OK a little update for those of you dedicated to the Silver Buddy...

I was at the parents for Christmas and got some details. The original inventor was a guy in northern OH named Lucky something. He made the Silver Lucky. Buddy made some changes and produced the Silver Buddy as you all know it. Buddy is now making some again in FL. He sent my Dad a handfull of the new ones. The ones you see at Backwaters with the Silver Buddy name hand engraved into the side look exactly like the ones he sent Dad so I guess those are being made by Buddy. The current version has different hooks from the original. I think they are referred to as the "saltwater hooks".

I have no idea how many he is making or how many he intends to make.