Bomber Bait Company.

The Bomber Bait Company of Gainesville, Texas is probably the most famous lure company to come from the Lone Star State. Fortunately for Bomber collectors there was an outstanding research paper published by Jim Bourdon of Croton-On-Hudson, NY in 1983. I would recommend that any serious Bomber collector try to find a copy. Much of the information published here is available because of Jim's book.

This lure company was started by Ike Walker and C.S. Turbeville, in a search for a deep running bass lure. In 1944, after a couple of years of making lures for themselves they started producing some hand made production lures that were sold to friends and some local stores. The company was formally incorporated and production started on a larger scale in 1946. Wooden Bombers were produced until 1971, with a short experiment with plastic lures having plastic lips in 1949 (these short run lures are some of the most sought after by Bomber collectors). Plastic bodied lures were reintroduced in 1971, and replaced the wooden lures entirely.

The second lure Ike Walker and Turby Turbeville produced was called the Bomberette. Production was started in 1948, and it was available into the 1960s. It was made in three sizes.   The Jerk and Bomber Water Dog were introduced in the mid-1950s, with production continuing through the plastic era, and are still made today. The Bomber Knot Head was only catalogued for a couple of years in the late 1940s, and is sought after today. In addition Bomber produced a top water called the Top Bomber, and a couple of stick baits called the Stick and Spin Stick. These baits were originally wooden, and have continued through the plastic era and are still in production.

John Kolbeck of Wisconsin is a serious Bomber collector, and has a web site devoted to this lure company. You can find it at the following link:  http://www.bomberbaits.com