THE HISTORY  OF  THE GOPHER BAIT COMPANY
An interview with August "Augie" Machtig, co-founder of the Gopher Bait Company

The Gopher Bait Company was founded in 1950 by Elmer Deuster and August Machtig in Sheboygan,WI.The wooden prototype was designed by Deuster in 1948 and the unique paint/flock finish was perfected by Machtig in the summer of 1949. Deuster provided the wooden bodies, the financing,and the machinery necessary to make the parts for The Gopher lure. Machtig took care of production-painting,flocking, and assembly-everything necessary to arrive at the finished product.

Elmer Deuster was the owner of Deuster Lanes, a bowling alley located at 6315 W. Fondulac  Avenue, Milwaukee, WI. August Machtig was the owner of Sheboygan Water Conditioners, a water softener business located at 1720 S. 13th Street, Sheboygan, WI-about 60 miles north of Milwaukee. Both enjoyed fishing for muskies and northern pike and both enjoyed fishing the waters of Lac Vieux Desert Lake, in Vilas County north of Eagle River, WI. Deuster had a summer home on the lake adjacent to Clem's Resort where Machtig and his family rented a cabin for a portion of each summer. Yet, the two men never met until one summer day in 1949 when Machtig was grilling some bratwurst, a German sausage made famous in Sheboygan,WI, and the aromatic smoke drifted toward the Deuster home. It wasn't long before Deuster became curious and was inquiring about what was cooking! The conversation ended with the two men making plans to go musky fishing together the next day.

It was on that fishing trip in the summer of 1949 that Deuster showed Machtig his musky lure he called The Gopher. The 8 & ½ inch wooden lure resembled the gopher which was in abundance in burrows in the sandy soil around the lake and a strong swimmer when in the water.  Deuster patterned his lure after the gophers he saw around his summer home on Lac Vieux Desert. "What do you think about my lure?" he said to Machtig as he cast toward a weed bed in one of the bays.
"The paint job needs some work to get rid of the lumps, but I'm impressed with how it always turns right-side-up when it hits the water. I think it has possibilities!" recalled Machtig. "I know it needs some work, but how would you like to help make these lures?" was Deuster's response. "Sure, I'll give it a try." Said Machtig. Deuster provided the wooden bodies and Machtig began experimenting with ways to apply the flock finish so as to have a smooth looking lure without the lumps and bumps of the Deuster model. The two men went fishing together many more times during the summer of 1949. They talked about catching big muskies with The Gopher lure and they also talked about forming a company to manufacture The Gopher. By the Fall of 1949, Machtig had perfected the flocking process and each lure now had a smooth finish that felt like a short napped fur.The Gopher Bait Company was born in early 1950---and the two men became friends for life.

The original Gopher was light brown in color with nail eyes, a belly treble hook, and a treble bucktail at the tail. (The bucktails were tied by a woman from West Bend, WI. Machtig got her name by asking around at some of the local bait shops.) The bait also had a paddle wheel with offset paddles which gave it a swimming action. The flock finish was complimented with stripping and painted lines along the back of the bait. The original two piece yellow box had a picture of The Gopher lure on the cover and a descriptive paragraph on the side listing the four Gopher colors.
After improving the flocking process, Machtig next changed the eyes. He said,"The nail eyes were too beady looking. They just didn't look right to me!".He finally settled on using a multi-faceted colored plastic bead with a reflective sequin behind it and both held in place with a small nail. Red eyes were used most of the time,but some Gophers have amber eyes,and in a few rare instances,some have green eyes. "I bought whatever color the store had at the time." said Machtig.
The plastic eye became the standard for the remainder of the Gopher production. "The plastic eye made the lure more attractive to the fish---and the fisherman," replied Machtig.

The next change was to use a white open-top box with a see-through plastic sleeve. Some of the boxes were printed with Gopher information, some were plain, and some had "The Gopher" hand stamped on the box. The boxes were made by Jerry VanDerPuy at the  Paper Box and Specialty Company in Sheboygan,WI. Machtig tells us that the plastic sleeve was more protective against the elements, allowed the fisherman to see the lure without having to open the box, and made it easier for the retailer to promote the lure.

