I've had a couple of these old style lures for some years now and I really don't know how one is to be fished.

 

Any help/knowledge greatly appreciated 

we would pull them under vigorously and let them pop back up, keep repeating this while slowly reeling - caught some big bass doing this -

I pop them. Plop - plop - plop - pause, repeat. The length of the pause can vary. 

Just fish it like you would a pop-R or slow fishing a Spook!

Just like a Lucky 13 the Bass Oreno is a floating shallow diver that can be retrieved several ways. The slow steady retreive with a few pauses then a few jerks was the most effective when I used then back in the 50'and early 60's. Waking the Oreno slowly so the tail end brakes the surface with occasional jerk and pause worked good. The third retreive I used at times was to crank it down then a fairly fast retreive similar to today jerk baits. Only had 1 color Oreno's white with red head and 1 Lucky 13 was pearch with red head. The Bass Oreno has a wider wobble and more radical darting action then the Lucky 13 which dove a little deep with less side to side wobble.

The lure of this type was the Chugger that today would be retrieved like a jerk bait and the frog pattern was popular and worked good.

Tom

Correction, having edite issues with my IPad; Chugger was retrieved like today's Pop-R, the Darter was like a jerk bait. Getting off topic.

Tom

 

Nothing says 'bass lure' to me like a red and white Bass O'Reno.  It was always the first lure my father threw in the morning and the last one he threw at night.  Its been over nearly 50 years, but I still recall clearly that he was insistent on not even thinking about imparting action until long after every last ripple had disappeared.  I never had the patience to wait 30-40 seconds to start working it, but I always got outfished.  He was most successful with a jerk/jerk long pause.....interminable pause, if you'd asked me.

1 minute ago, Choporoz said:

It was always the first lure my father threw in the morning and the last one he threw at night.

My dad and grandfather were Heddon Wooden Basser guys.  I still have a few of those old baits they used.