Morphy Auctions – The Wayne & Lori Edens Fishing Lure Collection
May 17, 2025
2000 N. Reading Rd Denver, PA 17517
877-968-8880 info@morphyauctions.com
morphyauctions.com

DENVER, PENN. — Fans of antique fishing lures found the waters more than inviting at Morphy Auctions’s December 9, 2024, auction of The Wayne & Lori Edens Fishing Lure Collection, Part I. The highly anticipated debut selection of treasures from the Edens trove surpassed $900,000 and left bidders eager for more. On Saturday, May 17, Morphy’s will auction part two of the storied collection, which is widely regarded to be the largest, most comprehensive and most important collection of its type ever to come to the public marketplace. In all, 680 ultra-rare lures — or “baits,” as they are known to fishing enthusiasts — will be presented at the gallery event, with all forms of remote bidding invited, including live online through Morphy Live.

For historical value alone, it would be hard to beat the first American wooden minnow that characterizes the link between the rotary and cedar plugs of the late 1890s and the first commercially offered minnows from just after the turn of the century. The auction example is the actual bait that was famously found in the tackle box of Twin Lakes, Ohio, resident Hiram C Rice. A hand-shaped bait with natural wood grain and a dark back, it features slightly curving gill marks, striking copper-colored “perch” stripes and a golden belly. The File Maker spade-shaped props are original and identical to those on a similar bait seen in an Arlan Carter reference book, and the prop bearings appear to be original and unchanged. When found, the bait’s right eye was cracked but still intact, and the left eye was missing. In the interim, a pair of reddish decoy-style eyes was inserted. Its glass eyes and added side hooks are easily removable, should that be the new owner’s preference. This antique minnow is one of the most significant and desirable objects in angling history and is the best representative predecessor to all other American wooden underwater minnows. In strong “very good plus” condition, it will cross the auction block with a $15/30,000 estimate.

Also rare, a circa 1910 Model #7000 Heddon 747 Mascallonge Minnow bait was originally found in a group of three at a doctor’s lake estate residence in Maine. This big boy is huge, measuring 8 inches in length. The cup is rigged with extra-strong trebles and fore and aft unstamped props. Specifically designed as a floater, it lacks belly weights. This choice bait has flawless amber glass eyes and short hand-painted gill marks on its chin. It is in “very good plus” condition and carries an auction estimate of $10/20,000.

Another top entry is a Heddon Introductory Model 155 all-brass Dowagiac Minnow, solid yellow with black gill marks. Its design incorporates three belly weights, each completely sealed. Both its white iris glass eyes are perfect, and its unmarked nickel-plated props are shiny and spotless. The brass eyes, cups and bearings have all mellowed with a chocolatey patina, and all five non-nickel-plated hooks appear to be original. The box is of the correct era for the lure, being a Type II with thicker panels and the thumbnail notch on the lid and bearing the phrase “Notice How The Hooks Are Hung!” ($10/20,000).

One of the rarest combos in the Edens collection is a 3½-inch brown-spotted Wilcox Wiggler graded Near-Excellent with clear, solid-glass eyes. One of few of its type ever to surface, it is housed in an equally rare “very good” condition paper label box from The Wiggler Mfg. Co., Elmwood, Indiana. Even the rare paper insert remains inside the lid. The Wiggler’s hardware suggests it has never seen water ($10/20,000).

A brown and gold Trory Minnow made by Enterprise Mfg. Co. (Pflueger), of Akron, Ohio, is one of the most influential American underwater minnows every produced. Morphy’s specialists confirmed that it is a very early model dating to 1900 or 1901, at the latest. Its details include a crudely formed wooden tail, gold perch bars on a natural brown body with a dark back and large, blemish-free eyes. The silver belly has a hand-painted gill mark on either side, and its hardware is original and uncleaned. This eye-catching bait was discovered in a tackle box in the Canton, Ohio, area ($6/12,000).

Collectors are expected to “leap” at the chance to acquire a Hosmer Mechanical Froggie bait in a rare yellow color with its (restored) original paper-labeled box. John D. Hosmer of Dearborn, Mich., started making his six-section kicking frogs around 1929 but didn’t sell any commercially until approximately a decade later. Hand-painted with detailed red and black spots on the back and red lines on the belly, the auction example has perfect glass eyes. Its well-conceived mechanical leg apparatus is still functional ($5/10,000).

Other standout lots include a circa 1915 Strawberry Spot Miller’s Original Wood Minnow bait, reversible and in its solid picture box with a $1 price imprinted on its label and a late 1920s bait made for Herbert Kinney by Heddon with cup and screw-eye hardware and solid glass eyes. Each of the baits is estimated at $2,5/5,000.

Morphy’s gallery is at 2000 North Reading Road. The auction starts at 9 am. All remote forms of bidding will also be available, including absentee, by phone and live via the internet. For information 877-968-8880 or www.morphyauctions.com.