Heddon Artistic Minnow

Seventy-five cents and Heddon's Artistic Minnow was yours, complete with a 1/2 ounce casting weight in a "strong and handsome pasteboard box", according to Heddon's 1907 catalog. (Too bad you weren't thoughtful enough to buy a dozen or so...!) The lure measures 1 3/4" in length and was listed for use with a heavy fly rod. The casting weight (pictured) which weighed 1/2 ounce, could be attached to the line in front of the lure to aid in casting.

The lure had a single belly weight and all of the metal parts on this lure were gold plated except for the rear treble hook. The treble also came with feathers or a bucktail. Colors for this lure include Fancy Sienna Yellow (shown), Fancy Back Green, Yellow/Green back, and Gold/Greenish back, all with hand-painted gill marks.

The Artistic Minnow and Pflueger's Simplex Minnow are almost identical and according to Carl Luckey in his book, Old Fishing Lures and Tackle #4, the best way to tell the difference was the belly weights, i.e., Pflueger used from 1 to 3 belly weights and the single belly weight was larger in diameter than the one Heddon used.

Since the casting weight came with the lure, finding it along with the lure and the box intact is pretty rare and the owner of the lure shown valued it at between $1,250 - $1,500...of course, he didn't pay 75 cents for it either...!  (Note:  these price estimates are from the original 1997 article.)

• The Heddon Artistic Minnow Series No. 50 was made from 1907-1912.  Below is the cover of a 1907 Heddon catalog (extremely rare):

• If you want to get a look at more historic Heddon Catalog covers take a look at our entire library of Heddon Catalogs here.
• The casting weight was meant to be attached on the line 3" above the minnow.
• Below is another photo of a Heddon Artistic Minnow courtesy of our friends at Lang's Auction:

Unknown Lure

None this issue.

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