Tony Burmek Secret Bait
In 1955 national and local outdoor magazines were full of articles and advertisements that vaulted two Wisconsin brothers to fame. They had caught “42 muskies in 12 days!” Combined these muskies weighed just over 553 pounds! Even more impressive is all of these fish were caught on their own fishing lure, the Burmek B-1 Lure. Sales of this lure obviously surged from this publicity. However, I want to write today about the lure that came before the B-1. The lure that I still get calls and emails about from fisherman who are willing to pay “collector prices” for to take it fishing for the elusive musky. This lure I am referring to is the Burmek Secret Bait.
Early Version of Burmek Secret Bait Box
Secret Bait
In 1953, two years before the fame of the B-1, Tony Burmek introduced his Secret Bait to the market. Tony and his brother Fred had begun making bucktails around 1952. Production and sales were set up at 4173 North 15 th Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Unlike most vintage musky lures the Secret Bait did not get its commercial origins in wood. While some prototypes and a few lures were made from wood, the commercial beginnings really began with plastic, almost unhear of for a musky lure in that time. The first version did have its problems though. The middle of the body proved to be too narrow causing the lure to flip in the water on retrieve and the tail hook had a reputation for pulling out. This first version was quickly shut down (and is now quite collectible and difficult to find). The second version, and one so sought after today, corrected both issues. A wider body improved the run of the lure and a new hook eye insert fixed the pull-out problem.
One area where Burmek excelled right from the start was the packaging. The boxes through the years were marketing masterpieces. Full of images and publicity, they knew how to grab fishermen’s attention (photos show the transition of the boxes over time). You will notice the first box has only “17 muskies in 12 days”. Still a feat to be sure. By box three he has worked up to the full “42” he had accomplished in 1955. Burmek also excelled in generating publicity in general. In addition to garnering national attention over his “42 muskies in 12 days” catch he mastered local newspapers and magazines. One doesn’t have to search long to find a vintage Burmek advertisement highlighting the virtues of his baits. I’ve included two of my personal favorites.
1956 Ad Featuring Tony and Fred Burmek
Colors and Sizes
Literature from 1956 show the baits began with three basic colors and one size. The colors were: Sucker, Red Rib and Yellow Sucker. From there additional colors were added over the years such as Perch although I have not found an official color chart for the baits. Note the yellow with gold spots color pictured with the last box version. It was a later color added but one that was popular with musky fisherman on other baits such as the Pflueger Globe.
Next Version of Burmek Secret Bait Box
Last Version of Burmek Secret Bait Box
Later Years
The Burmek brothers went on promoting their lures and musky fishing throughout their lives. They would introduce other musky lures such as the B1, B2, and B3 which all went on to at least some level of success. The B1 in particular was a very successful lure. However, the Secret Bait lure still holds a special place for a lot of collector’s and fisherman.
Tony Burmek passed away at the age of 73 in 1985. After his death, promotion of the lures slowed and eventually the rights to the B1 lure were sold to the Uncle Josh Bait Company in 1987. Fred Burmek passed away in 1996.
1957 Ad Featuring Burmek Secret Bait in Muskie’s Mouth
Collectors Value
The Burmek Secret Bait with a matching two-piece cardboard box sells in the $40-50 range in excellent condition. Rarer colors can go for up to double that amount. Catching a musky of a lifetime on one of these vintage lures: priceless.
This article originally appeared in Midwest Outdoors Magazine as written by Keith Bell in the January 2023 issue.
Keith Bell
Keith Bell and his family live in Neenah, Wisconsin but spend a lot of time fishing Northern Wisconsin. Keith has been an avid angler and outdoorsman his entire life. His passion for fishing is matched only by his passion for fishing history and preservation. He is the founder and owner of MyBaitShop.com, the world's largest online vintage tackle and history website. He writes the monthly column Fishing History for Midwest Outdoors Magazine. You can reach Keith at his website or at keith.bell@mybaitshop.com
If you are interested in collecting or fishing any vintage Musky Lures be sure to check out our large selection of them here.
Very well researched, but need to address some points in the article.
The Secret Bait that Tony and Fred used for the 12 Days in 1955, was a wood prototype that Tony had whittled about two or three years prior.
The original wood prototype didn’t work the way Tony had hoped and he spent the next several months tweaking it’s design in various ways. The second wood prototype of which Tony made two, was finished in late 1952 or early 1953, functioned the way Tony had hoped, was put in his tackle box and was largely forgotten about until the 1955 excursion. The second prototype was the one that was used during the 12 Days. It was the wide body version of what became the improved Secret Bait and was sucker colored.
When the Burmek brothers launched their boat on Round Lake on October 30th, Fred saw one of the two prototype’s at the bottom of Tony’s tackle box and decided to use it. Shortly after Fred hooked into a small musky and released it. That was good enough for Tony and he snapped on the other one on his rod. Within 10 minutes, Tony hooked into a 38 1/2 pound musky. A little while later, Fred hooked into a 31 pounder.
Tony fished on Round Lake for seven of the 12 Days and the Chippewa Flowage for five and taking one day off due to weather. Fred fished with him for six days, another friend for five days and one day by himself.
The “17 Muskies” on the original box were the ones they kept. The 17 kept Muskies ranged from 25lbs to 43 lbs. The “42 muskies” on the later boxes refers to the total number of Muskies they caught in the 12 Days, totalling 533 1/2 pounds. A 20 pound Northern was also caught, and they included that in the total pounds.
After the 12 Days, the Burmek’s started marketing the Secret Bait and as was pointed out in the article, those baits were made in plastic. The Burmek’s couldn’t get the plastic mouldings correct on the first version of the Secret bait, resulting in the skinnier version, which also resembled the first wood prototype. Tony was originally content with this early on because he thought that plastic would react different then wood. When the issues began happening with the first version, they made a few tweaks to the molding process, got it correct and the Second version of the Secret Bait, which was to the specs of the 2nd wood prototype was launched and the rest is history.
I’m not sure when the Burmek’s released the “B1” or why they chose to go with a finned tail instead of a forked one.
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