Few Gophers were produced for sale before 1950 and Machtig estimated that less than 7,500
 baits were produced from 1949 to 1960. Along the way, Machtig explained that he expanded the colors to add dark brown and black to the original light brown. Later, yellow and gray Gophers were also available. The majority of the baits were of the light brown, dark brown, and black color with only hundreds of Gophers produced in the yellow and gray colors.

The through-wire construction was maintained throughout the evolution process and was added to the bait after the completion of the flock finish.The through-wire was secured into a groove in the underside of the bait and was visible when the bait was turned over.

Beginning in 1950, all Gopher baits were assembled by Machtig in his workshop located in his home at 1720 S. 13th Street, Sheboygan,WI. He painted and flocked the wooden bodies, bent and added the through-wire, put in the eyes, cut and welded the paddles, and attached the belly hook  and bucktail. "A Gopher went through many steps before it was ready to be put in a box," he quipped.

Each owner took it upon himself to go out and sell the Gopher to fishing tackle stores and bait shops. "The Gopher was available at just about every bait shop, tackle store, and gas station across northern Wisconsin as well as various locations in Sheboygan and Milwaukee, but I think we made a mistake by selling them on consignment as we never got paid for most of our consignment sales,"Machtig said. "My biggest sale was for 1000 Gophers to the H.C. Prange Co.---- a small chain of department stores with its headquarters in Sheboygan,WI," he continued. The Gopher lure originally sold for $2.95 in 1950 and was selling for $4.95 in the late 1950's. In the 1960's, the Gopher line was also available through the Marathon Bait Company of Wausau,WI.

The Gopher Bait Company also developed two additional topwater lures called the Flock Mouse and the Musky Duckling during the 1950's and also developed the prototype for the Baby Gopher.
The Flock Mouse was a wooden lure with 2 treble hooks on the belly, a diving lip for added action, and a tail consisting of strands of deer hair.It was available in the light brown, dark brown, and black flock finish. Very few Flock Mouse were made and today this bait is very rare. The Musky Duckling was a wooden body with nail eyes and a single belly treble bucktail. It was available
in black, yellow, gray, and some with a red head with black or gray body.This bait had either the Gopher paddles on each side or long aluminum flipper feet dangling behind the bait. Only a small number of Musky Ducklings were made and today they are also considered very rare. The two men also developed the Baby Gopher---a 5 & ½ inch smaller version of The Gopher, but it was never put into production. The prototype remained in Machtig's desk drawer all of these years!

The Gopher Bait Company also purchased the rights to the Hinkle Lizard from Joe Hinkle of Kentucky. They continued to sell the lure in the original Kentucky box with Deuster's Milwaukee address hand stamped on the side of the box. Once the Kentucky boxes were depleted, the lure was packaged in a plastic bag with a thin cardboard header. It was renamed Sally the Hooker(Sally was short for salamander) and both the Milwaukee and Sheboygan addresses were listed on the header card. In addition, the two men obtained the production rights to the Leap-R Lure originally made by the Brileen Co. of Milwaukee,WI. The Leap-R Lure was available in 6 sizes and was stamped from sheets of brass, copper, and steel by the Pitts Machine Co. of New Holstein,WI. The Leap-R Lure was shaped like a flat NASA shuttle rocket and was made as a reversible lure to give it different action.The split ring rigged hook could be changed to the opposite end to get a more active side-to-side retrieve pattern.. Machtig said that after the lure was stamped, he would put the bend in the tail of each one and then have them chrome plated before attaching the hooks. "The Leap-R Lure was the best darn northern pike lure I ever fished with!" Machtig said.

In the early 1960's, Machtig and Deuster made a business decision to discontinue production of The Gopher, the Flock Mouse, and the Musky Duckling. Supplies were low, cash flow was down, and both men were busy with their primary businesses. "It seemed like the right thing to do at the time," said Machtig. Although few Gophers were made in the 1960's,the Gopher Bait Company
did contract with Bob and Allan Krizenesky of Peshtigo,WI. and Rhinelander,WI. to apply the Gopher flock finish to their Mr. Muskie Baits in the black, yellow, and gray color. The Mr. Muskie Baits box stated that the lures were actually manufactured in Peshtigo, Rhinelander, and Sheboygan,Wisconsin. Machtig recalls that he continued to flock Mr. Muskie Baits into the 1970's.

