Walter Harden Special
Walter D. Harden was born in Everson ,Pa.
March 30 1904. From an early age he enjoyed the great outdoors. He was
particularly fond of fishing. In his twenties, Harden occupied the summer
months running his families refreshment stand at Whistlepark in his home town
of Connellsville, Pennsylvania. During the winter , Walter
spent his time in Florida,
where he was a very successful guide for
fishing parties.
One of his favorite
spots was Lake Apopka,
Oakland Florida.
It was there on February 6, 1931 that Harden caught what was recorded to be a World record Black
Smallmouth Bass. Walter and his wife Marguerite had set out from the Oakland dock to a certain
spot where Harden said the big ones seemed to stay. While using a Creek Chub Bait Company Pikie Minnow in silver shiner color , Harden
caught a bass weighing in at 12 3/4 pounds and measuring 29 inch in length.
Creek Chub Bait Company even featured Harden and his 12 3/4 lb. bass in one of the companies 1931 advertisements.
Walter Harden filled out a sworn affidavit documenting his 12
& 3/4 pound catch.
This record catch was certified by the American Museum
of Natural History, National Sportsman magazine as well as Seth Briggs of the
Field and Stream magazine staff.
Briggs realized that recent catches of record
smallmouth bass in Florida
had raised questions regarding the introduction of the species into Florida waters. Briggs
discovered the story regarding the planting of Smallmouth Bass in Lake Seneca
and other nearby Florida
lakes.
Samuel A. Hamilton of Huntingdon, Pa. reported that in 1908 as a result of his request , Senator Quay sent 10,000 Smallmouth bass
fingerlings which ranged in size from four to six inches to the Eustis Fla.
area. With the help of Game Commissioner Dr. Ike N. Kennedy , the fingerlings
were placed in smaller well shaded Lakes in Lake County.
It was believed that Walter Hardens record catch was a direct result of this stocking effort.
On February
9 , 1932 Walter Harden found
himself breaking his own Small mouth bass world record. This time ,while fishing
a large live shiner minnow, Harden took a 14 pounder from his special spot on Lake Apopka.
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| Harden's 14 lb. record bass |
Like his previous
record bass, this trophy was sent to Field & Stream magazine and The Natural History
Museum and was officially recorded as a World record Small Mouth Bass. With two record catches under his belt,
Harden had become recognized
as a top notch angler. He decided to share his fishing knowledge in a
1936 booklet titled "
How to Catch World's Record Bass"
The booklet detailed the methods and equipment he employed to
consistently catch large bass. Harden discussed the use of live bait as well as
artificial baits. He even listed lures
that he regularly used and were always
in his tackle box. The list included the following-
The Weezel . Heddon
River Runts in Shore Minnow finishes. Heddon Torpedo, wood Y.P. & Shiner
finish. Shakespeare Fishy Lure. Drone spoon. Artie Mack's Magic Minnow. Creek
Chub Pikie Minnow, Red & White, Perch and Shiner finishes. Darter 2000 Frog
and Silver Flash finishes. Creek Chub Weed Bug, White body -red eye ,Yellow body- green wings. Eppinger's
Daredevil , Red & White finish. Peckinpaugh's Feather Minnow.
Harden also mentioned
that there were a couple of other lures he was sure to have in his tackle box
.These lures were a result of his experimentation in changing up hardware on
factory made plugs. Harden said that through this type of experimenting he
had found a couple of lures that he had changed to be consistent fish getters.
He said by changing hardware an angler could find just what the fish would take
in a particular locality. Perhaps it was through this experimenting that the
Harden's Star and Harden's Whiz were born.
By adding spinners to the Heddon Zaragossa,
Walter Harden created the Harden's Star bait and by removing the diving lip and adding spinners to Heddon's Vamp and Baby Vamp , he created the
Harden's Whiz bait. Harden's
modifications proved to be a success for catching bass in Florida.
Walter
Harden never mentioned the Harden's Star or
Whiz baits by name in his "
How to Catch World's Record Bass" booklet , but I believe that they
were the two secret baits he discussed
on the last page of his booklet.
The last page of his booklet was titled 'The Best Two Lures I Have Ever Used". These were lures that he had perfected and
found to be the most consistent lures that he had used in the taking of bass.
One lure was a described as a surface lure
that imitates a live minnow swimming on the surface of the water better
than any lure he had ever seen. The other lure was a semi-surface lure that had the same action as the surface lure. He
went on to say that he had kept these two baits a secret for the past two years
and tested them under all conditions. He claimed they caught more big bass in
so short a time than any other lure he knew of. Harden said that anglers may
already have the parts to make these baits in their tackle box, as that is how
he made his up. For twenty five cents Harden offered a separate booklet which
would reveal the secret of these baits and that only the purchaser of that
booklet was entitled to the secret. As
far as I know, a copy of this twenty
five cent secret lure booklet has yet to be found.
