The Herter’s Model 707 is a vintage English bait hook manufactured from Sheffield high-carbon steel in Britain for Herter’s Inc. of Waseca, Minnesota — a premium, British-sourced hook from the golden era of American mail-order outdoor retail. Featuring extra-strong round wire, a double-bronzed finish, an inline ground point, and what Herter’s labeled the “Ipswich Bend,” the 707 is one of the more distinctive and less commonly discussed hooks in the Herter’s catalog lineup: heavier and more robustly made than the company’s Japanese-sourced models, and clearly positioned at the quality end of their bait hook range. Whether you’re a Herter’s collector identifying mid-century American tackle, a vintage fly tyer researching heavy-wire wet fly hooks, or simply curious about the British contract manufacturing that underpinned Herter’s premium tier, the Model 707 offers a direct window into the hook trade of the 1950s–60s and the specific care Herter’s took to distinguish its best goods from the mass-market competition.
Herters 707 – Additional Info
1. Identification
Brand: Herter’s Inc. (Waseca, Minnesota) — retailer/importer
Model/Code: Quality 707 — English Bait Hook
Size: Unmarked on label; estimated Size 6 based on physical analysis of the images
Box Quantity: 100 hooks
Estimated Era: 1950s–1960s. The “Waseca, Minn.” address, the “Guaranteed” marketing style, and the label typography are characteristic of Herter’s mid-century catalog peak. The Sheffield steel specification and British manufacture distinguish this hook from the company’s Japanese-sourced models, placing it in a premium import tier similar to the 3718 and 7029RK.
2. Technical Specifications
Eye: Ringed — a fully closed ring aligned with the shank.
Wire: Extra Strong (Heavy gauge, round wire cross-section). The “extra strong” designation places this above standard bait hook wire weight — appropriate for large-fish bait fishing applications and equally suitable as a wet fly or soft-hackle hook where a heavier-than-standard iron is preferred.
Bend: Described on the label as “Ipswich Bend.” This term does not appear in the documented standard hook taxonomy — the recognized historical bend names (Round, Sproat, Limerick, Aberdeen, O’Shaughnessy, Kirby, Sneck, Kendal, and others) do not include “Ipswich.” Ipswich is a town in Suffolk, England, long associated with the sea fishing tackle trade, and the “Ipswich” designation may be either Herter’s proprietary catalog terminology for a standard round or bait hook bend, or a regional commercial label used on specific British-made bait hooks that did not enter mainstream taxonomy. Based on the physical images, the bend appears to be a smoothly-curved, round-style bait hook form — continuous in its arc rather than angular, producing a wide, open gape suited to live bait, worm, and egg presentations. Collectors and tyers should treat the “Ipswich” label as descriptive packaging rather than a standardized technical classification.
Point: Ground Point, In Line of Pull. “In Line” specifies that the point has no offset — it is aligned straight with the hook’s shank axis rather than being kirbed (offset left) or reversed (offset right). “In Line of Pull” was period terminology for this straight configuration, indicating that the force transmitted from the line through the shank aligns directly with the point’s penetration axis on the strike. This was considered mechanically optimal for consistent hook sets in bait fishing.
Finish: Double Bronzed. Two applications of the bronze lacquer finish produce a thicker, more uniform, and more corrosion-resistant surface than a standard single-bronzed hook — the “double” designation was a recognized premium indicator in mid-century hook marketing. The double application also produces a richer, warmer color that has been valued by vintage fly tyers for the appearance it gives to wet fly and soft-hackle patterns.
Material: Genuine Sheffield High-Carbon Steel. Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, was the center of British steel wire production and the source of wire used by virtually all Redditch hook makers. “Sheffield Steel” on this label specifies the wire origin — Sheffield’s high-carbon steel wire drawing tradition produced wire of consistent temper and tensile strength that underpinned Redditch’s quality reputation. It does not imply the hook was manufactured in Sheffield itself; hook making was concentrated in Redditch, while Sheffield supplied the raw wire.
