This article documents the life of William H. “Bill” Burgess (1886-1967), emphasizing his fishing lure business. Burgess invented and manufactured a greater variety of spinners than any other early lure maker in northern New England. Part of his success was that he trained and paid his workers, mostly women working in their homes, exceptionally well. Burgess' tackle making was center in Minot, Maine where he had to compete with the shoe factories of nearby Auburn for workers. Burgess was an avid bog trainer and bird hunter and was one of the first, if not the first, to introduce pheasants in Maine. After a success career as as a fishing fly and spinner maker, Burgess retired around 1943. Bill Burgess died in January 1967 at 80 years of age.