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Creek Chub Bait Company History
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Creek Chub Bait Co.
- The Creek Chub Bait Company began in 1906. It was formed by
three fishing buddies, Mr. Henry Dills, Mr. Carl Heinzerling and
Mr. George Schulthess. For a few years they worked on their
ideas, experimented and made some handmade lures. Henry Dills had
developed the company's first bait, the Wiggler. Soon they
realized they had a marketable idea. It was in 1911 the first
No.100 Wiggler was sold and shipped out. All three men lived in
Garrett, Indiana and the Creek Chub Company became an important
part of this small 1,500 people community.
Mr. Henry Dills was known as the "inventor" of most of Creek Chub lures. He was responsible for the famous diving lip and the spray through netting that gave the lures a fish scale appearance. Production began in the basement of the home |
of George Schulthess. Over the next few years shipping order's were increasing and they grew into a eight employee company. In 1916 they moved into another building know as the Garrett Hotel. Women did most of the painting and in 1935 there were over forty employee's. There was another plant in Ashley, Indiana just outside of Garrett that did most of the body work. This plant was used from 1942 until a new plant was built in 1957 in Garrett. The new plant did most of the manufacturing then the baits were moved to the main plant for final assembly and then shipped off to distributors.
Creek Chub grew into a large and famous bait company. Family members of the original founders played an important part in the company. Henry Dills 1872-1927 had one son named Gordon Dills. He worked at the company for many years and eventually became president of the company.
| George Schulthess 1873-1945 had two son, Howard and Leroy.
Howard Schulthess worked at the company and became president when
Gordon Dills Died. His brother Leroy went into law practice. He
provide legal assistance for the company and eventually became
president of the company when his brother Howard Schulthess died.
He remained president until the company's end in 1978.
Carl Heinzerling 1881-1950. Carl had a son Harry and he worked at the company after his father passed away. He was the company's top sales person and kept the company on top when other lure company's went through hard times. Harry Heinzerling retired in 1978 at the age of 70. In 1978 the Creek Chub Bait Co. was sold to the Lazy Ike Corporation. The plant quit all production and the doors were closed. In 1981 the Creek Chub building in Garrett, Indiana was torn down. |
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