South Bend Photo Fishing Contest Historic Preview

The first South Bend Bait Co. Fish-Photo Contest was held in 1923. A South Bend Bait $2,000 Fish-Photo Contest pamphlet was issued for the contest. The rules for this contest was anyone except for employees and their families could enter this contest. There was no entrance fee of any kind. Photographs entered must prominently show the South Bend Bait with which the catch was made. Pictures will be judged for photography, that is, background, naturalness, human interest, and outdoor atmosphere, for the kind and size of fish, for clearness and detail.

We actually have an entire page here at My Bait Shop dedicated to this event. However given the size our website is getting we think it is appropriate from time to time to call out some cool articles and pages you might have missed or overlooked to give you a taste of all the cool stuff we have so you can check it out yourself. (Note: if you can't wait, you can jump to the full page article from our Antique Fishing Lures Archives here.)

When was the Contest Held?

The Fishing Photo Contest continued through the 1920's, 1930's and into the mid 1940's but it's unclear if South Bend offered prizes after the 4th annual 1926 contest. We know throughout the years anglers continued sending in photographs of their catches and South Bend advertised these photo's along with a few words describing the catch in their catalogs.

After the end of WWII South Bend immediately began promoting their 1944 Fishing Photo Contest. South Bend didn't start production of tackle again until 1947 but to stay in the minds of the public they issued the 1945 Fishing Photos catalog. This catalog featured prize winners from their recent 1944 Fishing Photo contest. South Bend offered $3,000 in prizes which included $750 in War Bonds to the 1st place winner.

So who Won the South Bend Fishing Photo Contest?

They actually put out a South Bend Fishing Photo Portfolio with the winners in it.  A cool piece of history if you can find it.  Below are just a couple of the pictures.

So now that I've seen a taste, where can I see the full article on the South Bend Photo Fishing Contest?

Well, I am glad you asked:)  You can check it the full article here in our Antique Fishing Lures Archives where we have tons of great articles.