March 2011
Bru-Ell Spearing Decoy
Bru-Ell Manufacturing Co
Watkins, MN
Manufactured from 1943 – 2004
Due to the popularity of last month’s spearing decoy Lure of the Month, I decided to have a second Lure of the Month featuring a spearing decoy.

Bruce and Helen Wakefield owned a farm near Watkins, MN where they raised cattle and mink.  Yes, you read that right…cattle for beef and mink for furs.  However, Bruce was injured and disabled in an accident and was unable to continue his farming operation.  So, out of necessity, Bruce started carving fish decoys that he could sell.  The year was 1943.

It was a true family business as Bruce carved the decoys and added the tin fins and tail while Helen painted the decoys in a variety of colors, although red and white was the most popular.  During this process, real white tacks where added for  eyes and Helen painted a black dot on each tack for the pupil.

The Bru-Ell Decoy name came from Bruce and Helen combining their first names.  The couple made as many as 3,000 decoys annually and continued producing decoys for around 60 years.

Bru-Ell Decoys are fairly common and show up for sale quite often.  However, the decoy boxes are hard to find.  The decoys were only sold in boxes for a few years, mainly for the reason that the decoys sold well whether they were in a box or not.  If that was the case…why add the expense of supplying a box?

The solid white Bru-Ell box was only used during the first couple of years of decoy production (1943-1945).   I admit, I am not a huge decoy collector although I am starting to acquire some Minnesota made spearing decoys.  The box pictured was a gift to me from my wife, who went to an auction alone and came home with this box for me.  My wife “took a chance” that I would like the box and a few other items she bought.  I was very pleased with what she brought home and amazed at the knowledge she had in selecting the items…even though she still claims she didn’t know what she was doing.  It makes me wonder where I would be if I didn’t have a great wife who supports me in my hobby of collecting fishing tackle.


Proof that the Bru-Ell Decoy works...two Hammer Handles at once!!