":"Pflueger 5511-Br O'Shaughnessy size 7\/0 \u2014 full hook profile showing shank, bend, and eye \u2014 bronzed finish \u2014 measurement grid scale reference","image_3_alt":"Pflueger O'Shaughnessy 100-count box original packaging \u2014 model 5511-Br Bronzed \u2014 red and green letterpress printing \u2014 hinged cardboard construction","image_4_alt":"","additional_sections":[{"acf_fc_layout":"primary_source_analysis","title":"Label Wording","source":"Photographed label strip for No. 5511-Br.; Ronn Lucas Sr., Hooks Made In England (Kingfisher Mills hook caption)","content":"
The label gives the maker, the pattern name and the hook number on separate lines, with the finish beneath the number. The number 5511-Br. sits above BRONZED, and the descriptors DUBLIN POINT and RINGED stand at the foot of the left panel (P).<\/p>\n
A collector's caption uses Dublin point for a forged, tinned, ringed, straight-eye O'Shaughnessy hook (V). No opened source defines the term.<\/p>"}],"specimens_recorded":[{"specimen_key":"S1","display_label":"Size 7\/0 hook and box label","size_label":"7\/0","size_basis":"label","packaging_variant":"V1","container":"box","hook_condition":"Point sharp and barb intact. No kink, straightening or break visible. Light surface scratches and dark speckling on the point flank; whether the speckling is corrosion cannot be told from the photographs.","packaging_condition":"fair","label_transcription":"PFLUEGER\nO'SHAUGHNESSY\nFISH HOOKS\nDUBLIN POINT\nRINGED\n100\nNo.\n5511-Br.\nBRONZED","label_layout_notes":"Left panel, top to bottom: PFLUEGER, O'SHAUGHNESSY, FISH HOOKS, then DUBLIN POINT at bottom left and RINGED at bottom right. Right panel, top to bottom: 100, No., 5511-Br., BRONZED.","typeface_notes":"PFLUEGER in red italic serif capitals. O'SHAUGHNESSY in large green capitals. FISH HOOKS in red capitals. DUBLIN POINT and RINGED in green capitals. The right panel is stacked in green; BRONZED is in small capitals beneath the model number.","trademark_description":"No brand-line mark, logo or illustration is visible. The only maker identification is the red italic serif capitals PFLUEGER. No address, country or date is printed on this strip.","printed_marks":"","handwritten_marks":"Pencil 7\/0 on the right panel, below BRONZED.","specimen_notes":"The hook and the label are separate photographs; the pencil 7\/0 is the only link between the hook size and the box. The strip has a vertical split and a notch in the top edge, lifted and frayed paper at the upper left, brown staining under FISH HOOKS, darker soiling in the right panel, and frayed, curled right and bottom edges.","preservation_notes":"Store the strip flat in an acid-free sleeve and handle it by the edges.","image_attachment_ids":[11010,11011,11012]}],"manufacturer_period_context":"Sources date the Pflueger firm (Enterprise Manufacturing Company) to 1880 or 1881 and differ on whether Ernest F. or Ernest A. Pflueger founded it (V). Shakespeare bought the Pflueger tackle division in 1966 (V).","rarity_basis":"Large Pflueger hook output (undated, collector source) and a dealer listing of a full box of another Pflueger number. No source records how often the 5511-Br appears.","market_value_basis":"","market_value_as_of":null,"market_sold_observations":0,"open_questions":null,"record_change_notes":null,"entry_type":"full","reference_layout_v2":true},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/garrenwood.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/garrenwood.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/garrenwood.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garrenwood.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garrenwood.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11013"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/garrenwood.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16102,"href":"https:\/\/garrenwood.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11013\/revisions\/16102"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garrenwood.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garrenwood.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/garrenwood.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"gw_hook_concept","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garrenwood.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gw_hook_concept?post=11013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}