Shakespeare Floating Bait Lure

The Shakespeare Floating Bait Lure was first advertised in 1908. The lure was Shakespeare of Kalamazoo Michigan model series number 41. This wooden glass eyed antique lure measures 3 1/4″ inches in length. The Floating Bait lure shape would wide at the top rounded edge tapering towards the belly, an upside down pyramid of sorts if you will. Shakespeare would be the lead maker on this one, although they would fail to nail down market share. Heddon would take Shakespeare’s idea and run with it and in 1910 create its own floating minnow the 800-900-850 series and create a campaign out of it, named “It Swims”. The fishing lure had a forward line tie, a single double hook which would attach to a post in the cent of the lure, and a rear treble attached via a wire loop screw. The antique Shakespeare lure was only made for a handful of years and in a similar small amount of paint scheme colors. You can see the Floating Minnow in my 1916 Catalog Ad. Besides the Fancy Spotted Color shown in the gallery below, you can find the Shakespeare Floating Minnow in the following colors:

No. 41 – Length of Body 3 3/8″ inches, one double belly hook, one treble tail hook
No. 41SRF – Solid Red in Color
No. 41SWF – Solid White in Color
No. 41 SYF – Solid Yellow in Color
No. 41 FBF – Imitation Frog Color