In 1946, an Akron, Ohio tinkerer named David DeLong poured a six-inch, three-hook KILR Worm in the basement of his home. That simple experiment—soft plastic mixed by hand and cured in baked molds—would grow into DeLong Lures, one of the earliest soft-plastic fishing lure companies in the United States. Local anglers quickly discovered that DeLong’s “rubber worms” caught bass when nothing else would, and the small basement operation soon moved into a formal business in nearby Cleveland, Ohio.Delong Lures+1
As demand grew, DeLong relocated the company to Centerville, Ohio, where it operated for decades and hit its stride as a true innovator. DeLong catalogs from the 1950s and 1960s describe the company’s line as “Naturalized Lures”—soft plastics designed to look, move, feel, and even smell like real prey. In this era, DeLong:
Old catalogs from the late ’60s show anglers holding near–state-record bass, trout, and even snook, all credited to DeLong baits—from tiny “Corn Borers” and Mighty Mites to big KILR worms and Witches. Those pages doubled as both product listings and a running record book of what DeLong lures were doing across the country.
By the late 1960s and early 1970s, DeLong wasn’t just a regional Ohio brand—you could find the lures in bait shops all over the country, and national outdoor media started taking notice. A 1960 DeLong catalog featured a reprint from Field & Stream outdoor writer Byron Dalrymple on walleye fishing, underscoring how widely DeLong worms were being used.
In October 1972, Sports Afield ran a feature called “Send Down a Snake—Bring Up a Hog”, showing giant Florida bass caught on 17-inch plastic snakes—part of the same family of giant worms DeLong was producing in that period. A decade and a half later, an April 1987 issue of Bassmaster carried Jim Maguire’s article “Giant Worms for Giant Bass,” where California trophy hunter Ron “Slim” Huffman credited a 16-inch DeLong Snake (Model 961) with multiple bass over 10 pounds and even larger fish lost.
Respected fishing books and collector references later placed DeLong alongside Creme as one of the earliest makers of PVC soft-plastic worms, noting that for nearly 20 years those two companies essentially owned the soft-plastic market.Bass Fishing Archives+1
In February 1994, In-Fisherman highlighted DeLong as a long-time pre-rigged worm builder, noting that the company had been selling worms since the 1940s and showing DeLong worms alongside other historic pre-rigged designs. That same decade and into the 2000s, DeLong creature baits and giant soft plastics kept appearing in magazines like The New Jersey Angler, ESOX Angler, and Fishing Facts, often in articles about “new” soft-plastic trends the company had actually been pioneering for decades.
In the early 1980s, DeLong Lures was sold to a tire manufacturer in Warren, Michigan, near Detroit. The new owners continued pouring many of the classic baits, but as angler demand shifted and business priorities changed, the focus moved away from fishing. DeLong’s soft-plastic expertise was repurposed into products like testing strips for pond and algae kits, and the fishing lures slowly became a side line instead of the main business.
By the mid-1990s, DeLong Lures was a shadow of its former self. The baits still existed, but they were harder and harder for loyal fans to find on store pegs.
One of those loyal fans was Ed Pivarnik, who had grown up fishing DeLong worms and eventually started calling the company directly when he couldn’t find them locally. After years of buying direct, the lure division’s manager mentioned that her father might be willing to sell the fishing-lure part of the business.
In 1998, Ed and his friend Dave Lachowicz bought DeLong Lures and moved production to Valparaiso, Indiana. They resurrected the original KILR worms and dug deep into the old mold library. In the process, they rediscovered large saltwater designs that Ed immediately recognized as perfect for muskie. Out of that came the modern Giant Witch, Flying Witch, and KILR Eel–style baits that muskie anglers would come to know.
Over the next decade, DeLong once again became a familiar name in bait shops and in the pages of muskie and bass magazines. Giant Snakes were winning bass tournaments in Florida, Flying Witches were showing up in muskie boxes, and anglers who grew up with the brand were introducing it to a new generation.
Despite the fishing success, a series of personal hardships forced Ed to shut down DeLong Lures in 2012. For the second time in its history, the company went dark. For many anglers, DeLong became a memory—something they told stories about: “those old three-hook purple worms that smelled like candy” or “that giant snake I used to throw in the pads.”
The story could have ended there, but DeLong’s history has never been that simple. Around 2004, a high-school angler named Brandon Futrell picked up a DeLong Twin-Tail Weedless Tadpole at a local bait shop. It caught so many fish that it became the go-to bass lure for his brother Aaron and cousin Stephen Ziegler as well. When their local shop finally sold out around 2016, the trio kept an eye out for DeLong but stopped seeing the brand on shelves.
In early 2021, a search for DeLong online revealed something unexpected: the entire company was up for sale. After a flurry of phone calls and quick negotiations, Stephen Ziegler and Aaron Futrell purchased DeLong Lures and brought the brand back to northeast Ohio, where it had started in 1946.WKYC+2indeonline.com+2
Production began in Stephen’s parents’ garage and soon moved to a building in Canal Fulton, a historic town in Stark County. There, DeLong returned to its roots:
Today, DeLong Lures is majority-owned and operated by Stephen Ziegler, with Aaron Futrell as a partner. Together, they’ve modernized the brand’s online presence and product photography while staying remarkably faithful to the original formulas and designs that anglers remember. Articles, TV segments, and local news pieces in Ohio have documented the comeback and confirmed DeLong’s role as one of the earliest—and most enduring—soft-plastic lure makers in America.WKYC+2Ohio Ag Net | Ohio’s Country Journal+2
From a basement in Akron in 1946 to national magazines, record fish, and multiple relaunches, DeLong Lures has survived longer than most fishing companies ever dream of. The 6″ KILR Worm, the Bass Witch, the 16″ Snake, the Flying Witch, the KILR Eel, and the tiny Corn Borer have all earned their place in fishing history—not just because of clever marketing, but because ordinary anglers across the country trusted them, fished them, and sent back photos of the fish they caught.
The story isn’t finished. With a new generation at the helm and 80 years of documentation, DeLong is again doing what it’s always done best: hand-pouring durable, scented soft-plastic lures that catch fish and create stories worth telling
Contributions and insights provided by Aaron B. Futrell, retired U.S. Army veteran and lifelong hunter and angler. And Stephen Ziegler, owner and operator of DeLong Lures, Rack Junkies, and The Hunting News
Email: Sales@delonglures.com
Phone: 234 -788-9308
Address: 2381 Locust St
Canal Fulton, Ohio 44614
