Moonlight and Paw Paw Antique Lures

Catalog #11 Moonlight Bait and Novelty Works.

   "From the beginning we have always worked with a keen appreciation of the peculiarities of fishing. A careful study of the needs of fisherman has convinced us that only specially designed and carefully constructed lures could hope to be successful." 

"One who has never used our Luminous Lures at night has missed much of the pleasure of fishing. The old saying was, "If your business interferes with fishing, quit your business." you do not have to quit either; buy one of our "Moonlight" brand Luminous Lures and Fish every evening."

"There is an indescribable thrill and sensation about night fishing that makes the blood tingle, and if you have never experienced that thrill with our "Moonlight" Brand Baits, Brother, you have never fished."

"There is nothing new under the sun, but strange things are seen at night."

I think the above paragraphs taken from the #11 Moonlight old fishing lure catalog, sums up a great introduction to the Moonlight Baits from paw Paw Michigan.

As the story is told, in 1906 a group of friends and neighbors formed a fishing club called the Moonlight Bass Club. Horace Ball  is given credit for sharing his wooden lure creations with the other members of the club. The were so successful that in 1908 he and Charles Varney founded the Moonlight Bait Company. There first lure produced and longest lasting was the Floating Bait. Moonlight created such baits as the Dreadnaught, the Trout Bob, the Zig Zag.

In 1923 the Moonlight Bait company merged with the Silver Creek Novelty works, thus forming the Moonlight Bait and Novelty Works Co. This brought into the Moonlight old fishing lure arsenal such baits as the "Pollywog" and the fly rod lure line "The Eats Us" and most notably the "Pikaroon". Moonlight continued to produce and perfect the above fishing lure lines until it was bought by the Paw Paw Bait Company around the late 20's thus creating new lures and cross breeds of the existing antique fishing lures.

As time progresses I will add to the Moonlight pages, adding more history, to the evolution of some of their lures, from the Lady Bug, to the Pikaroon to the Underwater Minnows and on to the Paw Paw Brand Minnows. There will be pages on this website to help distinguish colors painted on Moonlight lures, boxes and or the series numbers Moonlight used to identify their baits. All in effort to provide a enjoyable education website devoted to the Old Fishing Lure. Make Sure you stop by the Moonlight Lure Gallery and  view the 1920 and 1925 Moonlight Catalogs we have to share.

Moonlight and Paw Paw Antique Fishing Lure Resources