Rare Antique Heddon Fishing Lures
Heddon fishing lures were first manufactured in the early 1900's, when a successful beekeeper and businessman named James Heddon and his sons formed The Heddon Company. The anecdotal story of the founding of the company says that James Heddon was whittling by a mill pond in Dowagiac, Michigan and tossed a small piece of wood into the water, where it was immediately struck by a hungry bass. It makes a good story, but artificial lures were used by anglers long before James Heddon came up with the idea. The story speaks more about marketing fishing lures than about the origination of fishing lures. The idea in any angler's mind should be, if I buy a Heddon lure, the fish will vigorously strike it!Even if he was not the first person to come up with the idea of artificial lures, James Heddon was very successful at selling them. The company continuously worked on developing and patenting different lures, and they produced good quality lures that worked for countless anglers in a variety of conditions. The early slope nose lures, minnows, and diving wigglers all caught fish, and caught on with the fishing public, starting a wave of Heddon lure popularity that continues today, with collectors searching out the rarest old Heddon Dowagiac Underwater Minnows, crabs, Luny Frogs, River Runt Spooks, Zig Wag lures and boxes for their collections.
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You can find a great deal of information about collecting and valuing old Heddon fishing lures, see old company pictures and catalogues, and examine Heddon lure patents at Old Fishing Lure's Heddon page.
A very interesting collection of Pre-1920 Heddon lures and boxes can be viewed here.
A very interesting collection of Pre-1920 Heddon lures and boxes can be viewed here.