This is not a fish story, honestly, although it has a lot to do with fishing.

As a matter of fact, Hofmann Lures, Lakeview, grew out of one man’s admitted “fanaticism” for fishing.

It all started with a desire to make a lure that would really catch fish.

Hofmann said he and his brothers were all fishermen and added that he started tinkering in an attempt to perfect the lure that would get results.

The company, which is now operated by his wife, Rose, presently manufactures four different types of lures, all of the same basic design, but of different weights to match different types of fishing tackle.

Hofmann said that, at first, while he and his wife were living in Dayton, he made lures for himself and his friends, but did not get into real production until the family moved to Lakeview in 1952.

The move was made, he said, because he and his wife felt that the Indian Lake environment might be more conductive to expanding their fledgling business.

Hofmann said a brother, Frizz, encouraged the move to the lake and helped market the first lures that Hofmann produced.

Hofmann said the flyrod lure that the company still manufactures is called “Frizz’s Original” in honor of his brother and the encouragement he provided during the expansion of the business.

Hofmann said his brother, who also produced lures on a “few of a kind” basis was a good mechanic and had a lot of ideas, but did not have the technical ability to produce large quantities of a standard lures.

A retired toolmaker, Hofmann was able to manufacture toolings to produce lures once he perfected them.

Hofmann said health reasons were behind the decision to turn the company over to his wife, but said he is still involved in testing and designing the lures that the company makes.

Each of the four models currently produced are the end result of a lot of product testing in the form of “getting a line wet”.

The Mitey Mite, the latest addition to the product line, took more than three years to develop, Hofmann said.

Through a continuing process of redesigning and testing, the Mite, which is used for ultra-lite fishing, was evolved over a three-year period.

And, as with other three models, once an acceptable design was reached, Hofmann produced dies that would engrave, form, drill and stamp out the spoons that are the main part of each lures.

Hofmann, who said he is introduced a lot of people around Indian Lake to ultra-lite fishing while he was perfecting the Mitey Mite has maintained copious records of his product testing and the records read like a Who’s Who In Fishing.

Hofmann has documented almost unbelievable catches using his lures, but he also has thousands of testimonials from others who have been more than satisfied with their catches using Hofmann Lures.

One California fisherman reported “…I have taken channel cat, carp, buffalo, striped bass, drum (white perch), walleye, pickerel and even a small alligator.”

Hofmann explained that the colored nylon tail all four models of lures now carry was the result of experimentation in the name of improving the final product.

The colored tails replaced a smaller trailing spoon and proved effective so become a trademark of the product.

Another innovation, the “Get-Em-All” trailer hook, was the result of more testing and gives the fisherman a chance to get that short striking fish that might miss the spoons main hook, Hofmann said.

The lures also incorporated a specially designed weeder that combines the necessary spring action to keep the lure free of weeds without adding a lot of weight the might impede the action of the lure.

Mrs. Hofmann explained that once the spoons are blanked out of strips of medal using the dies her husband perfected, they are sent to Minnesota to be buffed and plated.

Meanwhile, she said, a group of subcontractors are busy tying tails and trailer hooks into the main hooks and doing the necessary painting and gluing.

Although the lures are, in a sense, mass produced, there is a tremendous amount of hand work in each one, she added.

Mrs. Hofmann said there are at least 32 operations, most of the completed individually by hand, necessary to make the fly rod model.  Making a tail for one of the lures involved at least 13 steps, all of them completed by hand, she added.

Once the completed hooks and tails are delivered back to the Hofmann home, which also serves as the lure factory, Mrs. Hofmann said they have to be riveted to the plated spoons and final painting completed.

Then the lures are placed on cards, each of which bears a Biblical message, and processed for shipping.

Mrs. Hofmann said she personally gives each spoon a final wipe to remove finger-prints and smudges and brushes each tail with a tooth brush before the lures are boxed, along with a religious tract.

Inclusion of the Biblical messages and tracts are important to the Hofmanns, who said that proceeds from the sale of the lures has enabled them to support their church and several evangelists.

Hofmann Lures are distributed throughout the United States and sales have grown through customer satisfaction and work-of-mouth advertising.

The Hofmanns said their only attempt to advertise their product went bust when the fishing paper they had placed an advertisement in folded.

Mrs. Hofmann, who also handles all the shipping, said they often receive requests for lures from people who have seen a Hofmann Lure in use and want one of their own.

“Since our name and address is embossed on each lure,” she said, “we get a lot of inquiries, some of then containing a sketchy description of the lures an some even including an old rusted model.”

Lures are distributed through jobbers and on an individual order basis when requests are received.

“I always try to fill orders as quickly as possible and there have been many spent rushing to complete an order,” Mrs. Hofmann said.

She said she believes that the quality of the product as well as its success on the end of the line are the reason for growth of the business.

“We tried to design a product that would catch both fish and fisherman,” Hofmann added.

Mrs. Hofmann said, through, that the strain of the business is beginning to tell on her and added that she is contemplating passing it on to a someone younger.

Were that to happen, Mrs. Hofmann would have more time to join her husband a she “field tested” the lures, she said.

And that, undoubtedly would lead to more fish stories – but then Hofmann is careful to document the “big ones” that don’t get away with Hofmann Lures so there can be no such thing as a non-believer.  [top]