Heddon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 The birth of the artificial fishing lure
2 An industry created
3 The effects of the artificial lure
4 External links

[edit] The birth of the artificial fishing lure

Heddon is a brand name of artificial fishing lures created by James Heddon and his sons. James Heddon is acknowledged in the world as the creator of the first artificial fishing lure.[1]

He was born from a family of English immigrants. He had a good overall knowledge of farming, nature, and his environment. One of his favorite natural past times were fishing and wood carving. In the late 1890's, out of boredom and curiosity, he put the two hobbies together to form the first artificial fishing lure.

It started when he was waiting for a friend to fish with him. He took the free time to carve up a fake frog. Bored and somewhat curious, he placed a hook and setup a fishing line. To his surprise, a largemouth bass actually went for the bait.[2]

[edit] An industry created

In 1902, James Heddon and his two sons, William Heddon and Charles Heddon, decided that artificial bait lures could be a great business opportunity. They began making lures in Mrs. Heddon's kitchen in Dowagiac, Michigan. William was the business opportunist and Charles was the salesman, while James Heddon was the creative director.

By 1910, they had a sales distributor in Canada. They also bought a factory that was three stories high in Dowagiac. By 1950, the Heddon brand name was well known and they were producing over 12,000 lures a day.

Citing increased competition and wanting to end the business during a profitable time, the Heddon family sold their business to the Murchinson family in 1955. Since then the company has been sold, it has merged and has been acquired through various other corporations and finally disbanded.

[edit] The effects of the artificial lure

Although the company no longer exists, the Heddon family legacy is proudly represented every time a fisherman casts an artificial lure to the waters. Additionally, recreational fishing is now considered to be one of America's favorite past times. In the past, anglers' only bait available were live worms and other critters, but now, fishermen can use a variety of artificial lures available that could produce the same, if not better fishing results.

With the increase of recreational fishermen came also an increase in the economy. A survey by NOAA in 2000 found that saltwater recreational fishing alone, generates an economic impact of over $30.5 billion and supports 350,000 jobs in the United States, not including Texas, Alaska, and Hawaii.