In a bottom of a tackle box I found this beauty. A 2” nickle spoon lure, the underside stamped with a curvaceous part naked female dancer and the words” Little Cleo, Wigl Lure” not a misspelling!
Curious as to its origin, a little inter-web digging gave the information…
It was made by C.V (Charlie) Clark, a songwriter and music publisher from New York City. He founded the Seneca tackle company in 1951. The images on the spoon were as a direct result of seeing exotic dancers in a club; the swaying motion had him hooked. His thinking was that the fish would be attracted to the image as much as he was; my kinda guy! The Little Cleo spoon kept the dancer image for 13 years. In 1966 an influencer became so upset with the image that it was removed to appease the retailer and retain customer loyalty. This is now known as political correctness.
The spoon was available in 5 colours including chrome and blue/ green, in sizes 1-1/6th up to 1-1/4 oz. A deep running lure and good for most species from trout to perch to various freshwater bass. However rather than lose it on a sunken tree branch I think I will hang on to this one and keep it in the tackle cabinet to cheer up a slow day.
