i bought a couple old type crankbait  top water baits   man did i do good with it.  when and ordered a couple more in case i lose one.   The old  lure called the devil horse   4 1/2 " long  i put some size  3 treble hooks on. it is in the color they call frog. i think the hooks on it must be size 2 or bigger. size 3 hooks worked great had all 3 trebles in fish most of the time.

The Devils Horse was the first topwater I ever threw. I was about 5. It caught fish for me then and still does now. An awful lot of treble hooks for a 5 yr old.

I am 47 yo, and I only fished Smithwick Lures when I was a kid, b/c my Grandfather owned a small sporting goods store, which was the first place you could ever buy a Smithwick bait, which was a small Shreveport, La based bait company.

Kind of cool, as Bo Smithwick (founders grandson) was in my wedding. I still have and fish lots of Smithwick baits, including the Rogue (jerk-bait), Carrot-top (walk-the-dog stickbait/chugger like a Chug-Bug, but bigger and wooden), Toothpick (small, slim wooden stickbait), Wood-Chug (chugger), and of course the original Smithwick bait, the Devil's Horse (prop-bait).

It remains my favorite top water bait.  I have thrown a devil's horse miles and caught a ton of fish.  Some real toads as well.

It makes me feel old that someone found it and considered it a novelty.  I am only 32 yo for crying out loud! LOL!