3. Historical Context
The Company. Herter’s Inc. was founded in 1937 by George Leonard Herter (1911–1994) in Waseca, Minnesota, growing from a fly-tying supply business into one of the largest sporting goods mail-order operations in the world. At its peak its catalog exceeded 700 pages and covered virtually every aspect of outdoor sport. George personally wrote all copy — describing every product as “World’s Finest,” “Model Perfect,” or “Actually made far better than is necessary” — and invented the North Star Guides Association as a fictitious endorsing body. He co-authored, with his wife Berthe E. Herter, the celebrated Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices series. Herter’s began its decline after the Gun Control Act of 1968 cut its mail-order firearms revenue, and the company filed for bankruptcy in 1981 after selling key assets to Cabela’s in 1975. Cabela’s acquired the brand name, still used today on ammunition and apparel.
British vs. Japanese Sourcing in the Herter’s Catalog. The 707 is a British-manufactured hook — Sheffield steel, made in Britain — rather than one of Herter’s better-known Japanese-sourced models (the 183N, 189, and 423R, all of which carry the “Made On German Hook Machines In Japan” label). Herter’s sourced from multiple countries simultaneously, selecting manufacturers based on cost, capability, and the specific quality tier they were targeting for each product. Their British-made hooks — the 707, the 3718, the 7029RK — represent the premium end of the catalog, sourced from the English hook-making tradition that Herter’s recognized as unmatched in quality for certain applications. The specific British manufacturer of the 707 is not identified on the label and cannot be confirmed from available records, though Partridge of Redditch — the dominant premium hook maker in Britain by the 1950s, with a documented history of OEM production for American brands — is the most plausible candidate.
“Proven by 200 Years of World Use.” The page’s label claim is the kind of sweeping historical assertion that defined Herter’s marketing copy. The organized Redditch hook trade had roughly 130 years of documented history by the mid-1950s — by 1823 there were 17 firms of hook makers in Redditch alone, and English hook making in a broader sense predates Redditch’s dominance. The “200 years” figure is characteristic Herter’s embellishment, but it is not entirely disconnected from historical reality — British hook making in various forms does extend back further than the Redditch concentration, and the spirit of the claim (that English hook making has a long and distinguished history) is accurate even if the specific figure is inflated.
The “Ipswich” Connection. Ipswich, Suffolk has a long association with English sea fishing and the tackle trade. Breakaway Tackle, one of the most recognized sea fishing tackle brands in Britain, operates from Ipswich to this day. Whether the “Ipswich Bend” label reflects a genuine design tradition from the Suffolk sea fishing trade — a style of bait hook geometry developed for or popularized by sea fishing in the North Sea and East Anglian coast — or whether it is simply a commercial designation Herter’s applied to a standard round bait hook is not currently determinable from available sources. It is a question worth investigating further in historical Redditch trade catalogs and contemporary tackle publications of the 1940s–50s.
4. Usage & Modern Equivalents
Best Used For:
The extra-strong round wire, generous gape, inline ground point, and heavy double-bronzed finish make the 707 a versatile hook across several applications. As its label indicates, it is fundamentally a bait hook — the wide, open arc of the round/Ipswich bend holds worms, eggs, and soft baits naturally and securely, and the inline straight point penetrates cleanly on a standard hook set. In the size 6 range, this hook is appropriate for large river trout on bait, smallmouth bass, walleye, and similar mid-sized freshwater targets. The extra-strong wire handles consistent bait-fishing pressure and the weight of large fish without straightening. For fly tyers, the heavy wire, wide gape, and warm double-bronze finish make this a capable platform for large wet flies, soft hackles, and traditional nymph patterns where a heavier-than-standard iron is wanted — the 707’s specifications are broadly comparable to a heavy wet fly hook rather than a dedicated dry fly iron, and it performs accordingly.
Modern Equivalents:
A direct equivalent for a heavy-wire, round-bend, inline-point, double-bronzed English bait hook in size 6 is not readily available in current mass production — the English bait hook category has been largely absorbed by O’Shaughnessy and wide-gap designs in today’s market. The closest functional substitutes are the Mustad 92641 (a round-bend bronzed bait hook in heavier wire, widely available and a reasonable geometric match), the Eagle Claw L042 (a wide-gap variant that works similarly in heavy wire for bait and wet fly applications). For collectors, the 707 in a complete original box of 100 represents a specific and increasingly scarce artifact of Herter’s premium British-sourced tier — a category with no current commercial equivalent.