Al Foss -- later bought by True Temper, Cleveland, Ohio

Al Foss began making lures in the early 1900s, applying for his first patent on his lures in December, 1915. The earliest Foss lures were made of metal and were designed to use with pork rind. A non-metal lure that was made with wood, celluloid, or other material had a patent applied for in April, 1916.

Al Foss was bought out by the American Fork and Hoe Company sometime around the 1930's or 1940's. Foss lures were then marketed under the name of True Temper.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

Fred Arbogast Baits Akron, Ohio

The earliest Arbogast lures were made of metal; however, Arbogast wood lures came along very soon after. The earliest Arbogast wood lures were made of cedar wood. One of the most popular Arbogast lures was the jitterbug and one of his most important inventions was the Hula Skirt.

Fred Arbogast started his business in 1926, and the business is still running today.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

Bite-Em-Bate Lure & Company, Warsaw, Indiana or Bite-Em-Bait Sales Company, Ft. Wayne, Indiana

Started about 1917, this company has two known names. Bite-Em-Bate is the earliest known name, however, by 1920 it was advertised as Bite-Em-Bait Sales Company. An early 1921 patent was under the Bite-Em name and was granted to Claude Rodgers and Arthur Wenger. Most Bite-Em lures were made of wood.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002, and from "Fishing Lure Collectibles", Dudley Murphy & Rick Edmisten, 2007.

Bomber Bait Company Gainesville, Texas

The Bomber Company was started by Ike Walker and C. S. Turbeville. In the 1940's, Walker and Turbeville wanted a bait that would go deep into the water when cast. They began to experiment with other companies lures and came up with their own design called the Bomber. Bomber Bait Company lures were mostly made of wood.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

Carter's Bestever Bait Company Indianapolis, Indiana

Thomas J. Carter applied for his first lure patent in 1919, however, it was not granted until 1924. In 1932, Milton Dunkelberger of Dayton, Ohio bought Carter out and lures were then advertised under the name of Dunk's-Carters lures of the American Display Company.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

C. A. Clark Company Springfield, Missouri

C. A. Clark began experimenting with lure design in the 1920's but did not apply for his first patent until 1934. The "No-Eye", the earliest of the Clark lures, was made by hand and mostly handed out to friends. Later Clark began to manufacture the lures under the name of "Water Scout". Rather than "No Eye" these wooden Water Scouts had "Dent-Eye".

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

Creek Chub Bait Company Garrett, Indiana

George Schultress, Carl Heinzerling, and Henry S. Dills began doing business under the Creek Chub Bait Company in 1906. Their first major Creek Chub lure produced was the #100 Wiggler. One of their major contributions to the fishing lure industry was the use of netting while painting lures to produce a scale-like finish to their models. Creek Chub Bait Company became part of the Lazy Ike Corporation of Des Moines, Iowa, in 1978.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

Hastings Sporting Goods Company Hastings, Michigan

The Wilson Fluted Wobbler was first patented by Richard T. Wilson and Aben E. Johnson in 1913 under the Hastings Sporting Goods Works name. During that period of time, Wilson and Johnson lures also advertised in various other texts under other company names as well as Hastings Sporting Goods. The Hastings Company advertisements ceased around 1927 and from then on the Wilson lures were advertised in the Moonlight Bait Company catalog of Paw Paw, Michigan, obviously having been bought out by them. However, around the same time period, Moonlight Bait Company bought out other patents and became the Paw Paw Bait Company.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

James Heddon and Sons Dowagiac, Michigan

The Heddon Company was begun in 1902 by James Heddon and his two sons, Will T. and Charles Heddon. It all began when James, waiting for a fishing friend, whittled a wooden plug, and then threw the plug into the water. A large bass attacked the wooden plug. James realized that if he had put a hook on the plug, and the plug on a line, he may have caught the bass for supper. This was the beginning of the James Heddon and Sons company. He and his two sons ran with the idea, and soon were producing plugs of various types. The company has been under several ownerships since the Heddon's owned it. Heddon products are currently owned by Pradco of Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002, and from "Fishing Lure Collectibles", Dudley Murphy & Rick Edmisten, 2007.

Abbey and Imbrie New York, New York

This famous company (established in 1820) was in business long before going into business selling fishing lures. According to Luckey (2002), the company had well known manufacturers make popular lures with the Abbey and Imbrie name on the lure and the packaging. It is highly doubted that they produced the lures themselves. They were bought out in 1930 by Horrocks-Ibbotson of Utica, New York.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

Helin Tackle Company Detroit, Michigan

Charles Helin applied for his patent on the Flatfish in 1934. The Helin Tackle Company remained in operation until 1990 when it was bought out by the Yakima Bait Company.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

Johnson

The Johnson Silver Minnow was invented by Louis Johnson in 1920. Johnson, a foundry worker, soldered a single hook onto the inside of the bowl of a silver, elongated, egg shaped spoon. Also called the Johnson Spoon.

Information taken from "Complete Book of Bass Fishing" by Grits Gresham, 1st Edition, 1966.

Play Fair

See Pfleuger for Play Fair.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002, and from "Fishing Lure Collectibles", Dudley Murphy & Rick Edmisten, 2007, and from internet, http://www.mrlurebox.com/Pflueger.htm accessed 8 October 2007.

