“Aspelin Fish Hook”
Julius Aspelin
Skandia Township, MN
1922

Julius was born in New Ulm, Minnesota on Dec 21, 1872 to his parents, John and Anna, who immigrated to Minnesota from Sweden.

In 1873, they moved to a tree claim on the west side of Rush Lake in Skandia Township. In 1877, Julius gained a brother named Charley.

Just one year later in 1878, tragedy struck the family as his mother and unborn sister passed away during child birth. This hit the family hard and it was difficult for the boys to grow up without their mother.

Julius and his younger brother spent much of their free time hunting, fishing, and trapping in order to put food on the table and make some extra cash. This was mainly done on the lake where they lived, Rush Lake, and another nearby lake called Bear Lake. At a later date, Julius took over the family farm.

In 1912 the area was heavily dredged and the lakes the boys enjoyed so much were turned into hay land. Julius was opposed to the draining, even though he acquiring more land to farm. The drained area turned out to be poor farm land and often flooded. There is a book about this removal of the lakes called “Draining of the Great Oasis” written by a professor at the college in Marshall, MN. I, myself, did a little research on this and was surprised at how many lakes and wetlands were dredged in the 1920s in Minnesota. I knew many ponds/wetlands were drained in the 60s and 70s, but not the large bodies of water at this time. Thinking about it all, it is quite a shame.

In 1922, Julius patented has weedless spring-loaded bait. The purpose of the patent was to create a weedless lure that the “uncertainty of hooking a fish biting at the bait is reduced to a minimum”. I am not sure how many of these baits were created and sold, but they are very hard to find today and sought after by many collectors of rare fish hooks.

Julius farmed the land until he retired in 1946. His son, John, took over and farmed until 1950, at which time the land was sold. There buildings that once were there are gone and the homestead was turned into fields. Julius passed away in 1957.


Many thanks to Darrel Larson for sharing some family history about his grandfather.


Julius Aspelin
Map of Skandia Township showing John Aspelin's lot and lakes that no longer exist….