A Little History

From Fishing Lures to Lampshades

Yakima Bait Company

 In 1934, R.B. Worden founded Worden’s Floating Spinner Company, which became Yakima Bait Company in 1941

In the late 1940’s, R.B.’s son Howard joined the company and began developing lures himself. One summer, during a visit to California, he built a weighted spinner with a willow leaf blade and a hackle tail called the “Retreat Special.” But Howard felt like the new spinner needed a better name, and, after watching the hydroplane races in Seattle that summer, began calling his new spinner “The Rooster Tail.”

The Rooster Tail was a regional lure until the 1960’s when anglers from Florida tried out samples and immediately caught bass with them. Soon, everyone on the East Coast had to have these hot new spinners and, as they say, “the rest is history.” Today, Rooster Tails are some of the world’s most popular spinners, used by anglers around the globe

Howard also developed a system that simplified the design and building of Tiffany style stained glass lamps. For more than 42 years, the Worden Company produced a lampbuilding system known as the WordenSystem that enabled many stained glass crafters to create Tiffany styled lampshades in any one of hundreds of designs.

Howard Worden passed away in the Spring of 2015. The patented WordenSystem™ of stained glass lamp construction was his inspiration. He designed the new patterns and products. With his passing, the desire to continue with the H L Worden Co. was no longer there.

Sadly, the Worden Company closed.