In 1899, John Hildebrandt made his first spinner by using a piece of wire and hammering a silver dime into a spinning blade with his pocket knife. After trying his spinner in a tub of water, he fished it and was very satisfied with how it caught fish. Soon he was making them for friends, then started manufacturing them for the public…and it grew to be the most widely known and used spinner, and maybe of any artificial bait, in the world.
While John did not invent the spinner, he great improved it and how it was used for fishing. In the 1960s, John’s grandson (John Jr.) invented the Shady Lady when he took over the design side of the business. The bait worked well and the box pictured above says it best!
Hildebrandt was known for their hand-made spinners and blades and their high quality. The company was owned by the family until the 2000s, when it was “forced” to sell to another family business…Yakima Bait…which resides in China. Yakima still maintains the hand assembly and quality of the original lures.
Shady Lady
Hildebrandt’s Spinners
Logansport, IN
1960s
January 2023
