South Bend Fishing Tackle

F.G. Worden of South Bend, Indiana started making lures at home about 1894, and within a few years had made the South Bend Bait Company into a prosperous venture. Worden is said to have invented the 'bucktail' lure, a minnow-shaped lure with a feathery tail. But the company's most famous product was the Oreno, a minnow-shaped lure with bass and trout sizes, which can be dated by looking at the eyes. Those from the 1920s have no eyes, those from the 30's have glass eyes, and those from the 40's and onward have painted-on eyes. South Bend was sold in 1958, but continued to produce and sell reels, rods, and lures.