Hula Popper remains a classic lure

As I searched my tackle box for a topwater lure that I have used for more than 60 years, I thought about how I have more than 100 lures in my tackle boxes, but most of them never hit the water.
There are a few old favorites that still produce, including a Hula Popper. There is nothing more exciting to topwater anglers than having a big bass explode under their Hula Popper.
With its pulsating skirt, it’s like having insurance. When all else fails, Hula Poppers are deadly when “popped” over submerged timber or weed beds. They give every big fish within hearing distance a real wake-up call.
The history of fishing lures is an interesting one. Two men come to mind when talking about lures. James Heddon and Fred Arbogast.
Heddon is acknowledged the world over as the creator of the first artificial lure. Little did he know that fishing lure history was made back in 1894 as he cast that first plug into the still waters of a Michigan mill pond.
The ripples that first plug made as it hit the water have touched the lives of generations of anglers. Heddon would not have believed that his early creations would spawn such an avid following of antique lure collectors.
Heddon took anglers away from cane poles and bobbers with his early lures, rods and reels. These developments allowed anglers to cast farther, to get their plugs into more productive water, to catch more fish and have more fun doing it.
Fred Arbogast was a true pioneer of the fishing lure industry. As with many who enter the lure business, it began as a hobby.
He began by carving lures for himself and friends while he was employed by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in his hometown of Akron, Ohio.
As his lures began to become popular with the area anglers, some of the local tackle shops began asking if they could buy the lures to sell in their stores.
Soon after, Arbogast became aware that he was really on to something. Armed with this newfound popularity and confidence in his lures, he resigned from Goodyear and decided to enter the lure business in earnest.
That was back in 1926. Two years later he formed the Fred Arbogast Company.
The first lure he chose to begin the new company was the Spin-tail Kicker. It wasn’t a wooden lure, but one cast of tin. This lure became an instant success owing to its ability to catch fish.
He ran an ad in the June 1926 issue of the Hunting and Fishing Magazine and the success of that one advertisement launched his hobby into the fishing lure business in big way.
A new lure, similar to the Spin-tail Kicker, was launched the next year. It was named the Tin Liz. His interest was in Hawaiian culture and music, which was very popular at the time, so he decided to capitalized on that appeal to name his newest lure.
To provide color and flash, he created a skirt of rubber sheets cut into narrow strips. This “hula skirt” was such an instant success that he applied for a patent, which was granted in 1938. This unique addition to any fishing lure remains a staple in most tackle boxes today.
Other early lures, including the Lazy Ike and Bombers, still cause anglers heart-stopping strikes that will always be what fishing lures are all about.