Shannon Lure Company

J. P. Shannon first marketed the Shannon Twin Spinner in 1915. Shannon allowed the W. J. Jamison Company to manufacture the lure for him from the 1920's through the early 1950's. In 1951 the company was transferred to a son, J. Max Shannon who changed the name to Shannon Lure Company, a Division of Jamison Tackle Corporation.

Taken from "Complete Book of Bass Fishing", Grits Gresham, 1st edition, 1966.

D. McDonald

Hildebrandt Bait Company ? John J. Hildebrandt Co. ? Logansport, Indiana

According to Murphy and Edmisten (2007, p.208) "Hildebrandt was known more for spinners than for wood baits." The company added lures after purchasing the Hayes Bait Company.

Information taken from "Fishing Lure Collectibles", Dudley Murphy & Rick Edmisten, 2007.

Moonlight Bait Company Paw Paw, Michigan

The Moonlight Bait Company was started in 1908 by Horace Emery Ball and Charles E. Varney. It all began when a group of fishing friends formed the Moonlight Fishing Club. This group of friends found themselves doing most of their fishing at night to accommodate their work schedules. Horace Ball created a lure to fish with that was quite successful and began sharing this lure with the club members. As time went on they began to market this lure under the name of Moonlight Floating Bait. This new company was very successful and by 1918 they had several lures in their line. In 1923, Moonlight Bait Company became Moonlight Bait and Novelty Works when it acquired the Silver Creek Novelty Works of Dowagiac, Michigan. This merger greatly expanded their line of merchandise. Around 1927, Moonlight Bait Company acquired the rights to the Hastings Sporting Goods Works line also. By 1929 the Moonlight Bait Company was now advertising as the Paw Paw Bait Company which remained in operation until around 1960.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

Paw Paw Bait Company Paw Paw, Michigan

Paw Paw Bait Company started in 1909 as the Moonlight Bait Company and continued into the 1960's when it was bought out by the Shakespeare Company. The Paw Paw name did not disappear with this acquisition but became Paw Paw Fishing Lures by Shakespeare.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

Enterprise Mfg. Company - Pflueger Fishing Tackle Akron, Ohio

E. F. Pflueger established the Enterprise Mfg. Company in 1886. The company remained in the Pflueger family as the Enterprise Mfg. Company until it finally became the Pflueger Fishing Tackle. Pflueger's largest growth in fishing tackle was in the years between 1906 and 1930. After that, Pflueger was more known for their reels than their tackle, finally selling their tackle line to Shakespeare in the 1970's. Pflueger manufactured lures were marketed under various brand names, including Four Brothers Neverfail, (Enterprise Manufacturing Co.), "Ketch-em" Wooden Minnow (Simmons Hardware Company), and the "Kingfisher" Wooden Minnow (Edward K. Tryon Co.), and "Playfair" Wooden Minnow, Catalina, Portage Electric Minnow (parent companies unknown), and others .

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002, and from "Fishing Lure Collectibles", Dudley Murphy & Rick Edmisten, 2007 and from internet, http://www.mrlurebox.com/Pflueger.htm accessed 8 October 2007.

Rush Outing Company Syracuse, New York

According to Luckey (2002), the Rush lure has a mysterious beginning. The design patent for the Rush Tango Minnow was filed in September, 1914, by Le Roy Yakely, and was assigned to Joseph Rush on December 22, 1914. It looks like Yakely was the actual inventor; however, this was just the beginning of the confusion. In 1915, Yakely and Rush were taken to court by a Fillmore M. Smith. Smith had filed for and been granted a patent in 1912 for the same type of lure that Yakely and Rush had applied for in 1914 and he wanted his full rights restored. Rush Tango's continued to be sold up in to the 1920's.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

William Shakespeare Company Kalamazoo, Michigan

Shakespeare's first lure patent was on the Revolution in 1900. The patent was owned jointly between Shakespeare and a William Locher and they shared equally in its success. By 1910, the Shakespeare Company had a large inventory of lures available and often included competitors merchandise in their catalogs.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

William J. Jamison Co. Chicago, Illinois

The William Jamison Company started in 1905 in the family kitchen. By 1911, the company was producing many quality lures and this production continued for many years. William Jamison's death in 1926 lead to many company changes. The company began merchandizing under the Shannon line and began producing plastic rather than wooden lures. The company continued under the Shannon name into the 1950's.

Information taken from "Fishing Lure Collectibles", Dudley Murphy & Rick Edmisten, 2007.

South Bend Bait Company South Bend, Indiana

F. G. Worden began the company in 1895 when he invented the Worden Bucktail lure. By 1905 he had hired 3 men and started the Worden Bucktail Manufacturing Company, Inc. The name was changed to the South Bend Bait Company in 1909. Gladding bought out South Bend in 1965.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

Tony Accetta Cleveland, Ohio

This company was formed by Tony Accetta in the late 1930's. Advertisements were found up into 1957, but what happened with the company after that is not known.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

True Temper Geneva, Ohio

The American Fork and Hoe Company bought out the Al Foss lure patents sometime around the 1930's or 1940's. Foss lures were then marketed under the name of True Temper.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

Weber Stevens Point, Wisconsin

Not much is known of the company except that the company made fly rod lures and other lures for light tackle.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002.

Wright and McGill Company Denver, Colorado

This company has been in business since 1925 and sells their lures under then name of Eagle Claw.

Information taken from "Old Fishing Lures and Tackle", Carl F. Luckey, 6th Edition, 2002