Heddon made
Harden's Whiz and Star baits have been found with Heddon factory paint
stenciling on the belly of these baits.
Some of these Harden baits have been found in Heddon Lure boxes. Some of the
boxes have Heddon's typical ink stamp on the end of the box indicating the
model/color code for the bait. The ink
stamp code for Heddon/Harden baits had
the prefix WH ( Walter Harden). Other Heddon/Harden baits have been found in
Heddon lure boxes with a brown paper label pasted on the boxes end. The brown
paper over labels feature the lures name such as Harden's Star or Harden's Whiz and the color
of the bait plainly typed on the paper. I
have been unable to locate any advertisements for Harden's Star or Whiz
baits. It is believed that these baits
were specifically designed for fishing in Florida.
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| Harden's surface bait was mentioned in an article in the Pa. Angler magazine. |
Only a small number of Heddon / Harden special baits
have turned up in the hands of collectors and are very desirable.
Like the production of his baits by Heddon,
Hardens Small Mouth Bass record was to be short lived. A larger specimen had
not been caught, but his record was disqualified. The disqualification was not
based on any deceit or wrong doing by Harden.
The disqualification was based on the
scientific findings of Ichthyologists Reeve M. Bailey and Carl L. Hubbs. their findings are contained
in number -516 Occasional papers of the Museum of Zoology dated February 25 ,1949 - The Black Basses of Florida, with a
description of a new species. In their writings Bailey & Hubbs mention
Walter Hardens Feb. 9, 1932 fourteen pound smallmouth catch, which was credited by Field
& Stream magazine as the record smallmouth bass. Bailey & Hubbs state
that the smallmouth bass had long been regarded as an exotic inhabitant of
certain lakes in the vicinity of Oakland Fla.
by Sportsmen and writers on game
fishing. Belief that the smallmouth was established in Florida was based on known introductions of
northern stock by U.S. Bureau of Fisheries and by identifications of large fish
taken subsequently . These fish were identified by a number of anglers as well
as Ichthyologists. The Bailey & Hubbs go on to say that Hardens record was
accepted as reliable and mentioned in several pamphlets and books written
earlier, including one of their own works, even without having any first hand
evidence.
Bailey & Hubbs stated they were skeptical of the reported success of plantings of small
mouth bass in Florida. Reported examples of large smallmouth bass that had been available
for inspection were determined to actually be Largemouth bass, some of which were
thought to be stunted and their size and shape had been considerably changed. They
went on to say that collections by themselves as well as numerous other game fish/ wildlife agencies
and universities had found no smallmouth bass in Florida.
Bailey & Hubbs posed the question"
Why then have ichthyologists identified
record sized fish as smallmouth ? " a question which they went on to
answer. Apparently descriptions and keys available at that time for identifying
species of fish compared northern smallmouth's with northern ( not Florida ) largemouths.
They went on to say that is it now evident that the peninsular largemouth parallels
the smallmouth in certain characters commonly used for identification, both
forms contrasting in these respects
with
the northern largemouth. They also stated that there was an undue reliance on
scale count which was the chief cause of misidentification. They also stated mounted specimens were
difficult to identify and were not
reliable for accurately determining species. They went on
to discuss proper techniques to identify species. They concluded that there was
no valid evidence that the smallmouth bass was established in Florida.
Bailey & Hubbs went on to recommend the removal of Florida fish from
consideration
for the title of "world's record" smallmouth
bass.
Furthermore they left the decision as to
what fish properly
deserves
the distinction of holding the record to others, but stressed
the importance of accurate identification.
The fishing community
must have accepted Bailey & Hubbs findings. By 1950 Field & Stream magazines- Table of World Record Fish Catches- listed the
record for Black Bass, Smallmouth, simply as Previous Record Disqualified.
Although his World record did not stand the test of time.
There is no doubt Harden was an outstanding Bass fisherman. Hardens special
Heddon baits continue to draw the admiration of fishing lure collectors and are
prized among those lucky enough to have an example in their collection.
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| Harden Whiz baits |
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| Whiz wit box |
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| Harden's Whiz |
I'd like to thank all those who shared information and photos of Harden baits. First and foremost a big thanks to Bill Holsing ( Grandson of Walter Harden) who provided original images of Walter Harden and family history. Lure photos provided by Frank Cristao, Cris Howell, Harry Matthews , Jake Morris, Wayne Mullins and Dave Stalnaker. I'd also like to thank Walter Harden's niece Fay, who provided family history.