Machtig and Deuster remained the best of friends and continued to go fishing together on their favorite lake in Vilas County,Wisconsin -Lac Vieux Desert. They didn't miss a summer, but time took its toll and Elmer Deuster passed away in 1991.

But the story about the Gopher Bait Company doesn't end there. In the Spring of 2000, August Machtig began again to produce The Gopher. Using the original metal pattern from the 1940's, the Gopher shape was maintained but it was updated by incorporating the through-wire in the body of the bait and this new feature became the easiest way to distinguish the new Gopher from the original Gopher. "The new Gopher continues to use a wooden body and the paint/flock finish is applied using the same process as in the 1950's," said Machtig. There are now 8 colors to chose from: tan, dark brown, black, gray, yellow, red, orange, and green. The red plastic eyes are the same as on the original Gopher as are the belly hook and bucktail. The treble bucktails are tied by Margarete Hermann of Sheboygan,WI. "Stainless steel is now used for the paddles," Machtig said, "and each lure now has a letter/number engraved on one paddle. The letter identifies the color and the number represents its place in production." "The new Gophers are individually boxed but are also available in a set of eight--- one of each color. The numerical portion of the engraved I.D. number is the same number on each lure in the set while the letter portion of the I.D. number differs according to the color of the lure," Machtig added. The new one piece box with a cellophane window is made by the Paper Box and Specialty Company---the same company which made the original box but now being owned by the next generation of VanDerPuy's. The box shows off the Gopher Bait Company's new slogan: "The Gopher- An Instant Musky Meal----Just Add Water !"

In 2001,the Gopher Bait Company introduced two new baits: the Baby Gopher  and the Musky Duckling. The Baby Gopher is a 5 & ½ inch wood body version of the larger Gopher. It is made from the 1950's prototype which Machtig had kept in his desk drawer. The Baby Gopher is available in the same 8 flock finish colors as the larger Gopher and uses the same through-wire construction. Each lure has stainless steel paddles with an individual I.D. number engraved on one of the paddles." Baby Gophers are individually boxed and also available in sets of 8 containing one of each color," said Machtig."Each lure in a set has the same number corresponding to that set." This smaller lure comes in a plastic clam-shell box with company name and description listed on the sides. The Musky Duckling is slightly larger than the original model produced in the 1950's.The new version is made in 4 colors: yellow body with yellow head, black body with red head, gray body with red head, and cinnamon body with green head. The Musky Duckling also incorporated the through-wire construction in the body of the bait and this also distinguishes it from those made in the 1950's. It has stainless steel paddles similar to those on The Gopher and each lure has an  I.D. number engraved on one paddle. The Musky Duckling comes packaged in a plastic clam-shell box with company name and description listed on the box. Machtig said the lure is available individually and in sets of 4 with one of each color in each set.

Machtig said he sells the Gopher Bait Company line of lures directly to fishermen and collectors as well as through various bait and fishing tackle stores throughout the Midwest.

When asked to describe how to differentiate the new lures from the original 1950's lures, Machtig replied,"The new lures have the through-wire construction incorporated into the body of the bait while the original lures had the wire exposed on the bait's underside; the new Gopher has 8 colors available with red, green, and orange being the new colors while the original Gopher was only available in 5 colors; the Baby Gopher has only been produced since 2001; and the new Musky Duckling is larger than the original from the 1950's, has the through-wire in the body of the lure, and has additional colors available. All the new lures have an individual  I.D. number engraved on one paddle while none of the original lures have any I.D. numbers .The boxes are also very different for the new lures."

And when asked to comment on the fishing lure business of today versus the 1950's, Machtig has this to say,"Fishermen will always be fishermen! What I find really amazing is the way the fishing lure collecting hobby has grown over the years. I am surprised and humbled that someone would ask for my autograph !"

The Gopher Bait Company's line of musky lures continues to be produced in the workshop of August "Augie" Machtig at 1720 S. 13th Street, Sheboygan, Wisconsin 53081.