Today’s Throwback Thursday historical photo dates back to around 1973, and features Bill Huntley. Bill was then in the Athens, Alabama area, and was the creator behind Bumble Bee Bait Co. He started the company in 1967 along with his wife Pat, making jigs and spinner baits at their kitchen table. In a 1973 article by Charlie Brewer in Fishing Facts magazine, Charlie, who fished with Bill regularly, stated, “The Bumble Bee is truly a great quality spinner bait and this lure is very popular through the south and mid-north.”
Another lure that Bill made was a “fly” (Tennessee talk for hair jig) with hair called the Dragon Fly. Bill liked the smaller 1/8 and 1/4 oz. sizes when fishing for both spotted bass as well as smallmouth, which he frequently did on Smith Lake and other area waters. The heavier size was used during windy conditions. He would trail the fly with a Leapin’ Lizard, a Charlie Brewer creation that mimicked an Uncle Josh #800 spring lizard, often cutting off one of the “legs.” Bill would fish the fly on an open-faced spinning reel and 8- or 10-pound test line. Bill used this same pork substitute as a spinnerbait trailer.
Bill would go on to sell the Bumble Bee Co. in 1983 and become a partner of T-H Marine Supplies. The first item they sold was a power trim switch, later adding a foot operated trolling motor control switch. The company eventually became one of the largest manufacturers of accessories for the boating industry in the country.
Bill was inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame in 2015, and passed in 2022.
